EDUC 6164 week3

I interviewed three friends of mine and my son for this assignment, and found all the answers incredibly interesting. All of them were accurate, and all of them were different, all of them left out aspects of culture and diversity that we are learning about, but all of them also included most of what we have learnt.

It is important to remember that we live in a city where 90% of the population is not from the dominant culture and those 90% come from a huge range of cultures. So anyone interviewed already has a deeper awareness of culture and diversity compared to other cities in this world.

My friend X defined culture as living within your beliefs; and the beliefs of your religion. She defined diversity as living amongst cultures and being tolerant of everyone else's beliefs. When asked to describe herself, she said that she is a mother in her 40s, who has three children. She has been living in Dubai for 14 years, she is a Catholic of Jamaican Canadian upbringing with Chinese heritage and she is married to a Portuguese Canadian. To me, she is the definition of diversity.

My friend Y defined culture with a list of things: heritage, family beliefs, religion, character, moral values, food and dress. She defined diversity as all the above melted into one. She continued by explain that we don’t have to agree with others or understand them, but we have to respect others. When asked to describe herself she said she is an American who grew up in California, whose parents are divorced and remarried, she moved to Florida when she was 14 years old, is a Christian, married for 15 years and had moved to Dubai one year and a half ago.

My friend Z defined culture as a way of living, through religion, upbringing, language, social identity, education, food, clothing, dress, socializing, nationality and ethnicity. Her definition of diversity is the differences within cultures, within families, within upbringing, within school systems and within communities. She is a working mother of three, married for 19 years, born and raised in Denmark, lived in Australia for one year as a young adult, lived in Italy for 2 years and now living in Dubai for the last 9 years.

My 12 year old son saw me interview friends and volunteered, and his response was that culture is a way that a person or family choose to, or are raised to, run their life. He defined diversity as differences between people that make up an environment of a range of cultures. My son is American, with Lebanese heritage, is born and raised in Dubai, goes to a British school and has extended family members all over the world.

I am pleased that everyone has a relatively accurate and deep understanding of culture and diversity. I am curious to read about other interviews from classmates, to compare definitions around the world.