Happy Canada Day everyone! Let's take this day to celebrate the history, diversity and multiculturalism of this beautiful nation.
We live in a world that is becoming more diverse, and Canada recognizes that our diversity is something to be valued. Canada is a nation of many different historical, cultural and racial origins, of diverse political and religious views, and of various socioeconomic classes and behavioral norms.
Through the application of multicultural policies, Canada successfully offers more inclusive communities in which our children can identify themselves, and effectively mingle with different children than themselves in several aspects.
Canada has experienced different waves of immigration since the nineteenth century, and by the 1980s almost 40 percent of the population were of neither British nor French origins (the two largest groups, and among the oldest)
Did you know that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has granted Canadian citizenship to nearly 200,000 new citizens each year?
The most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe, without any doubt .... That is something unique to Canada. It is an amazing global human asset.
Why diversity should be valued?
The term diversity is defined as the property of being different and it should be valued because the various differences are meant to complement each other and come up with better results in the long run.
Also, diversity is reflected in the increasingly global connections among peoples throughout the world.
Multiculturalism in Canada
Multiculturalism helps in bringing together immigrants and minorities in the country and pushes them towards being part of the Canadian society as a whole. Cultural appreciation of ethnic and religious diversity promotes a greater willingness to tolerate differences.
What is Culture?
Idealized definition:
The way our ancestors speak through us |
Culture-Working Definition
Learned traditions, loyalties, beliefs, customs that guide behavior of a group of people
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We are all multicultural!
Members of many groups that have cultural aspects, gender, social class, regional, ethnicity, religious, race, values and beliefs, customs and traditions, cultural elements, language/communication patterns, diet and food preparation, dress and/or body decoration, religious practices, family structure, view of time may vary, recreation-athletic games.
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"In order for children to identify with the world around them, to appreciate and value the differences and similarities of other people to themselves, it is important for them to first discover their own identities”.
Zena Sutherland and May Hill Arbuthnot
Do not miss the opportunity to expose your children to the Spanish language and your cultural background, they will thank you for that later.
