A girl who cannot work and play with people different from herself, who cannot celebrate differences and be adaptive to change, will not have the strength of character or the understanding and leadership ability needed to succeed beyond her own small community. In an increasingly global society, strength lies in valuing and living with diversity. Valuing diversity means capitalizing on differences in personal characteristics and in racial, ethnic, and cultural identity, as well as in background, experiences, education, religion, family, age, gender, interests, abilities, skills, and style. Pluralism means being inclusive and respectful of people or groups with different backgrounds, experiences, and culture. Diversity and pluralism are not the same, and although you can have diversity without pluralism, you cannot have pluralism without valuing diversity.
Diversity can simply mean counting the variety of people.
Pluralism means that we value people for the variety that they bring to the group. As a Girl Scout leader, your goal should be to develop a way to ensure pluralism in all troop interactions and activities. Selecting a troop committee and consultants that reflect your community's diversity. Developing your own knowledge, skills, and attitudes so you can learn and teach people around you how to respect themselves and others. Respecting differences in planning activities.