This week’s blog assignment was to connect with family, friends, co-workers, or acquaintance to discuss their definition of culture and diversity. I had the opportunity to speak with a friend who works in civil rights, my co-worker who works in child care programming, and a family member. Each individual’s response is below:
Friend:
Culture – Culture is the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. I believe it is the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group (i.e., pop culture, drug culture, youth culture, etc.). It’s also a development or improvement of the mind by education or training.
Diversity – First we must understand that the idea of diversity includes acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is also about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.
Co-Worker
Culture- I believe culture is the way one is cultivated from their home and society involvement. As a Latino, my culture holds fast to placing family needs ahead of individual needs and showing respect at all times.
Diversity- My understanding of diversity is that there are differences among the people in terms of race, gender, communication, religion, and level of education. The phrase that the US is a melting pot verifies that diversity is real. In my daily interactions, I come into contact with different ways that parents handle their children’s behavior, some talk to the child, some find ways to direct the child away from the situation, and some ignore the behavior. This all comes from their culture but when combined with other cultures, then this is called diversity.
Family
Culture- Culture is based on the type of environment a person comes from or the way a person is taught. Family structures are not all the same. A prime example is within our home environment, we have family time once a week. Not all my blood line family members find it necessary to have a special time during the week to come together and play games and have family discussions.
Diversity- Diversity to me is based on having different ways of living and interacting with other and still able to come together. What I like about being in a diverse workforce is that I am able to share my thoughts, my ideas, and feel that I am a part of the team.
In the 2013 Course Media, Gonzalez-Mena states, “My idea of what culture is, is a set of often unconscious rules that govern everything we do that we learn early on and culture and gender are always intertwined”. Even though the dialog provided, is not worded in the same way of the reading materials, the definitions shared represents the perception of individual personal experiences. No one is right or wrong with their definitions. It was clear that they looked at their individuality and what they could bring to the table information to help me to accomplish this assignment.
Reference:
Gonzalez-Mena J. (2013). Culture and Diversity. [Video] Retrieved from
