Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this week's Blog assignment  I interviewed my oldest daughter (16), my co-worker and a close friend. Each was asked to define diversity and culture. It surprised me to get such rapid responses from them. It was also amazing to see the resemblance on their answers to the resources I had the opportunity to read. Each of interviewees all defined culture as one's belief, practices, food, etc in one group. They defined diversity as one collective group of various ethnicities.  In the text, "Anti- Bias Education", a cultural group is related strongly to his or her ethnicity, which reflects the place of origin and cultural background of the person's ancestors(p.56). 

My daughter's response stuck out the most because she included economics as a part of defining someone's culture. Just as discussed in the video with the panel of early childhood professionals, Julie defined culture as one's race, ethnicity, economic and even language abilities. The one thing omitted from my interviewees' responses were the various levels in culture. You can be a part of a culture but be on a different cultural status amongst your own group. This could be due to language or economic as well. Upon completion of these interviews/ discussions, it allowed me to see how diverse each one's meaning of the two terms can be. That many are only familiar with the surface culture. Prior to this course,  I would have never thought that ethnic groups or culture as a whole can be so diverse.

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

My Family Culture

In the event that I was force to move to another country due to circumstances out of my control, I would take with me, my mom's memorial blanket, my dad's ashes and our family photos. I choose these items because they share the beginning memories of my parents. I look at my parents as the foundation that has started the culture of my family. Without their union there would be no me. They are the reason many traditions are continued throughout my immediate family.

With hopes of taking these items along on my journey to my new destination, I would feel heartbroken if I couldn't bring all of my items with me. Being denied the opportunity to bring all of my items that connect me to my culture, will prolong my ability to adjust to my new environment. One insight that I gained from learning about family cultures, is how important it is not just to me but to all families. We may ignore the settings in which they spend their time away from us, believing they are not very important. In fact the home environment greatly influences what goes on in school( Christian,2006,p.12).  As an early childhood professional I have  made every effort to support the child individually but i have learned that including the family in the process is just as important. 

References

Linda, G. C. (2006). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. YC Young Children, 61(1), 12-20. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/docview/197591231?accountid=14872