Perspectives on Diversity and Culture... Interviewing others

My first interview was held with the Director of Education at the local early learning facility. Mrs. Hobart’s says that “culture is the way we do things around here. Families have culture, schools, and organizations have culture and also communities. Diversity means differences. When we have diversity we have people who come to a situation with lots of different perspectives and experiences.”

Mrs. Lango is a current teacher at ELLRC. Mrs. Lango’s definition of diversity is to embrace any and all things that are similar and different from how she was raised, her beliefs and what she currently knows. She believes that diversity is observed in every facet of our lives. The society that we live in is extremely diverse and we must learn to coexist within our society that is a mixing bowl called acceptance. She states “culture is how you were raised and often times people cannot distinguish between what culture is and what is race and the two should not be confused. Your culture is developed through norms and tradition and should not be characterized by your ethnicity.”

Taurean is an uprising 7^th grader attending middle school in his community. Taurean’s definition of culture is seeing the different kinds of kids and teachers that go to his school. He says that some are from different cultures like Chinese, African American, and Caucasian. His definition of diversity includes the children that have challenges.

In reflection, completing this assignment was interesting. I wanted to interview individuals that may have had different perspectives and definitions of culture and diversity. Rather than choose from specific characteristics I randomly selected individuals that were in various occupations but keeping one thing in common and that is their exposure, impact and interactions with diversity and culture. Their aspects of culture relating to norms, traditions, and rearing styles were similar in being the foundation of their existence and way of living.

Omissions such as differences in age, gender, and class were omitted. I believe that this was due mostly impart to each of their position of interconnectedness with these differences and also having an awareness and respect for these aspects. The realm of culture and diversity are multifaceted and unconsciously recognizing the similarities between their cultures and others.

Thinking about other peoples’ definition of culture and definition has expanded my thoughts regarding this topic. Although certain characteristics make us uniquely different, there are several aspects that make us similar. We all have specific inheritances from our ancestors that cultivate our behaviors and beliefs which we pass down from generation to generation. These traits are ingrained in our genetic DNA and code our mental models and responses to the world.