The Importance of Appreciating Culture

I just recently needed to take an essay test that focused on experiences with different cultures and appreciating the differences between different cultures from our own. This specific topic caught me off guard because most people from my side of the state don't usually get a lot of experience with different cultures and I found it interesting that it is so extremely important to future employers that their prospective employees not only have experience with other cultures, but appreciate them to a great degree as well.

I found it particularly necessary to write about this in a blog entry because this pertains a lot to what we are learning in class, in my opinion. I feel that one of my goals in this class is to better understand and appreciate differences between cultures a lot better than I do right now. I also feel that a lot of what we are learning has a message about appreciating different cultures and not just the literature that different cultures publish.

So to connect the essay topic to class, I felt that this essay was almost like a test to see how much I have learned in this class so far about appreciating differences between cultures in comparison to my own. I think I did a pretty good job!

Insider/Outsider debate... Who should write about different cultures?

In regards to the "Insider/Outsider debate", I personally feel that people from specific cultures should write about the ones they belong to and people who haven't grown up with the culture should consult people who have. I feel that sometimes writers give themselves more credit than they deserve when it comes to writing about a culture they have not been raised in. For instance, sometimes people in a specific culture view an issue differently than someone who hasn't been raised in that culture. Even if the "outsider" completely immersed themselves in that culture, they may not know how people in that culture feel about that topic or how they would react in certain situations. The "outsider" would only be able to share that mentality if he was raised with the culture's influence. Some cultures on occasion keep certain things secret from "outsiders" to preserve their cultures and groups. Therefore, even though "outsiders" feel like they know enough about that culture to write about it, they may be missing out on some key information that only people raised in that culture would know. I think that "insiders" should write about their cultures instead of people who may have done a lot of research, but don't necessarily know specific things about the culture that only people who have been raised in that culture would know.

After reading and discussing Heart of a Chief, I now find myself wondering if I read too deeply into diverse children's literature. I tend to look for hidden messages that may not be there. While writing my paper on this book, I came up with some really deep thoughts as to what the book might be implying. But when I came to class the following day and discussed my ideas with my group members, it seemed like my ideas were a little out of range. I think I need to focus on more concrete messages within the text instead of trying to find some "deeper message".

First Post

Hi everybody!

My name is Marie. I am a deaf-education major and love children's books. I am interested in diverse literature because it gives a window into what people of different perspectives feel and think is important for others to know about their culture, way of life, etc. I feel it is important to know about diverse cultures and ways of life because I feel it makes me a better teacher. I can more easily understand where people are coming from and will help me know how to react to certain situations that might arise. Especially when working in deaf schools, I need to understand different perspectives. Diverse children's literature gives me the ability to put myself in other's shoes without reading from a textbook.