EDUC - 6164: Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The three people, who I asked about their definitions of culture and diversity, are my mother, my co-worker, and my close friend. 

1. My mother and I have shared Thai culture with me since I was born.

2. My co-worker, she is African American who was born in Maryland, and moved to Virginia beach. She has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from ODU.

3. My close friend is Thai, and she currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. She went to the same undergraduate school as me. We had shared a lot of experiences and journeys overseas together. 

Culture Definition

My coworker and my close friend has stated the same that culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or group of people. Many different things make up a society’s culture. These things include food, language, clothing, tools, music, arts, customs, beliefs, and religion. The term ethnicity may be used to describe the cultural background of a person. An ethnic group is made up of people who share the same ethnicity.

My mother also added that culture is the belief, livfstle, and norms, which have been passing down from generation to generation. It is our duty to keep our culture live and pass it own to the younger generation. 

Diversity Definition

My mother and my friend both only mention that the diversity is the variety of people in terms of languages, sex, and economy status in the society. Language is part of cultural identity. The languages we speak are wrapped in global history, personal history, politics, and power. It is essential to respect and acknowledge that language is a source of pride. On the other hand, my co-worker, who lives in the USA, emphasized the diversity of race and ethnicity in the society and how we all human in different colors live hamoniusly together in the society. 

I believe that one aspect have been omitted is the GENDER diversity. 

Diversity is not just about race, culture, country of origin, religion, or ability status. Children who are gender-expansive or LGBTQ also need a sense of belonging and participation in the program. According to Grinberg (2014), gender-neutral environments support all children and prevent distress to gender-expansive and LGBTQ children. Gender-neutral, sometimes called gender-expansive, settings help all children feel safe to express their full selves. To be prepared, staff need to develop a shared understanding of gender identity and language to support LGBTQ children and families. For example, a wide selection of children's books features transgender and gender-expansive children. Many more feature men and women in stereotypical roles of all races and sexual orientations; the same goes for posters that hang in classrooms.

Through out this week's blog, I noticed that people have their own definition of diversity and culture, based on their experience and their community. My mom has not seen people in other races much because in Thailand, there is not much diversity in race. Therefore, she may be not used to the diversity in race which is true. When I was young, I had darker skin than other students in school because my dad is from southern part of Thailand. Students and teachers have not seen darker skin child in the school before so sometimes they made fun of my skin color. However, my co-worker who lives in the USA, has been experienced more diversity in language, culture, race, and gender.  So she understands more about the diversity concept. 

Grinberg, E. (2014). 6 ways to Embrace Gender Differences at School. Retrieved from https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/news/6-ways-embrace-gender-differences-school