Culture is a set of values, beliefs, traditions and common behaviour for a particular group of people. For example, there are divisions of Asian culture, American culture or European culture, where each culture has its own norms and regulations, values and beliefs. According to the UNESCO culture definition, “Culture is that complex whole which includes morals, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by a human as a member of the society” (Cultural, 2016). Cultural diversity is when people of different cultures and backgrounds live together peacefully within one society or one country. The perfect examples of countries with great cultural diversity are Canada and the United States.
Cultural diversity is a very familiar and a common thing for me. I lived in Toronto, Canada for two years, and Toronto is known as the most multicultural city in the world. Based on my life experience and my own culture, I identified four aspects of diversity that have influenced my personal identity – race, gender, values and seniority. Based on these aspects, my identity was formed and developed the way I behave in the society and the way people perceive me.
For the observable characteristics of culture, I chose belief characteristics. Belief is inevitably linked to values and gender. First, what people believe is based on the values they have. For example, if in Asian culture family values are appreciated, then people believe that family issues are the most important, and no matter how much work they have, they always will take care of their parents or siblings. In North American culture for example, many children and parents live in different states and cities. Upon graduation, young people tend to move to those places where they were able to find a high paying or interesting job based on the specialization. Individualistic values are dominant in North America and therefore, based on the individualistic belief, most young people regardless of the gender tend to live independently from their parents. In regards to gender issues, Asian cultures believe that male and female gender have their own responsibilities. Like male is responsible for earning money, while female’s main role is to raise kids and cook the dinners. Based on that gender belief, most families are divided into gender responsibilities. In North American culture people believe that both genders are equal and based on that belief the responsibilities of earning money and taking care of the children is divided equally.
For the non-observable characteristics of culture, I chose roles. Roles are linked to gender and values. In Asian culture, women instinctively know their role in the society based on the gender. In North American culture, women know that roles do not play a significant role in the society, therefore, they know that their role is equal with men in the society. Asian women for example are valued for being good mothers, good cookers and good housecleaners. While European or North American women are valued for their career achievements or personal growth.
I have a personal experience with a person of Latin American culture. We had some cultural issues when we were doing group project together. At first, I got mad at this person all the time, because of the unpunctuality he had. If he said he would send me the paper via email in one hours, he actually used to send it in four hours. When the group meeting was supposed to be at 3 in the afternoon, because of his late arrivals it started only at 5 in the evening. However, at that time I was unaware of Latin American “manana” or tomorrow attitude. Nowadays, I am aware of that interesting part of Latin American culture and understand its people who tend to have tomorrow attitude. This group project with Latin American person gave me the opportunity to develop my diversity consciousness that helps me a lot until nowadays. I became less judgemental and more understanding.
Space orientation, learning styles and personality styles are the three aspects of culture within a school community that I would want to have an awareness as the educator. Different children have different learning styles. In general (not everyone) , Asian kids tend to have faster learning skills at math, so educators must develop different learning programs for different learning styles in my opinion. Regarding to space orientation, some cultures have less space orientation when they speak and discuss something with each other, while other cultures have more. Therefore, educators must follow the medium space orientation that fits both Asian and European, Christian and Muslim children. Usually children of European and North American origin are more open and brave in class discussions, while children of Asian origin tend to be shy in class discussions. That is why educators should understand different cultural aspects of different children.
The 21st century world is the world of globalization, and education sphere is not an exception. More and more people of different backgrounds and cultures study in the same classroom, more and more exchange students are transferring between different schools, and that is why understanding the diversity education is crucial for teachers. Nowadays the world is changing so rapidly that placing students of different background in the same class may not be enough nowadays. Teachers may even need to “create racially integrated learning environment”(Gurin, 2003).
References
Cultural Diversity | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/cultural-diversity/
