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About American Dance Training Camp |
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The ADTC Story...
The ADTC Diversity Initiative
What is Diversity?
Diversity is the mosaic of people who bring a variety of backgrounds, styles, perspectives, beliefs, and abilities as assets to ADTC groups and individuals with whom they interact.
What is DiverCity?
"DiverCity" (yes - we meant to spell it with a "C") is where we live at camp - an actual place (your city of residence for the summer!) where campers and staff of different backgrounds, styles, perspectives, beliefs, and competencies live as a community.
 We Are All Diverse: The Dimensions of Diversity
- We are all similar and different on a variety of dimensions, which make each of us unique.
- We all have learned societal biases about others' dimensions that need to be acknowledged and transcended through learning, compassion, forgiveness and healing
- Tertiary dimensions of diversity are invisible at first glance. They include such differences as personality traits, learning styles, work style, task orientation, thinking style, management abilities, attention to detail, time management - anything that makes each of us different from the other.
What is Culture?
Culture is the lens through which we have been taught (for better or for worse) to view the world.
What is Cultural Competence?
Cultural competence is a set of competencies and skills that individuals and organizations can use to create an environment that values diversity. How does one do this?
Knowledge: Gaining information about trends and people who bring diverse assets to ADTC.
Awareness: Learning about yourself, your biases, how you interact with others, and the environment.
Skills: Developing behaviors that model a value for diversity and inclusion of everyone here at camp.
What Happens in a Community that Does Not Value Diversity?
- Bias is when people screen out evidence that contradicts their existing perceptions. Many people were raised in homogeneous communities. They gravitate towards people like themselves, and they are uncomfortable with differences they don't understand.
- Stereotypes are fixed generalizations about others with certain dimensions of diversity. These judgments don't take into account the facts or the reality of the here and now.
- Collusion is cooperation with others, knowingly or unknowingly, to reinforce stereotypical attitudes, prevailing behaviors, and norms that limit people, through denial, silence, or active cooperation.
- Prejudice is when people see differences as weaknesses. Prejudice can turn into discrimination, ethnocentrism (seeing one's own group as superior to others), and in its worst incarnation, oppression.
Things We Do at ADTC to Teach Campers to Value Diversity
- Counselors will incorporate diversity activities such as icebreakers, idea sharing, experiencing exclusion, giving feedback, appreciating others, and so on into their daily time with campers.
- Our international staff are a rich resource for information and awareness about cultural diversity.
- Dance Discussions and Team Meetings each day will focus on diversity by stressing the Platinum Rule: Treat others as they want to be treated. The Platinum Rule, an update of Golden Rules (...as you want...), gives others permission to be different from us, and reminds us to honor that difference.
- The core values of ADTC: Appreciation (respect, acceptance, tolerance) and Caring (compassion, kindness) give counselors many opportunities to address the topic of diversity with campers in a variety of situations.
- Counselors are encouraged to look for "teachable moments" when they can celebrate differences and help campers understand that the differences people bring to ADTC are valuable assets.
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