(EDUC-6164 Diversity) Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

                                                                                                          

                                       

What I having been learning about diversity and culture is that we all define what culture and diversity is differently. How I define culture may be different from another individual and that individual may define it differently from the next. I think it is due to our own experiences, knowledge, and understanding of what diversity and culture is. Even the way that I define or have defined culture has evolved and changed since I began this course, especially since I have had the opportunity over the past few weeks to take a deeper look at my own culture.

It was very interesting to have the opportunity to ask different people about how they define culture and diversity.

The first person I asked was my daughter’s physiotherapist. You might think that is strange, but my daughter is a competitive gymnast and we spend time making friends with physiotherapists. Two weeks ago she hurt her foot and we have spent the last two weeks in physio with Arthur. Yesterday at our appointment I asked if I could ask him a few questions about culture and diversity and he was all fired up to answer! Arthur is a 39 year male who is a first generation Canadian. Both his parents are from the Philippines. Here is Arthur’s definition of culture and diversity;

“Culture is the identity of oneself such as; religion, faith, and language. It can also be your visual appearance, food, customs, and the all different parts of a person. A person is born with culture and you get to grow into your culture. Diversity is what makes us different such as our gender, age, orientation. We might see different sets of people. Within culture there is diversity.” Arthur told my daughter and me that when he was in grade six he won the national writing contest and his name is on a big huge trophy that travels from school to school each year. He told us that his story was actually on diversity and that he ended his story with a poem that he still remembered and it goes like this…..”Is there really a difference, black, white, or brown when your feelings are hurt there is not a smile, but a frown. For you are you and I am I. You are prejudice please tell me why?”  Arthur was so interesting to talk to and we ended up talking about this for my daughter’s entire appointment….the stories he continued to share about growing up in a culture that was different form his friends was fascinating!!

The second person I asked is my neighbor/friend who is a 45 year female who is a first generation Canadian. Both her parents are from Italy who immigrated to Canada in the early 1960’s. Here is Sonia’s definition of culture and diversity;

“Culture and diversity is not so straightforward and there are many interpretations. Diversity and culture go hand in hand in with how people represent themselves in their practice and beliefs. If I define them separately, diversity is what makes people different and unique, things specific for the individual and their specific characteristics. We are all diverse, but we come together with our likeness. Diversity can be our race, ethnicity, religion. We can’t make assumptions about diversity. Diversity is not homogenous. A woman can be diverse from other women. One woman might be lesbian, have a physical disability, speak different languages, and be Jewish. Just because individuals are women doesn’t mean they are the same because of gender. Culture can be seen as the tangible things that represent part of a group and the symbols around a group such as their belief systems, customs, and rituals. I see how diversity and culture can be combined.”

The third person I asked is my colleague/friend who I teach with. Chris is a 60 year old Canadian woman who is a teacher. Here is Chris’ definition of culture and diversity;

“My definition of diversity and culture has changed over the years with my maturity and knowledge. I grew up in a small, working class, all white city. From what I remember there was no diversity and if there was, no one acknowledge it or talked about it. It wasn’t until I moved to Ottawa, Canada that I was first exposed to diversity and then I became aware of diverse people and diverse practices. With more knowledge, I began to understand and see different races, religion, life styles, and I began to understand that there was more to diversity than just gender. Culture is the family where you grow up in and the expectations and traditions of your family make culture. In my family, we had to be in for dinner and couldn’t leave the table until everyone finished dinner, we could never talk back to our parents, we had to go to church and say our prayers every night.”

When I reflect on how each one of these individuals defined diversity and culture, their perspectives have helped to add to the way I think about diversity and culture. Anytime we gain more information, it enables me to widen my lens and to understand how important it is to value everyone’s understanding and perspectives. We can’t make assumptions that we should all define things in the same manner. Just because I may view culture or diversity in one way does not mean that I think that we should all define it the same.  Even though their experiences with diversity and culture may have been different, there were similarities in their responses. When I think about how Janet Gonzalez-Mena talked about culture being like an iceberg, I think they all touch on what she referred to as the “tip” of the iceberg as well as the part that is immersed that we can’t see. The conversations that I had with each of these individuals were eye opening and so meaningful. I really enjoyed this assignment!!