Diversity In America

Difley 1

Nick Difley

Professor Derek Gutierrez

First Seminar

21 October 2015

Research Paper

The world around us is ever changing. A dismissal of this statement would be ignorant to say the least. Countries around the world are becoming more and more diverse. The answer to the question that diversity yield positive or negative results does not come simply. The United States is regarded as an extremely diverse nation. However, social cohesion did not come at a moment’s notice. History displays the destructiveness of racism in American society through numerous minority groups who experience this travesty. Because of the evils that have occurred, the road to a desired society has been difficult. Even today, when society has progressed astronomically,

Researchers intended to use the noted interactions among these children to obtain a better understanding of diversity. Children given the names Bahar and Evrin were key in this study. “Bahar represents a typical child in this preschool setting, showing difficulties in speaking and understanding Swedish, while Evrin, besides her home language, speaks Swedish perfectly and seems well-aware of Swedish preschool traditions” (Löfdahl, Annica, and Solveig Hägglund 4). In comparison to Bahar, Evrin is much more popular among the other children due to her integration (Löfdahl, Annica, and Solveig Hägglund 4). Throughout the period of time the researchers observed the preschoolers, Bahar repeatedly attempted to fit in with Evrin and the other children, to no avail. The others either ignored her or rejected her. In one instance, a student told Bahar that she “smelt like dirt” (Löfdahl, Annica, and Solveig Hägglund 5). The entirety of these events seem contrary to the Swedish preschool curriculum’s “assumption of diversity as contributing to positive social identities and as paving the way for children’s understanding of other cultures” (Löfdahl, Annica, and Solveig Hägglund 5). From the information gathered, the researchers concluded

The issues that arise should not cause one to fear diversity. Fear is a factor in conflicts regarding diversity, that is, fear of the unfamiliar. To adapt to the changing world, one must apply critical thinking to their lives (Kakai 2). “We live in such a dynamic society and are faced with so many moral challenges in dealing with a diversity of ideas and values that attempting to be a critical thinking now seems much more challenging and vital than ever before” (Kakai 2). Kakai says that by “engaging students in cross-cultural studies will “require [them] to develop tendencies that are similar to those important in critical thinking (Kakai 4). These engagements, “students may become more aware of cultural influences of phenomena… (Kakai 6). Kakai also argues that the more “students gain experiences in cross-cultural studies, the better they may become at taking broader perspectives into their thinking process as well as making careful, diligent, and fair-minded decisions, judgements, and solutions for problems” (Kakai 7). This information relates to the study in regards to the notion that tolerance in diversity does not come naturally. The idea of putting students in situations that require them to be aware of differences will force them to not isolate another out of ignorance. One way to combat conflict in difference is to