Other People's Children

“But we can not blame the schools alone.  We live in a society that nurtures and maintains stereotypes.” (Delpit, 1995p. xiii).

 

“When I consider the origins of my views, I realize that my personal history, by necessity, contributes considerably to my current belief systems. I write from a life lived in many margins, usually while struggling to approach the center of whichever page of my life is unfolding at the moment. It has been that struggle to understand and adapt to various contexts that has led me on the personal journey of discovering other realities.” (Delpit, 1995, p. 73)

 

“The process, context, and content of education or literacy instruction may be designed to destroy the heritage, the essence of who and what people are, to destroy their knowledge of themselves. Education, literacy — for whom, for what purpose, toward what end?" (Delpit, 1995, p. 78).

 

“It is important to teach our children to read and write, but it is more important to teach them to be proud of themselves, and of us" (Delpit, 1995, p. 89).

 

“We do not really see through our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs. To put our beliefs on hold is to cease to exist as ourselves for a moment — and that is not easy. It is painful as well, because it means turning yourself inside out, giving up your own sense of who you are, and being willing to see yourself in the unflattering light of another's angry gaze. It is not easy, but it is the only way to learn what it might feel like to be someone else and the only way to start the dialogue” (Delpit, 1995, p. 46–47)

 

“…it has begun to dawn on me that many of the teachers of black children have their roots in other communities and do not often have the opportunity to hear the full range of their students’ voices.”  (Delpit, 2006, p. 17)

 

“…I propose that those of us responsible for teaching them (children from communities of color) realize that they bring different kinds of understanding about the world than those whose home lives are more similar to the worldview underlying Western schooling.  I have found that if I want to learn how best to teach children who may be different from me, then I must seek advice of adults – teachers and parents – who are from the same culture as my students.” (Delpit, 2006, p. 102)

 

“I am also suggesting that appropriate education for poor children and children of color can only be devised in consultation with adults who share their culture.  Black parents, teachers of color, and members of poor communities must be allowed to participate fully in discussion of what kind of instruction is in their children’s best interest.  Good liberal intentions are not good enough....Educators must open themselves to, and allow themselves to be affected by these alternative voices” (Delpit, 2006, p. 45-46)

 

“…that education, at its best, hones and develops the knowledge and skills each student already possesses while at the same time adding new knowledge and skills to that base.” (Delpit, 2006, p. 67-68)

 

“We all interpret behaviors, information, and situations through our own cultural lenses; these lenses operate involuntarily, below the level of conscious awareness, making it seem that our own view is simply “the way it is.”  Learning to interpret across cultures demands reflecting on our own experiences, analyzing our own culture, examining and comparing varying perspectives.  We must consciously and voluntarily make our cultural lenses apparent.  Engaging in the hard work of seeing the world as others see it must be a fundamental goal for any move to reform the education of teachers and their assessment.”  (Delpit, 2006, p. 151)