Sweet Diversity

Celebrating Stages of Cultural Development We like to compare and contrast ourselves with others, better yet, we love to compare and contrast someone we know to others. We use phrases like "they are two peas in a pod", "no two people are alike" and "they are as different as night and day". No matter when we go we are endlessly fascinated with others and we apply comparison and contrast instinctively. The authors/educators suggest that we are all unique and our uniqueness develops through five interwoven stages: Core Melded Coincidental Adoption Exploratory This book will take you on a journey to determine your own culture first, and show you how to look at mankind's differences from a new set of lenses.
About the Author: Rhoda Lamastus Locklear lived as a teenaged bride in Germany for two years. She returned to her native Kentucky to complete high school and earn her B.S. in Elementary Ed. and M.A. Reading at Western Kentucky University. She completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction and Media from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Dr. Locklear has taught in public and private schools and universities in eight U.S. states. Later with her Venezuelan husband she lived and worked in Venezuela for 25 years where she taught for the Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, the Universidad de Los Andes, certification courses for the Venezuelan state education agency and English as a Second Language courses for professionals at Lagoven Oil. She was founding president and first director of a bi-nacional center partially supported by the U.S. government. She and her husband Jose' were owner-operators of Delicattesses Catalina, for 22 years until his death. She now lives in Las Vegas where she serves as an occasional guest teacher and writes. Dr. Locklear has two daughters, Callie Green Bustamante and Catalina Ramirez Ottolino and three grandchildren, Robert, John and Luna Azul. Her rock is Ron. Eugenia Latham Baker grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. She completed public schooling in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, graduating from West Mecklenburg High School. She completed her B.A. in History with Elementary Teaching Licensure, and within five years earned her Master's in Education, both degrees from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She worked in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for 19 years as a teacher, resource coordinator and administrator. For two years, she worked for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction assisting 17 school districts with staff development for instruction. She earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2000. She rounded out her work with public schools as an Associate Superintendent in two school districts, Stanly County Schools and Scotland County Schools. After leaving public schools, Dr. Baker worked at University of North Carolina at Pembroke for a year and St. Andrews Presbyterian College for 21/2 years. The beach life attracted her and husband Monte Baker in 2008 and she found her current job as an Instructor at Coastal Carolina Community College. She has three daughters, Kelly, Stacy and Julia, one step son, Armand and two son-in-laws, Josh and Chris.