Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I asked three people their definition of culture and their definition of diversity. I asked a middle school teacher in her mid thirties, a nurse in her sixties, and an accountant in her late thirties. 

Dana:

Culture is all the little things that make up a person. Diversity is accepting people who are different than you with an open heart.

Marcy:

Culture is your family and what you believe and holidays you celebrate and your heritage. Diversity is all the different people being in one place. Like you can have a diverse family and that would mean that you have your core white family and some Asian or Black people that have married into the family.

Amanda:

Culture is what makes a person who they are. Diversity is the beauty that makes a person special and the reaction of love from others.

I was surprised by the answers I received. I tried to pick a diverse group of people knowing that one in particular had biases. I was also surprised that most of the individuals thought of culture in a surface definition instead of deep culture. I thought that Dana gave the closest definition of culture to my reading from this week and seemed to really understand what culture was. Diversity seemed to be the most difficult for each person to define. They spent a lot of time thinking about each answer and even after giving one seemed unsure about their response. When it came diversity I loved Amanda’s answer and thought it was well stated. Diversity can be beautiful. I was also surprised how nervous people were to answer. I even had people say they would rather not answer. This was an interesting experiment of sorts to do.

            

My Family Culture

First, I would take an IPod full of music. Music has always been a part of my family’s culture. Growing up the television was hardly on unless it was for a football game and even then most of the time the television was on mute so that music could be on while the game was on. Every memory I have of my life has music involved in some way. Music by far is the most important material object I could bring with me. This is also the one item I would keep over the other two.

Second, I would take a flash drive of pictures. While memories are sometime better than pictures, pictures do help in sparking those memories. The pictures would be important to remember the places and the characteristics of my home, community, and country. Pictures also show the holidays, celebrations, people, and events of importance to my family. 

Third, or over a hundred year a 5X5 inch gold clover has been passed down through the family. The funny thing is that even though I know it is a family heirloom and that it is important to my family. I cannot even say why. I have seen is hanging in my grandmother home, then my mothers, and now I have it. When I see the clover I feel at home and comforted.

No being able to take the second or third item would not affect me as long as I had my family with me. What I have learned through my life that it is not the things and places that are important. What is important are family and friends.

I am not sure I gained any new insight about my family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences, but I have had my feeling about what is truly important affirmed through this exercise 

When I Think of Research...

     I do not think I ever understood the magnitude of work that goes into a research topic. I guess I had the thought that you ask question, perform some observation, collect data and report on your findings. I now know that there is far more work that goes into research than what I previously thought. I remain to be completely overwhelmed by the thought of taking on another research topic. The entire process seems to be a lot for me to grasp. I could feel that way because of the load I am carrying in life right now, but I am not completely sure that is true. On the other hand I feel like I have learned so much from the process. I am in awe of the individuals that take on a research topic and see it through all the way to the end. I truly believe that research is valuable to the field of early childhood and I am in full support of continuing research for the better of our field. I also am thankful for the individuals in the past that took on the important task of research in our field so that we, today, know the best practices for our field when working with children and families. Each step in this class felt like a challenge throughout the process. However I was able to work each challenge out through a lot of reading and additional research. My perception of an early childhood professional has changed by my new belief that obtaining my Doctorate is an unreachable goal for me. I was thinking I might continue my education but after this class I am not so sure I have the professional skills to keep going. People who have their Doctorate are the pinnacle of professional within our field for their pure ability to initiate, preform, and conclude an ethical research topic.

I am so thankful to my peers who supported and provided feedback. It truly expanded my learning and I am grateful. I am not sure I would have been successful in this class without your questions and posts. Thank You.