Cultural diversity is a key concept in the study of social science and to some extent behaviorism (Banks, 2015). This paper argues that the concept of diversity should be given prior importance in the society of contemporary times and the systems of education that are present in them. It argues that diversity should not be neglected and treated in a superficial manner. Diversity is perceived in different ways within early education for children. This paper tries to explain how important it is for the educators who are educating the children of a particular society to consider diversity because it will help in creating a long lasting impact on the minds of the people (Robinson & Jones-Diaz, 2017, p.33). It can also prove to be a remedy for discrimination. Considering the concept of diversity from an early age can eradicate discrimination from societies. This paper intends to address the cultural differences in a first-hand account of the author and discuss about the risks associated with a cultural plunge. Specifically, this paper intends to describe the socio cultural differences of the indigenous people living in Australia with the whites and the impacts on them due to the cultural plunge.
Identity concepts – How do you see yourself in terms of social positioning, identity categories and elements of subjectivity?
In order to justify, compare and analyze the factors related to diversity and the cultural plunge, it is important to consider the factors of division by ‘normal’ and ‘other from the normal’ type of population. Simply put, this is nothing but the dominance by the numerically superior race who indirectly happen to be culturally superior. This division creates social inequality or ‘diversity’ (Banks, 2014). In other words, these factors are simply the benchmarks which are required to be considered for conducting the analysis.
As a matter of fact, the normality and abnormality are relative terms deepening on the circumstances and location. I consider myself to fall under the ‘normal’ category in the location that I reside in. I will be discussing the socio-cultural differences between the whites and the aborigines and in this regard, we white people are the majority here in Australia. Specifically, I intend to discuss the requirement for considering and appraising diversity in early childhood education as it has the capability of elimination of the racial discrimination president in the society today due to the lack of observation of these factors (Moss, Dahlberg & Pence, 2013). I personally believe in the importance of eradication of the toxic concept of racial discrimination to attain a sustainable society.
Rationale for the plunge – Why did you chose this particular plunge based on key identity concepts/aspects of self (social positioning, identity categories and elements of subjectivity)?
The aspect of the existence of difference and diversity in early childhood education is a deep concept that can affect the individuals, both the majority and minority in the wrong ways. This is why I considered it important to look into the matter in detail and study the cultural plunge regarding this matter (MacNaughton, 2005, pp. 15-31). The cultural plunges are required to be investigated because the indigenous Australians are considered a minority who face a lot of discrimination throughout their lives. Furthermore, the importance of observation of diversity in early education is required because the images of the children have an impact and influence on the perception of children about self (Fryberg et al., 2013) The reason for me to take this cultural plunge into consideration is because I am looking forward to conduct an analysis of the factors responsible for the discrimination. A cultural plunge into the indigenous culture that is present in the society but is often discriminated, would help me seek better knowledge about the cultural diversities that is present in our society. It is also conducted while considering the introduction of indigenous education in modern education of the whites in the post-colonial era to promote the idea of a culturally diverse nation and maintaining a sustainable society.
Description of the experience – What were the central events? Where, what and who was involved?
I planned to give a visit to the western part of the country where a majority of the indigenous population resides. In order to know more about the socio-cultural differences by having a first-hand experience of the same, I decided to visit a day care center for children called Coota Gulla Preschool. I am an English speaker by birth and the indigenous languages were not familiar to me, due to which I was prepared for the gap in communications through language (Power, 2012). I decided to take my daughter to the language class where they would teach her their language. I observed that the person who was teaching the language could speak English but it was not being given a priority. In addition, the type of English they spoke at the class was different from what we understood back here. I observed that my mother tongue was not being valued at the center and the aboriginal languages were being normalized (Ahmed, 2013). This gave me an insight about the process of treating the indigenous in the areas consisting of a white majority. The indigenous people are not given much importance in the English speaking areas and are often discriminated on the basis of language. Their mother tongue is not valued here in the English speaking areas which is why the consideration of diversity of culture is required in the education system. It is required to be implemented in the early childhood education procedure.
Reactions to the plunge – Why did you expect to feel like ‘the other’ [before]?
The conceptions of being defined as normal or the other are relative depending on the circumstances and situational activities. It is the minority that is usually termed as the other in regards to the ‘normal’ population of the whites in Australia. In the incident of being in an aboriginal day care center for children, where the majority would be the indigenous population of Australia, I was bound to feel like an outsider or ‘the other’ half of the classification that has been implemented in our society. This was because the majority of the population was outside of my race. Therefore, they had customs much different from ours (MacNaughton, 2005, pp. 6-13). They did not speak English, which is considered to be the language of the ‘normal’ population in the areas resided by the whites. Instead, their own language was considered ‘normal’ and all the other languages from different races as ‘others.’ Usually, the indigenous population residing in the white areas are looked down upon and discriminated based on their race and language differences (Fredericks, 2013). I have grown up being a part of such a society that discriminates and hence I used to consider every society to be similar. I was thinking throughout that the indigenous people had a similar thought process about the whites and they would treat me like ‘others.’
Emotionally, how did you actually experience being ‘the other’ [during and after]?
The incident of visiting a day care center for the children of the indigenous people, gave me a whole new different experience of witnessing the diversity of culture first-hand. The experience was phenomenal (Summer, 2014, pp.193-200). I observed that even though there were differences in between the two societies along with language and cultural distinctions, I was not considered an outsider. I did not face any racial discrimination even though I was white, which was the ‘other’ form of people in their society (Robinson & Jones-Diaz, 2017, pp. 1-4). I was treated as their guest and they did everything that they could to serve me to which I obliged. This experience of being amongst the minority taught me several lessons. It taught me how we should consider giving prior importance in the major part of the country and not discriminate between the people from multiple cultures based on their race, caste, complexion, religion or ethnicity (Rose, 2015). The society of the minority is quite different from that of the majority with non-existent discrimination. This incident made me think about the narrow-mindedness of our society and the lack of proper education that should have been given to us since early childhood (Miller & Petriwskyj, 2013, pp.251-266). This incident brings me to the topic of my research as to why providing multicultural education is important from the early childhood in our society.
Analysis of feelings (linked to identity) – What insights did you gain, decisions did you make and behaviours did you change?
The experience that I had visiting the place of the aborigines had great emotional effects on me. I had a lot of insights after witnessing the people and the incidents in the region (Rodriguez, 2000, pp.1-24). Firstly, the value for their mother tongue without insulting or discriminating or belittling an outsider like me for not being able to speak the language taught me how to value people and respect their abilities. In addition, I was fascinated by their approach to eradicate the classifications of ‘normal’ and ‘others,’ which is a root cause for racial discrimination (Crenshaw et al., 2018). They believed in the concept of a diverse society with the acceptability of socio-cultural differences. I decided to promote the idea of acceptance of socio-cultural differences and stopping the racial discrimination against other cultures. I decided to move out of the colonial concept of having a singular society without diversities.
The indigenous population is always mistreated by the population of the whites, who are the majority in the eastern side of the country. I have always been exposed to such a discriminating society, which does not encourage the cultural diversities that might be and are present in the society (Lee, 2012). Therefore, I have never seen the accepting nature of people to cultural diversities. Even in our education system, we are not taught the aboriginal languages even though they are a part of the population and are the original residents of the country (Mosby, 2013). Since the discrimination exists in the education system, we are unaware of most of their cultural facts and traditions and mostly live on stereotypes about them. This is the reason why I thought that they might be treating the whites with the same level of discrimination in their territory that they receive in the territory of the whites.
My conception of the indigenous population changed completely when I took the plunge in their culture and experienced the value for cultural diversity myself. My observations of their value for another language which was not their mother tongue helped me in getting a clear idea of the misconceptions amongst the white people of the rest of the country (McConaghy, 2000, pp. 135-156). The indigenous society itself has several languages that are spoken among them, making the society with diversity in culture by default. Whereas, the society of the white people have only one language that is English, which is why they are incapable of accepting the socio-cultural diversity (Ho, 2013). Furthermore, the indigenous people accepted the fact of cultural diversity and treated the non-aborigines as their guests and not outsiders. The plunge experience taught me to be accepting to other cultures.
The experience of indulging into a culture other than my own was phenomenal. However, I did have a discomfort in accepting the way of functioning of the indigenous culture at first. This was because I was taking my time in adapting to the diversities and differentiation of that culture (Eades, 2013). In addition, the fact of being indulged in a culture where they did not speak my mother tongue and with customs and traditions different than mine prompted a discomfort within me about the adaptability and acceptability. This was because the change that I was facing was not natural and gradual but a sudden one.
I took the experience of a cultural plunge in order to know and adapt to the indigenous culture of Australian aborigines and also to compare it with that of the whites (Giugni et al., 2010, pp.23-44). The idea of exchanging the perspectives with the culture different than mine in terms of race, ethnicity, language and religion helped me in evaluating the position of the culturally diverse people in the society of the whites. The concept of categories of identities are defined by the beliefs, qualities, looks and expressions of a person or a group of people (Montagu, 2013). I was not sure about the critical identity categories until I took the plunge of culture. I observed the difference in race, their complexion, their traditions and customs and also their language for which they are discriminated in the societies of whites.
The experience taught me how important it is to practice education of different cultures in a multicultural society from the early childhood. This will not only enable the children to learn about different cultures but also to accept the cultural diversities and eradicate discrimination based on race. The cultural plunge taught me the importance of education in order to eradicate racial discrimination (Cheng, 2013). I have learned to accept the cultural diversity that is present in the society and will not indulge in racial discrimination that is harmful for achieving a culturally diverse and sustainable society.
I have learned about the importance of early education about cultural diversities present in a society and how it might help in eliminating the discrimination based on race and language. In addition, the experience has been useful in coming into the conclusion that educating the mass is the only way to eradicate the social evils and that needs to be done from the roots. The children are the future of a nation and society and providing the correct education to them about the cultural diversities will help them in seeking knowledge about the other cultures and in this way, they will learn to accept the diversities and differences of culture (Forrest & Dunn, 2013). This experience has taught me how irrelevant discrimination is. It has also enlightened me about the irrelevance of classification of ‘normal’ and ‘others’ present in the society because the classifications are nothing but a measure to ensure the presence of discrimination. I feel the benchmarks of classification and reference should be removed from the society and the idea of a culturally diverse society should be encouraged.
Implications for policy, programming, planning, and work with stakeholders – How might this impact your programming/ planning, centre policies and daily practices?
I have learned how to be more open minded and accepting as a person towards other cultures after taking the cultural plunge. There is a diversity of languages even in the indigenous culture itself and this is why the idea of a culturally diverse society is common to them. They are open minded and socially accepting towards other cultures. They do not have the classifications of cultures present in their society and this is how they could promote a culturally sustainable society (Valadez, 2018). The experience gave me many insights about the presence and acceptance of other cultures in our society. It taught me that all the humans can never be of the same race and there will be different races, societies and cultures based on location. I will implement the learnings achieved from the experience in my daily life. I will not discriminate and support the idea of discrimination of other cultures based on race and language and other factors (Rhedding-Jones, 2005, pp. 131-145). Furthermore, I will support and encourage the idea of providing multicultural education from the early childhood of children so that they can grow up to be a generation which does not promoter discrimination and wok on becoming a culturally diverse and sustainable society.
Broader issues of diversity and difference – Links with key ideas surrounding diversity and difference in general.
Beyond the myths | Sections | Share Our Pride. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.shareourpride.org.au/sections/beyond-the-myths/
There are several stereotypes regarding the indigenous people amongst the whites which result to serious racial discrimination in the society. The whites believe that the aborigines are primitive and nomadic in nature, lack social organization and are uncivilized. They believe that the aborigines are drunk and violent people and are drug addicts. They feel that the aborigines are privileged and are treated leniently by the law of the country. These are some of the stereotypes that result in the discrimination of the indigenous population by the whites.
References
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