Differences Are Not Deficiencies

"As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability . . . to appreciate more lovingly our own."  Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in

DIFFERENCES ARE NOT DEFICIENCIES

In the Exchange book, Places for Childhoods:  Making Quality Happen in the Real World, Jim Greenman observes . . .

"Differences are not deficiencies.  It is inevitable that some of us — parents and staff — have trouble accepting this.  And, truthfully, probably all of us at times struggle with complete acceptance.  The children, however, rarely have trouble because they have no expectations that we are all the same.  But some adults are uncomfortable with male caregiving, or with care that reflects differences in culture or class, or language differences.  Often we then characterize the issue as simply their competence, not any limitation in our incomplete understanding of differences or our own struggle for tolerance.  Competence is defined by our terms and reflects the style and practices we are familiar with and prefer."

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