Perspectives on Diversity and Culture!

This week, we are using discussion and reflection from others to deepen our grasp about culture and diversity.  I spoke to 3 different people and asked them “What is your definition of culture? What is your definition of diversity?”  I was surprised by the similarities and differences in all 3 answers.  I specifically asked 3 unique people: my sister, my friend, and my colleague.  My sister comes from the same background as myself and we grew up in the same household in the Kansas.  My friend, Val, came from a very different background than me.  She is African-American and we have often talked about the differences in our childhood.  The last person I talked to was a colleague of mine, and a friend, Denise.  We work together at Head Start. She is the Education Specialist for our program. She grew up in the South and has a very “old-school” traditional values.  We have many similarities and many differences within our cultures.


My sister, Jennifer & me

Myself & my friend, Val

Myself & my colleague (and friend) Denise




Question 1: What is your definition of culture?

·   Val: Culture is how people have traditions, such as big family meals at Holidays. (I asked her to describe) We eat Baked Mac N Cheese, Greens, Sweet Potato Pie, Black Eyed Peas, etc. We don’t eat these things generally except during the holidays. 

·   Denise: Culture, to put it simply, is everyday life: the rituals, routines, it encompasses holidays both traditional and seasonal (Christmas or an anniversary of a loved one’s death), your morals, values, ethics.  It is what we try to instill in our children-our parenting styles, how we treat others, community, our everyday way of life.

·   Jennifer: Way people interpret things, how they live, and the way they do things. It may be based on where they live and what their background is. It’s differences around the world-race, religion, our upbringing, etc.

Question 2: What is your definition of diversity?

·   Val: Diversity is the differences between people.

·   Denise: I think that being your colleague, we are charged with thinking about diversity in comparison to other professions.  Diversity is being open to learning about others and the many many differences-religions, family values, politics, etc. We not only are teaching what is important to us but being open to others and not shutting the door in others’ faces. 

·   Jennifer: I think that diversity is how people are different in comparison to one another…it could be race, religion, etc. You can have a diverse group of people, flowers.  You can have a person from Austria and they may be very different than a person from Kansas.

It was very interesting when I reflected upon the various definitions that I received.  In my friend’s definition, culture was defined as far as “surface culture”.  We discussed afterwards about the deeper meaning and she agreed with me, but just as all of us experienced through this course, she didn’t really put it in the same category.  My colleague really hit the nail on the head as far as defining culture and I think this has to do with the fact that she has a great deal of education within the early childhood field including culture and diversity.  I was quite impressed that she really understood the “deep” understanding of culture. My sister’s definition was somewhat in between.  She has an elementary school background, and her definition fits what I see in Multicultural celebrations in my children’s elementary school.  Again, I think it represents a “surface” culture definition. I really didn’t find, in combination of the 3, an omission of the definition.  In thinking about other people’s definition of culture and diversity, it inspires me to help educate others to the deeper understanding of what culture and diversity is.  I think that if we can get other people to gain a deeper understanding of culture and diversity, then we can all understand each other a little better!