"What is culture?"
My husband: The traditions, customs that are passed down over time that define a group of people.
My sister: A group of people who are, because of geography or religion, similar in belief and social understanding.
My daughter (5.5 years old): It means you speak a language, like Chinese, and have special clothes and traditions, like Chinese New Year.
"What is diversity?"
My husband: Something that is not homogenous.
My sister: A group of items or people that are different.
My daughter: It's like Helen Keller. She was blind and deaf and she learned sign language. People are different and special.
It is always interesting when you ask people what culture is, and what diversity is. Often they have stop and think about it, and they may not even think they know the answer. I chose these three people because they represent interesting differences. My husband, is also American, but grew up in a very different family culture than mine. My sister grew up with me, but I was curious what she would say, because her life experience has not been mine. My daughter has been learning about culture and diversity at school, so I thought her answer would be interesting.
I think that I got some relevant, accurate descriptions of culture, although diversity was a bit harder for them to define in detail. What I learned from the answers I received is that even though we do not think about it, culture and diversity are concepts that we clearly understand, even from a young age.
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| My daughter Sydney at a Hula performance |
BethAnn, how awesome it is to be able to ask your daughter these questions. I like her answers. I actually asked one person the two questions and she thought about it for a few minutes and told me that she did not know what to say. Some people really do not know what culture and diversity is, and some think these two words mean the same thing. Growing up in the dominate culture as a Caucasian female, I did not think I had a culture, I figured I was just "plain." As I got older, I realized that the values and traditions my parents and grandparents taught me was my culture. Do you think your daughter would be able to explain her culture to another person? Great post.
ReplyDeleteJill
Bethann, I have really enjoyed reading your blog post. You were very creative by seperating each person's definitions into quotes. That was very creative and I did not think about doing it in that way. I see that everyone had a basic idea of what culture is. Your daughter had some very interesting answers.
ReplyDeleteBethAnn,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful daughter you have :) Her responses are too cute and honest. It also took my interviewees a second to think about their responses. The definitions are simple yet complex so it is understandable to think about it for a second. You are right when you say these terms are things young children can understand. Thank you for sharing.
~Jalice