Other People's Children blog by Heather

"What the school personnel fail to understand is that if the parents were members of the culture of power and lived by its rules and codes, then they would transmit those codes to their children. In fact, they transmit another culture that children must learn at home in order to survive in their communities." (Page 30)

To me this quote is meaningful because it encourages the teacher to assume that if the students had the tools to operate in the culture of power and meet expectations of success in this society, then they would. Assume that if they would then they could. To me this is a powerful idea because it implies optimism in what kids can achieve if given the necessary tools. The sky is the limit, and the limits might have been created partly by your teaching.

I think that Lisa Delpit wants educators to give all kids the implicit codes of power in society. She states that "Those with power are frequently least aware or - or least willing to acknowledge - its existence" (Page 26). Delpit argues, and I agree, that we must accept that the culture of power exists, and it is our responsibility to those with less power the tools to enter into that sphere. I think you need a combination of constructivist and positivist education, like Beth said. And when we enter into our schools for the first time, we need to listen. Listen to what the veteran educators say, Listen to the newbies. In particular listen and learn from minorities in the school, and seek out parents and community members from those communities for advice. Listen listen listen.

I liked Delpit's suggestions for starting a dialogue about different language forms. The examples that most stuck with me were the role plays and bidialectal dictionaries that she describes on page 53. I think it helps just to open up the conversation about different situations where one dialect might be more or less appropriate. Something else that I found really interesting was her discussion of some of the differences between white, progressive teachers and Black, veteran teachers. Also, I was so engaged when she was writing about the qualities that Black students often admire in "good" teachers (page. 35-36), and how these characteristics are different across cultures.

I really like this book. These are complex issues, and I find that reading it is very emotional. But I really enjoy it as well as the book The Skin That We Speak, which Delpit contributed to and edited. I'm reading that with some others in the lit. groups in Sara Exposito's class. I firmly believe that I can be a better teacher for learning about and engaging in these issues.

Thanks for reading this. Take care everyone. See you tomorrow!