Cultural Studies And Diversity Essay Sample

Culture refers to people’s way of life. It also includes the values, beliefs of norms shared by a particular group of people. On the other hand, diversity refers to a dimension that is used to distinguish between groups of people (Creevey, 2014). The dimension can include race, gender, socio-economic status or values. Diversity seeks to explore these characteristics in a nurturing environment.

Four Aspects of diversity;

Faith, work environment, family, and school environment
Faith and work environment.
The mode of dressing provides an ideal recognizable characteristic of culture. Different cultures have their own mode of dressing, which is normally influenced by other conditions such as climatic conditions or values. Dressing mode can be used to illustrate the faith of a person since, different faith emphasize on a specific mode of dressing. For instance, Muslims strictly emphasize women to dress in a manner that covers their body. Besides that, the mode of dressing can be used to express the diversity in working environment. In many working environments, there are rules that define mode of dressing for both genders. Therefore, workers have to adhere to the dressing styles required by their organization.
Values are non-observable characteristics of culture; however, they play an essential role in expressing aspects of diversity. For instance, values express faith diversity through encouraging tolerance of diverse faith affiliations. Different working environments have their unique values that require workers to enforce. These values define how the organizations operate both internally and, with the outside world (Tierney, 2007).
Some of my first experiences with a group of people from different cultures have been within my own home. My mom (who is from Argentina) always invites and requeststhat my siblings come home for family parties and get-togethers and that they bring their spouses who are all from diverse cultural backgrounds. For instance, my sister-in-law is Filipino; one of my sisters’ is married to an Irish man, another Polish, Danish & German, while the last one has Irish and Mexican Indian background. Having the opportunity to interact with them provides me with insights on how people should react and treat people from different backgrounds of life. Although my sisters are able to relate with them on a daily basis, it gives me and my other family members an opportunity to interact with them and really get to know and understand each of them better.
During family reunions, I experience social barriers to diversity because my sister/brother in-laws are from different backgrounds and, they each hold unique values and beliefs. I am always aware that I have to adjust and accommodate to their opinions on various story topics to ensure every person feels comfortable and appreciated. Although experiencing social barrier to diversity I have to restrain from making comments that would hurt any of the visitors. Every person is given a favorable environment to raise their issues and, also provide their opinions on the story topics.
These get-togethers give me an opportunity to understand the importance of tolerating and, accepting other people’s cultural background, as well as their values. As indicated above, I experience social barrier when surrounded by people from diverse cultural background. These meetings have had a positive impact on the development and understanding of cultural diversity. For instance, I have realized the importance of inclusivity when dealing with people having different cultural affiliations. Moreover, I now understand the role cultural diversity plays in enhancing cohesion and unity. Despite having cultural differences, our family is now more connected and, cooperative ever since we had the family meetings. Finally, diversity increases curiosity since a person wants to get a deeper understanding of the other culture. For instance, the meeting experience quenched my thirst for understanding how other cultures operate.

Three aspects of culture/diversity for creating awareness in school;

Gender, ethnicity and values
A school provides the avenue where learners understand the importance of promoting gender equality. Educating learners with gender equality principles will ensure they respect each other both at school and, in different environments (Tierney, 2007). Secondly, ethnicity is an important aspect of diversity. Through learning to appreciate the diverse ethnic backgrounds of students, the school will provide a favorable learning environment for all students especially those who come from different backgrounds. Finally, learners should learn to uphold their mission and purpose of the school because this will help the school earn a good reputation and, respect from other institutions.

Three reasons to engage in diversity education

First, as learners continue their journey of education, they will meet people from diverse backgrounds and hence, it important for them to acquire skills that will help them cooperate with people from different backgrounds. Secondly, diversity education helps learners understand how different cultures operate. Finally, diversity education inculcates tolerance and acceptance skills that learners can use in their future endeavors (Tierney, 2007).

References:

Creevey, Anne. (2014, May 20). Definition of Diversity. Retrieved from http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html
Tierney, S. (2007). Accommodating cultural diversity. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.