Definitions of Culture:
* Traditions, food, family style, where you live influences your culture
* Way of life, values, beliefs
* How individuals grow up. It's what they take from their environment, home - family and friends. It encompasses beliefs, traditions, values and how they dress & live everyday.
Definitions of Diversity
* When you mix cultures/beliefs/religions together
* A range of different things
* When you get a group of people from different cultures living/working together
The definitions I received through my interviews all seemed to match the description of surface culture, which refers to the things that are easy to see, taste, and define (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). The answers seem to be "textbook" answers of diversity and culture - I was hoping to get more depth from the individuals I chose to interview.
Thinking of other people's definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking in the fact that we, as a society, seem to be living on the surface. This has me thinking how to help guide the children and families I serve to think about culture and diversity on a deeper level.
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).
Chrissy
ReplyDeleteMy interviews also revealed surface culture. This assignment has shown me that even though one person may consider and aspect as culture or diversity, another may not. Thus possibly causing misunderstanding and/or separation between myself and the families I serve.
Carla
Chrissy,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you were able to relate the surface culture answers you got to society living on the surface. I definitely feel that this is true for a lot of people and feel that we can be advocates for the deeper definitions of culture. It is important that we use culture in our work with young children and help them see the values that come from culture.