Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Through reaching out to close friends and family this week and asking about their perceptions of culture and diversity, I heard many of the aspects presented in this course.  Among the responses shared as definitions of diversity included the following aspects:

• Differing political ideas
• Linguistic distinctions (including grammatical structure and vocabulary)
• Variances in personal relationship choices

My friends and family agreed that when any combination of the above converge in one place or are shared within a community, diversity exists within that community or location.  

When I asked family members and friends about culture, their responses also included many of the aspects discussed in this course, namely:

• Shared beliefs and perspectives held by a particular group of people
• Shared language held by a particular group of people
• Shared lifestyle and customs between a particular group of people

My friends and family believe that these "particular groups of people" range from groups within a particular community, to those practicing a particular religion, to those from particular ethnic backgrounds.     

Additional aspects of diversity omitted from these responses according to Deaux (2001) included vocations, avocations, and stigmatized identities, however when mentioned to those I discussed diversity and culture with, they agreed that these aspects were certainly representative of diversity. Similarly, discussion of power culture and family culture were omitted, however several of my friends certainly saw the influence of the power culture on their own family culture once the topic was introduced to the conversation. 

Although we have focused primarily on culture and diversity within the scope of early childhood, my conversations with friends and family this week indicated that culture and diversity impact the lives of all of us, and continue to influences decisions throughout our lives.  As early childhood professionals, I believe this knowledge will help us be more culturally aware and welcoming of diversity.  Both of these qualities are likely to help us build stronger relationships with children and effective partnerships with families, which are both essential to effective and equitable early childhood programming (Souto-Manning, 2010).   

References

Deaux, K. (2001). Social identity. Encyclopedia of women and gender, 1–2, 1–9. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/

Souto-Manning, M. (2010). Challenges to consider, strengths to build on. Young Children, 65(2), 82-88. Retrieved from https://my.campuscruiser.com/