Other People's Children Blog

"Actual writing for real audiences and real purposes is a vital element in helping students to understand that they have an important voice in their own learning process." (33)

This quote combines many of the teaching philosophies that I believe in, so it really resonated with me. In my schooling, I remember absolutely hating any activity that did not have a real life purpose (why do I have to take calculus, I'll never ever use it again), so one of my goals as a teacher is to teach knowledge that is useful and applicaple to daily life. I agree with Delpit that it is vital to write for real audiences and real purposes, especially as students are learning to read and write. They are two skills that are simply necessary for any success within our society, and if students learn with that in mind, it will be more helpful for them. Although, right as I said that I thought of the importance of imagination, creativity, and freedom that all go hand in hand with writing. The fictional story has a place in the classroom, too, certainly, but the importance of written communication for more practical purposes should not be forgotten. Back to the quote -- I believe that students should have an important voice in their own learning process. Learning should be a collaboration between student and teacher, and if the student does not feel safe, or is suppressed by an authoritative figure, then that collaboration cannot take place.

I feel overwhelmed by all that the author wants us to think about! Going to school in an affluent suburb, the subject of race did not seem to come up very often. It just wasn't something I thought about because it wasn't in my daily life, or so I thought. It wasn't until college (and even then, I was at Lewis & Clark, and the lack of people of color was pretty darn apparent) that I began to really be aware of race within our society. I studied abroad in Ghana in 2007, and that certainly turned the tables around - most of the time I was the only white person in the entire neighborhood market. During my semester abroad in London, I assissted with music workshops in East London primary schools where only the teachers and assisstants were white. For me, this book makes me notice and consider race as it pertains to our society and our classrooms, and, while fascinating, Delpit goes more in depth than I can understand. One of the things I take away from the reading is that when teaching literacy there is a balance between an authoritative approach and a casual approach. Delpit argues that black students need that negatively authoritative, "mean" teacher, while white students need the opposite. I'm not sure that the explanation is that simple. I think a balance between the two teaching pedagogies would best reach the majority of students in a classroom, perhaps with small adjustments for particular students' needs. Most of all, listening in the most important thing a teacher can do in a classroom, Delpit says, "a very special kind of listening, listening that requires not only open eyes and ears, but open hearts and minds" (46). I intend to listen intently.

There were a lot of suggested ways of acknowledging the cultural dialect(s) and comparing it to "Standard English" that I could easily integrate into any classroom. I especially liked the "language detective" idea, because it encourages all kids, even those who may only be fluent in "Standard English," to learn about the community around them. It would be extremely helpful to keep it out in the open that there are two, three, four different cultural dialects within the class's community, and to really make an effort to know about them. Making a dictionary that compares two languages would be great fun, too. (I would bring in an English - Cockney Slang dictionary as a silly and yet totally realistic example.)

At this point, I just need to digest part one of Other People's Children a little more. There is a lot packed in there! I'm looking forward to the rest of the book.