Definitions of Culture and Diversity

I asked several people their definition of culture and diversity, and only received four replies.

Here are the replies I received.

“Culture is a set of attitudes, rules of behavior and beliefs held commonly within a society. Diversity is the extent to which things differ.”

“Culture is defined as developing or improving the mind by education or training.  Diversity is accepting others for their differences.”

 “Culture has two meanings.  The first is refined, steeped in proper etiquette and good manners...as in "Scarlett O'Hara (Gone with the Wind) was a very cultured southern woman.
The second definition is the area and family in which you were raised that taught you a particular set of values...as in "He was raised in a good Catholic family and was taught to go to Mass every week and to be respectful of his elders."  Diversity was defined as, “Usually used in the context of a population that is different from one another...as in, "The town I grew up in had a lower, middle-class group of working-class, blue-collar kind of people as well as an upper-middle class group of professional people. Also, diversity can be thought as a wide-ranging group of ideas...as in "During our brainstorming session, we came up with a diverse amount of ideas for solving the problem." (*Suggested looking up definition in dictionary)

The last person looked up the definition in a dictionary and did not give their personal definition of culture and diversity.  It was interesting to compare and contrast the dictionary definition to the other definitions that were given.  I am not sure if this is from Webster’s or another online dictionary, but it reads, “Culture is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group ; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life; shared by people in a place or time ‹popular ~› ‹southern ~› c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization ‹a corporate ~ focused on the bottom line› d : the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic. 

I found it interesting that one person defined culture and diversity with a dictionary, and another suggested I research this myself in a dictionary, and these were the two oldest people I asked.  I found it interesting that the definitions were very broad and some included identities that some may associate with (i.e. religious affiliation, geographical location, and social class).  I did see an expression of the dominant culture, when working class was referenced.   

I think a working definition of surface culture is represented, not deep culture.  If you used these definitions to get to know someone, this would be surface level, and not really know about traditions, values, expressions of emotions, relationships, etc. 

Prior to this class, I would have defined culture and diversity in a very broad sense as well.  I think having such a broad definition of culture often limits us as we work with children, because we only apply surface level thinking, and do not go deep into the student’s culture.  I have decided to make every effort to go deep into the culture, not just scratch the surface.