Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week I had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of culture and diversity by listening to and then reflecting on the ideas of others:

My husband Steve’s definition of culture is the way people celebrate holidays. He describes diversity as different ethnicities within a group (such as a school).

My cousin Tracy’s definition of culture is how you experience life. “We each experience truth from our own perspective and the facts are somewhere in the middle. Diversity is being willing and vulnerable enough to try to see someone else’s experience through their lens, not mine. One thing I have realized is that I will never be truly culturally competent because I will never fully experience what others have experienced.” 

My friend and co-worker Susy took these questions very seriously and sent me the following text with her definitions of culture and diversity: “Culture and diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our distinctive differences. This includes race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, etc. In my opinion, culture is a strong part of our lives because it influences our values, our humor, our hopes, worries and fears. But as I explore culture and diversity, it is also important to remember how much we have in common. I grew up in a small town, and probably see the world very differently than someone who grew up in the city, but we both know what it is like to wake up in the morning and look forward to the adventures of the day. We are human beings and love deeply, want to learn, have hopes and dreams, and most importantly have experienced pain and fear. Sometimes we don’t think or understand other cultures until we start working with people and building relationships with them. It helps to have some perspective and understanding of their cultures.”

“Surface culture” immediately came to mind when I listened to my husband’s definitions of culture and diversity. Three weeks ago I may not have been as shocked by his answers, but now that I have a deeper understanding of culture and diversity, I wanted to look at him and say “Seriously?” I had to stop myself and ask him if he would like to do some reading... I really enjoy our text, “Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010) and believe it should be in every household throughout America!

Tracy is a passionate lifelong learner. She holds four advanced degrees and is currently working on a fifth. Her comment about the facts being somewhere in the middle reminds me of the “third space” described by Derman Sparks. When we value the beliefs and cultural identities of ourselves and others, we can “meet” somewhere in the middle with a healthy compromise that everyone feels comfortable with.

I am so happy that I asked Susy to participate in this assignment. I honestly had no idea that she would open up and give such personal answers to my questions. I hired Susy to work in my preschool three years ago. Sense then I have learned that she immigrated to America when she was twelve. Susy’s mother was forced to leave Mexico because of violence that had already taken the lives of her father, uncle, and two brothers. Susy was hidden in a convent before leaving her country. When Susy says that we all know pain and fear, I truly can’t imagine the depth her family has experienced. One of my favorite things to do with my employees is take them out to dinner where we not only laugh with joy about our experience working with children, but also get to know one another on a much deeper level. I have learned so much about their cultures and identities by simply listening.  

References

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

My Family Culture

Culture refers to how individual groups of people live. It’s the way we eat, sleep,

play, communicate, and care for one another, (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). Most of the time, we don’t even notice our culture. However when something changes or makes us uncomfortable, culture comes to the forefront. When we find ourselves in the center of another culture, or when we need to interact with people from different cultures, we learn that our way of doing things is not the only way. It’s how we react to these experiences that either limits or increases our appreciation of the notion that there are countless ways to be human.

If I had to permanently evacuate my home and country, in addition to one change of clothes I would take the following three personal items:

A box of favorite family photos. Most of the photos I have taken through the years are from holidays and special events spent with families. One of my favorite ways to relax is to look through these pictures, reminiscing on how grateful I am for the people in my family and the traditions we share with each other.

A quilt my mother made for me. I treasure this quilt not only for its comfort and beauty, but also for the fact that my mother hand-made it. My children were six and eight when the quilt was made and my mom taught them how to sew on it. I love to look at the corner of the quilt where my children’s sewing is and reminisce on this wonderful memory.

A collection of my great grandmother’s crystal stemware. I keep this crystal in my kitchen where I can readily use it. I love how ornate and fragile it is. It reminds me of the way my grandmother set the table for holiday meals. When I am holding a piece of the stemware, I can smell my grandmother’s dining room and hear the laughter of relatives. I unfortunately lost several pieces of the crystal during a recent earthquake here in Napa, however I am thankful for the remaining pieces.

Each of these treasures is a physical piece of my family culture. None of them have high monetary value, however they are priceless to me because of the people who created them or shared them with me. 

If I was informed upon arrival to my new home that I could only keep one of my personal belongings, it would be the box of photos. The pictures create memories that are increasingly important to me as time passes.

During this exercise, I was reminded that all the material things I am surrounded with are just “stuff.” What really matters are the memories of time spent with the people I love sharing our culture and traditions.

References

Derman-Sparks L. & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children

and ourselves, National Association for the Education of Young Children.