Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Week 3 is upon us! For this week, we needed to examine and analyze the perspective on diversity and culture of others, as well as our own. For this assignment, I contacted several of my colleagues in my building to share their thoughts on this matter and will share their responses below, as well as my own analysis of the findings.

I had asked each of my colleagues to provide their definition  of culture and diversity, the similarities and differences between the two concepts, and why are these concepts important to education. Here are the responses I received:

• Our building ELL teacher:
• "Culture is a community of people, families who share common experiences
  that shape the way they understand the world. Culture is a strong part
  of people's lives. It influences their views, values, their hopes,
  worries and fears. It is no wonder many common cultures tend to stick
  together because they feel comfortable and share a commonality.
  Diversity to me refers to celebrating the many diverse cultures and/or
  communities. In order for people to commit to working on diversity,
  every person needs to feel that they will be included and important.
  Each person needs to know that their cultures is important to others.
  This is the only way I believe will bring the many different cultures
  together and unite. Learning about cultural differences can bring people
  closer together. It can show us just exactly how much we really do have
  in common. As educators, I believe we need to celebrate the many diverse
  cultures we have in our community in order to build an environment that
  feels safe for all."

• Our In Class Support Teacher (K-1): 
• "Two of my favorite things to talk about considering my trip to Africa
  where I saw it all come together. Yes, I had my opinions of each but
  while working in classrooms in Ghana and coming home to student teach, I
  was able to really see the impact both have on myself and my students.
  My personal definition of culture is that it is a way of life. Culture
  is defined by what we wear, what we eat, what we believe in, what we do
  for fun, and what we celebrate. Diversity is how cultures are different.
  It defines the uniqueness of a culture. Diversity is embracing those
  unique differences among cultures and looking at life through the eyes
  of another person. Through that we realize our similarities and our
  differences among people across the world. I feel that culture and
  diversity are important to education because learning about the world
  around us is endless. There is always something new to learn. Not only
  does it shape us academically, but culture and diversity teach us life
  lessons. They make us more appreciative of what we have and who we are.
  It makes us more appreciative of one another."

• Our building principal:
• "I believe culture is a person's background and the experiences they have
  that help to influence their character and identity. 
  Diversity is having a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. 
  I don't know that they are the same or different.  It is more that they
  are connected because having a range of cultures and nationalities is
  what brings diversity to your school.
  
  It is important to share culture in education because it is a person's
  background, traditions, customs and way of life.  This helps us to
  understand and appreciate our differences.
  
  It is important to have diversity in education because you have that
  first-hand experience and knowledge of other cultures instead of
  vicarious learning.  It becomes more personal and therefore more
  explicit."

• Our district Reading Specialist:
• "Culture is defined as characteristics of people who are categorized together by race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.   Diversity to me is the ability for differences to coexist together, with some type of mutual understanding or acceptance present. Acceptance of different viewpoints is key. Also, diversity means inclusion of everyone and inclusion of everyone's viewpoints and perspectives. Our ability to give every child a chance to succeed in school depends upon our understanding of culture and learning styles. Effective educational practices must derive from an understanding of the ways that individuals learn. Knowing each student, especially his or her culture, is essential preparation for facilitating, structuring, and validating successful learning for all students."

• One of our Preschool Inclusion teachers: 
• "This is fun and so important to instill at such a young age! Culture is the totality of traditions, beliefs, foods, clothes and processes of a certain group of people. Diversity is the differences among the cultures, with a connotation of acceptance and respect for each.These concepts are important to education for teachers and students alike. A mutual respect among peers for each other's cultural differences, makes for an environment more conducive to learning. Teachers must be cognizant of the cultural diversities among students to fully understand certain behaviors as they occur. Actions, or lack thereof are often tied to cultural norms which are different from our own. "

Let me begin by stating I was so impressed and overwhelmed by the responses I received from each of my colleagues. They each took the time to truly consider the meaning of these concepts, as well as their importance. I feel as though we share a common view on such aspects and understand the importance it has for society, as well as for our students, in particular. We learned it's importance in class this and last week but I am glad to see it is understood and appreciated within our building by many wonderful educators and administrators, as well. As Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) state, "The word culture refers to how particular groups of people live," (p. 55). As you can see, we all agree with this concept. Diversity refers to the varying types of cultures we encounter in our country and in our classrooms. We must encourage and embrace these concepts within our classrooms to set a positive precedent for the children to follow in being tolerant, accepting, understanding, and willing to learn from and work together with people who are similar and different from you. 

I feel as though the professionals I discussed the concepts with this week had perfectly pieced together the puzzle of culture and diversity, discussing the important meanings of each concept, as well as the reasons why it is important in the world and in education, as we have learned in our readings. Additionally, I feel as though my own viewpoints on these topics are very similar to each of the aforementioned passages. I do not feel as though important interpretations were omitted or neglected as each response embraced the importance of being accepting and learning from one another as our culture defines us and diversity allows us to celebrate and learn from our differences. I strongly believe that hearing these responses from my trusted colleagues has solidified my own understanding, perspective, and passion about this subject. 

Until next week…

References:

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).