Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

This week, I asked three people to define culture and diversity.

One young man just finishing his first year of college defined them this way:

culture - the way of life humans created for themselves.  Norms that humans follow.  The way they are expected to live their lives. The way to live their lives to fit in.

diversity - having different thoughts, opinions, and ways of life than then norm. Being different but still part of the culture, just kind of different.

This young man is diverse because he has a father who is an atheist but grew up Mormon and a mother who is Catholic.


One friend of mine who could represent upper socioeconomic class culture, a culture different from mine, defined them this way:

culture - The predominant or most common habits , beliefs, and perceptions of a particular group of people as regards to their: food, clothing, shelter, colloquialisms,  travel, religion, music, entertainment, humor, health, education, family, sex, and, authority.  

Diversity: Having a range of types. 

This friend is also diverse because her mother and at least two siblings had schizophrenia when she was growing up and she takes medicine for schizophrenia now. 




My oldest daughter had this to say about culture and diversity:

Culture has to do with the way a society thinks, and, works, and functions. Some might define it in a more specific way based on their own culture.

Diversity - generally has to do with cultural differences. I think differently than you because I grew up in a different time and in a different culture. I also might think differently because I am a woman and not a man. Some examples of diverse cultures in America are American culture - a very broad culture, Catholic culture, secular culture. One type of diversity is religious culture. Another type of diversity is gender diversity. Another type of diversity involves where a person grew up. 



A wide range of types of diversity were included in the answers I received. For example, my daughter mentioned religious, gender, and ethnic diversity. My upper-class friend mentioned a diversity of religions, beliefs, types of humor, and types of families. Many of these types were included in what I have studied in this course. Humor has not been mentioned in this course, and I think this a great addition to the many types of diversity there are.

Nobody mentioned parenting style. This was a very important omission. It is very important to be aware of different parenting styles in the early childhood field.

Thinking about other people's definitions of culture and diversity has influenced me to realize that parenting style is an outgrowth of the deeply held beliefs of parents, and parenting style also influences the beliefs of children. For example, my parents mainly led their children through their examples. This has led me to believe that I should convince others or lead others through self-sacrifice and through my example.