This week we were supposed to call or speak with at least three friends, family members, acquaintances, and/or colleagues about their definitions of culture and diversity. The three people I chose to speak with were 1. my best friend who teaches 2nd grade (age 27, female), 2. my boyfriends mother who ran daycares for over 45 years and 3. my good friend who works for a daycare in Asheville, NC where I currently live.
The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied and were part of my discussions was the growth of cultural diversity among our classrooms today. For example, my boyfriends mother spoke with me about how she has seen the demographics of early childhood programs shift over the years. It was very interesting to speak with someone who has been so involved in their community for so many years and has seen the changes.
One aspect that was missing was the resources that are available to deal properly with diverse children's' programs. My friend in Asheville spoke of the difficulty she had at times because the director is very busy and has limited time to actively reach out and communicate with individuals. I think this makes it very difficult for a program to run smoothly, however with standards and guidelines that need to be met it is hard to delegate duties effectively at times.
One way thinking about other people's definitions of diversity has influenced my own thinking is that I see how it depends a lot on the community in which you work, the demographics in that community, and the resources that are available to educators and programs. Time seems to be a difficult factor when dealing with a classroom of students and one or two instructors. There is a lack of time to become the professionals we strive to be and more demand of duties and responsibilities than the time to do so.
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