When doing this assignment I decided to ask various people that are in my life their definitions. I could have asked several different teachers, but I want to gain the insight of definitions from people who are not in the education field.
My first person of contact:
My long time friend of 20 years, Falon
Culture: To me culture can mean many different things. I am a biracial female who has not had an easy life in Detroit. I have seen many sides of many different people and not all of them are pretty. My culture is me being able to share my life with my mixed daughter. I share with her my African American culture and I share my Caucasian culture. Not one culture is dominant over the other and I share with my family and friends all parts of me.
Diversity: To me diversity can come in many forms. Some people take diversity too far and it becomes hate. I have been a part of hate crimes before and it was not pretty. I was scared but also didn't understand why I was being blamed and tormented for being different. I am accepting of different people, so I don't understand why people aren't accepting of me. Diversity is being able to share all parts of my culture or anyone for that matter, and not be made to feel like they are wrong for being part of a culture.
My second person of contact:
My cousin and best friend, Krystal
Culture: Culture is being able to represent who you are without being looked down upon or told you are wrong.
Diversity: Diversity is the difference between the different cultures that are represented through different activities from a given culture.
My third person of contact:
My lead teacher from student teaching, Laurie
Culture: Culture is my favorite part of the classroom! I love seeing what new races and blending together in my class, so that we can share stories and become an even larger family. Thus culture is the bringing together of multiple ideas, beliefs and traditions that create a unique outlook on life.
Diversity: Being diverse is what makes us so great! As we start the school year, we look at what makes us all different and we talk about diversity! Diversity is what makes us who we are and lets us learn from others to be even more unique.
Overall, my three contacts had similar thoughts on diversity and culture. All of the contacts also felt that these are necessary aspects to having a successful place for children to learn and grow. Even though all of the contacts are not education professionals, they still know what it means to be diverse and have a sense of culture.
Hi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteThe comments are interesting. I particularly like the response given by your lead teacher who states that 'culture is the bringing together of multiple ideas, beliefs and traditions that create a unique outlook on life'. Do you think that they understand the importance of deep culture from the responses given.
Natasha your friend's culture is interesting. It was interesting to know how everything people can be so mean that they still look at race and make it hard for someone of another race. Your cousin Krystal is right culture is "being able to represent who you" freely and without criticisms.
ReplyDeleteRachel Hendrix
Hi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Even though culture and diversity are topics that are not talked about to often, there is a general sense of what it entitles. I like how your student teacher said, "Thus culture is the bringing together of multiple ideas, beliefs and traditions that create a unique outlook on life." I like to think of the classroom as a box of crayons, we are all mixed up and stuck in their together, so why not make the best out of it.