Multiculturalism: the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation. (multiculturalism, n.d.)
Cultural diversity: the cultural variety and cultural differences that exist in the world, a society, or an institution.(cultural diversity, n.d.)
Australia is both a multicultural and culturally diverse society with some 30.2% of Australians born in a country other than Australia, only 50% of Australians having both parents born in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). And at this point, we don’t require total assimilation into the collective for people to become Australian only partial assimilation, language, values and integration not a total stripping of self.
Australia’s cultural diversity has given us our food, our slang, our buildings and a large part of our national identity. Some argue much of our population too is from immigration. While younger generations are proving more tolerant of immigration (in personal experience) older generations can still take issue with it and not know exactly how insulting what they are saying is (or just not care or do it to provoke a response).
Libraries can be somewhere that people may congregate either as a social hub or educational purposes. Those moving here from non-English speaking countries may like the idea of something like Melbourne Library Service’s ESL Conversation Club which allows for the learning of colloquial language in a relaxed friendly setting. It is worth noting that some may not be aware of what an Australian public library can offer, outreach to new arrivals may be useful.
My video for the week focuses on cultural diversity in a school setting. Pressing the importance of acknowledging the diversity of students. With one speaker reminding that it is a source of identity, she grew up in Australia living in two cultures, before the importance of multiculturalism was decided. The run through of words at the beginning which feels like word association is a good idea. Words like courage, empathy, acceptance, belief and tolerance. While it is aimed at a school setting it is relevant to the community as a whole. If a library was going to run a diversity display there are a lot of phrases in this video that could easily be woven in. It provides a nice non-judgemental and positive overview of cultural diversity.
Two more recourses both deal with perspective. SouthSudanese Migrants’ Families Struggle to Come to Terms with Violent History (Fox Koob, 2018) is an article which goes a way to explaining why one culture keeps making headlines in Melbourne, and what can be done about it. I also have a song to add here Stacy Orrico’s Instead there are some lyrics dealing with the perception of diversity. Stopping and thinking before you act. Walking in someone else’s shoes before casting judgement.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Australia 2016 census quickstats. In Census. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/036
Australian Government. (n.d.). What's new for Australian citizenship. In Deparment of Home Affairs. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/citi/whats-new
cultural diversity. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cultural-diversity?s=t
ESL conversation club. (n.d.). In City of Melbourne. from http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/libraries/learn/pages/esl-conversation-club.aspx
Fox Koob, S. (2018). South Sudanese migrants’ families struggle to come to terms with violent history. The Australian. Retrieved from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/south-sudanese-migrants-families-struggle-to-come-to-terms-with-violent-history/news-story/bad62bbc3d01d07709d6cc98928c35be
KidsMatterAustralia. (2015, March 10). Thinking about cultural diversity. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSIkII22h18
multiculturalism. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://www.http://www.dictionary.com/browse/multiculturalism?s=ts
Stacie Orrico - Topic. (2017, April 20). Instead. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTa15Zw1FsA
No comments:
Post a Comment