Running head: DISCOVERING DIVERSITY

Discovering Diversity Project

Julie Degner
University of Calgary

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Discovering Diversity Project: Chinese New Years Events

How is an individual changed by the diversity around them? Although others may claim
otherwise, I am personally inclined to agree with those who claim that their perspective on life
has been largely altered by their exposure to diversity. In my case, this transformation occurred
during the Chinese New Years events in dowtown Calgary. During this time, I was not only
exposed to a culture that I had not had very much experience with in the past, but I was also able
to increase my knowledge about Chinese traditions, celebrations, and racial diversity itself.
The Chinese New Years events took place at the Chinese cultural centre in downtown
Calgary on January 25th and 26th, 2014. The contact information for the Chinese cultural centre is
(403) 262-5071 or info@culturalcentre.ca. This event included traditional dancing, artwork,
food, cultural demonstrations, shopping, and music that related to the Chinese culture. I chose to
attend this event because I had never really had direct exposure to the Chinese culture before.
Although I have many friends and acquaintances who celebrate Chinese New Years, I have
never really known much about the event itself, or any of the Chinese traditions involved with it.
I wanted to discover more about the Chinese culture and way of life, as well as to compare and
contrast their traditions with my own. However, as Steinberg and Kincheloe (2009) point out in
their article, Early multiculturalists didnt discuss equity, or even social justice; the first work
done in the area simply added on bits and pieces of information about other people while
primarily discussing the white, dominant culture (p. 3). By attending this event and talking to
several people of the Chinese background, I aimed to challenge this statement, and to primarily
focus on a culture that was different from my own for a change. I do not want to only discuss
white culture in my future classroom; I want to be exposed to many different cultures, and to

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learn all that I can about them, so that I can teach my students to have an open mind and to
examine all cultures critically, rather than just their own.
One of the events that I observed closely during the celebrations were the martial arts
demonstrations. Before attending this festival, I was not aware of the fact that China took part in
such practices. I was under the impression that such arts occurred only in Japan and Korea. I was
under this assumption partially because of my exposure to media films, such as The Karate Kid.
However, individual cultural identities are continually shaped, changed, and sometimes
distorted by what is seen in movies (Johnson, 2009, p. 25). By talking to some people around
me, I discovered that the Chinese martial art is typically referred to as kungfu or tai chi. I
was fascinated to observe their complicated blend of gymnastics, martial arts, and what appeared
to me to be a kind of dance. While watching this, it occurred to me that it would be extremely
interesting to observe the Chinese martial art in comparison with those that originated from other
countries. After all, I thought that it was extremely interesting to consider the fact that there is
such a range of cultural diversity within something as simple as the martial arts. However, as a
future teacher, I must ensure that students do not use the knowledge gained from the movies as
fact, thus creating difficulties and controversies (Johnson, 2009, p. 26).
Another part of the Chinese New Years celebrations that I was fascinated by was the
music. I had a chance to see the actual notes on the page as the musicians were performing, and
was completely intrigued to discover that their notation system is completely different from ours.
As a fellow musician, I have always assumed that everyone uses the same musical notation
system. I thought that music was a universal language, and that any musician across the world
could read the same notes. However, despite the fact that I have been able to read music since the
age of five, I was not able to read a single note on the Chinese musicians page, which I found to

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be both frustrating and fascinating at the same time. Furthermore, the style of music that the
musicians played was also very different from the genres that I typically play in band. This, in
combination with the fact that they have different instruments than us, made the music sound
very unique, and yet beautiful at the same time. Overall, all of the Chinese musical traditions that
I observed and heard during this time demonstrated to me that there is great cultural diversity in
many aspects of music. This is an idea that I would bring forward into my future classroom, as I
have such a strong personal connection with music. Once again, I would want to [Help my]
students to ponder differing worldviews [that are] crucial in preparing them for productive and
reflective lives of leadership, achievement, and service to others (Johnson, 2009, p. 23).
After attending the event, one Chinese New Years tradition that I became curious about
was the giving of red envelopes. When I spoke to someone of a Chinese background, they
explained to me that red envelopes are symbols of wealth and good luck, and are filled with
money and shared among family and close friends. They also said that red envelopes with a very
small amount of money are sometimes given to everyone at specific events. I also spoke to
several people who did not closely follow many of the Chinese New Years traditions, but still
chose to exchange the envelopes every year. Before attending this event, I had definitely been
aware of the tradition of the red envelopes. However, I had assumed that they were passed out to
everyone, and did not realize that it is typical to give them to your family members and close
friends only. Although I did not directly experience the handing out of these envelopes at the
celebrations, they still inspired me to question several people of Chinese backgrounds about their
significance. I chose to ask several individuals about this topic because, as Helfand (2009) states,
there is a need for multiple perspectives in learning about a given topic (p. 81). In other words,
I wanted to discuss the significance of this particular tradition with several people because I felt

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that it allowed me to better understand the topic, as well as to see how seriously some individuals
took the tradition in comparison to others. Overall, the red envelopes are a tradition that are not
at all associated with my own New Years celebrations, and I found them to be very interesting.
They allowed me to [engage] in a questioning process [that] is essentialto become [a]
reflective [educator] (Lea, 2009, p. 61), and to prepare to broaden my students minds regarding
such topics about diversity.
While attending the Chinese New Years events, I also went into a Chinese bakery.
Before I entered, I assumed that all of the foods would be completely different from those found
in a typical bakery in Canada. I was expecting fish, rice, and other foods that are usually
associated with the Asian culture. However, I was surprised to find that many of the foods were
very similar, if not the exact same, as those that I usually see in my own bakeries. Furthermore,
when I spoke to a group of individuals who celebrate Chinese New Years, they told me that they
were looking forward to their large evening meal that night. It included foods such as chicken,
fish, dumplings, noodles, and much more. I found this to be very interesting, because I have
never had a large dinner for New Years celebrations at any point in my lifetime. This was yet
another sharp contrast between our two cultures. Overall, this particular part of my experience
caused me to question the so-called advantage of the whiteness (Lea, 2009, p. 61). If our
culture is so superior in every way, why is it that many of our foods are the exact same as the
Chinese peoples? I hope to make my future students aware of such ideas as these, and to help
them realize that there is no such thing as a superior race, as we all have similarities to one
another, even if we do not want to admit it.
Another Chinese New Years tradition that I learned about by speaking to people who
took part in the celebrations is the lion dance. Although I did not have the opportunity to actually

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see this, apparently it consists of two people dancing underneath a giant traditional Chinese lion
costume. There are specific routines and steps that the performers must learn in order to do this
dance. One particular individual that I spoke to told me that her brother took part in this dance
for the New Years celebrations this year, and was away all day performing it at different venues.
Once again, this Chinese tradition is far different from anything in my own personal background
that I have experienced. In fact, I had never even heard of such a dance until I actually spoke to
someone of a Chinese background and questioned her. I thought that it was a very unique
tradition, and I was sad that I did not get the opportunity to actually view it. I think it would be
great to show this dance in my future classroom in order to introduce my kids to a fascinating
Chinese tradition, and perhaps lead them away from the notion of whiteness (Lea, 2009, p. 61).
In conclusion, although I was not initially expecting to get very much out of my
experience at the Chinese New Years celebrations, I discovered that I learned a lot about both
the Chinese culture itself and the Chinese New Years celebrations both during and after the
event. I was both surprised and encouraged to see so many different cultures attending the
Chinese New Years celebrations in downtown Calgary, rather than only those of the Chinese
background. This gave me hope for my own future classroom, as I wondered if perhaps we
would be allowed to highlight the Chinese New Year to our class, and discuss and take part in
some of their traditions. I think it is important for students to be better prepared to be global
citizens in a multicultural society[and to be] taught to think critically about issues of
difference (Johnson, 2009, p. 23). Perhaps one day I will be given the opportunity to discuss all
major holidays and events in my classroom, regardless of their ethnic background or religion.
However, I suppose I will only find the answer to this question by continuing to learn more about
the diversity around me and applying my new-found knowledge to my future practice.

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7
References

Helfand, J. (2009). Teaching outside whiteness. In S. R. Steinberg (Ed.), Diversity and

multiculturalism: A reader (pp. 77-96). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Johnson, B.C. (2009). Doing diversity with film. In S. R. Steinberg (Ed.), Diversity and
multiculturalism: A reader (pp. 23-41). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Lea, V. (2009). Unmasking whiteness in the teacher education college classroom: critical and
creative multicultural practice. In S.R. Steinberg (Ed.), Diversity and multiculturalism: A
reader (pp. 57-75). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Steinberg, S. R., & Kincheloe, J. L. (2009). Smoke and mirrors: More than one way to be diverse
and multicultural. In S. R. Steinberg (Ed.), Diversity and multiculturalism: A reader (pp.
3-22). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

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The event that I wish to choose for my diversity project is the Chinese New Years
celebration in China Town. The event took place on January 25th and 26th at the Chinese cultural
centre in downtown Calgary. The contact information for the Chinese cultural center is (403)
262-5071 or info@culturalcentre.ca. The event included traditional martial arts demonstrations,
dancing, music, shopping, food, and artwork exhibits. I chose this specific event for my project
because I have never had very much exposure to the Chinese culture before now, and I was
curious to discover more about their traditions and ways of life. I was especially interested to
discover how it differed from my own culture; I wanted to see if there were many similarities
between my own cultural traditions and theirs. I also chose this event because I was interested to
see how well the Chinese culture has withstood within the Calgary community. We live in a
multicultural country, and sometimes I wonder if specific cultures and ways of life become faded
or lost over time as they are swept up into the larger, overarching culture of Canada. Upon
entering the event, I assumed that the cultural center would be dominated by people of Chinese
background, and that there would be very little racial diversity. I also initially assumed that the
Chinese culture would be similar to what I saw in the media and pop culture. However, I quickly
came to an understanding before actually attending the event that their culture would be far more
authentic and unique than what I saw on television. After hearing about this event through the
media and several individuals on campus last week, I planned to attend this event on Saturday,
and found myself immersed in Chinese music, martial arts, artwork, food, and shopping, which I
greatly enjoyed and found to be quite fascinating. In order to be successful in this event, I made
sure that I entered with an open mind and a respect for what was going on around me. I also
researched some background information on their New Years celebrations and culture so that I
could better understand what they were doing and why it was meaningful to them.