Other People's Children

Brianna Domino:

             Lisa Delpit provides a provocatively intense and controversial perspective of the social and educational issues that surround the efforts to effectively teach minority children; however, her perspective can easily be mistaken as racist and prejudicial against the very teachers she is trying to help. Delpit offers extremely informational points and arguments that I think every teacher should take into consideration. However, I also understand that while subtle and even blatant discriminatory teaching strategies do exist in the education system, not all “white” teachers believe in or practice them. Her argument that not all children can or should be taught the same is valid and the most pressing problem I see is how to effectively teach differing techniques to a diverse array of children in the same class without drawing attention to the fact they are being taught differently from their classmates.

            For the most part, Delpit’s views on the damage being done to the education of minority students by progressive methods mirrored my own and I definitely related to her examples of the cultural differences between African American and Caucasian interactions. On the other hand, I refuse to believe that all white teachers are “waiting for some progressive teaching strategy to come riding on a white horse” as the end-all to save-all. Delpit offers intriguing suggestions and opinions, once you weed through the overload of anti-white teaching methods, dialogue of hatred for white teachers and mind-boggling despair felt by minority teachers, and the infinite examples of inconsideration, patronization, neglect and just plain oppression by white teachers, administrators and professors. I believe that the most important concept that I will take from this book is that no one will ever agree on anything. Everyone thinks they know what is best for everyone else’s children and that their methods are correct and flawless. Until people are willing to accept criticism, be challenged by and then really comprehend and consider other peoples views and perspectives, there will not be any type of progression or even success at teaching “other people’s children.”

 Amber Wiederhold:

            Lisa Delpit’s Other People’s Children (2006) is a collection of articles that center around challenges faced by students in classrooms with teachers from another culture. I struggled with this text it seemed to me that Delpit was mainly arguing that minority children, specifically African-Americans, are not succeeding in the classroom and that is the fault of the number of Caucasian teachers in today’s classroom. Delpit states, “A white applicant who exhibits problems is an individual with problems. A person of color who exhibits problems immediately becomes a representative of her cultural group” (p. 38). I felt that this text went largely against that statement as Delpit characterizes many white teachers in the same light, making them representatives of their cultural group.

            The text successfully shed light on the issue of language instruction in today’s classrooms. I found the discussion of teaching Standard English in the classroom to be most relevant to my life. She offers a handful of examples of teachers who openly discuss the value of language diversity while explaining the need to learn Standard English in the classroom. To supplement a transcript in the text, Delpit states, “Notice how throughout the conversation Joey’s consciousness has been raised by thinking about codes of language” (p. 44) She provides another example in reference to Papua New Guinea: “Most people believed English to be more important as a written language than as a spoken language for village life. Many said that for children who remained in the villages, the ability to speak English was of little value…The ability to read and write English, however, could be of great value in the village…” (p. 85) In summary, Delpit had many valuable points to offer in the text, but I felt that she did it in such a way that was repetitive and grouped white teachers into the same group, which she argues against doing in the text.

Eunice Harman:

          This book was an easy read but at the same time I had a hard time accepting several of the views stated.  This book contained copies of various lectures that the author, Lisa Dilpet had presented.  As I read these speeches it was very apparent that she felt strongly about disparities in the education provided to children of color, other nationalities, and the poor.  I felt that the author provided some very interesting points supporting to her opinions.  The underlying theme of this book was advocating equal opportunities for learning through differentiated instruction that is a match for the student. She believes that instruction should consider the student’s prior cultural and academic knowledge and background.  

            I grew up economically disadvantaged, but never felt as repressed as illustrated in the text.   As I read the book, I almost felt bullied, like it was “us against them.” It made me wonder if being a white teacher is such a bad thing?  I have always prided myself on trying to be a fair and equitable teacher when it comes to instruction for all the students that come through my classroom.  This book furthers my awareness of the qualities of differentiated instruction that are needed to teach every child.

Katherine Ahlstom:

            I keep coming back to Grant’s quote in his article “Disciplining Students: The Construction of Student Subjectivities” about how we as educators must examine “unintended effects and endeavors to produce the effects we desire.”  (Grant, 1997, p. 113)  To be a good teacher in educating a diverse classroom good intentions are not good enough.  In a classroom full of students who represent different communities of culture, to ignore or to dismiss their differences is to deny those diverse students of opportunity for authentic learning. 

             I can relate to the native Alaskan community she spoke of in her book –  how the education system is in disconnect with their community and how learning in context to their culture is often times ignored.  Being a student of color, I have experienced times when I felt invisible to my teachers and my peers, that for some reason, my culture was a hindrance more than knowledge.  Delpit has shown me a way of utilizing my knowledge in my own culture as a tool in my future profession as a teacher.   I am that alternative voice she speaks of and I am that perspective that is needed to teach a diverse classrooms. 

Grant, B. (2001). Disciplining Students: The Construction of Student Subjectivities. British Journal of Sociology of Gender and Education,  13-3, 275–290.

Synthia Davis:

Lisa Delpit’s book, “Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom” mainly explores the concept that there are cultural differences existing between students and their education. These differences, creates issues when teachers’ efforts to teach low-income and children of color cannot be translated to the student. Teachers and future educators are faced with multicultural classrooms more today than ever before; therefore, learning about your culture and the culture of your students will always be an important step in eliminating stereotypes, ignorance, social injustice, and racism. While the traditional direct instruction will provide access to codes of power, a teacher must also consider the culture and the knowledge children bring from home. Reading and writing is important concepts to be taught; “but it is more important to teach them to be proud of themselves, and of us” (Delpit, 1995, p. 89). 

This book can be seen as defensive, and most often misunderstood; but I feel it is a good book to read if many teachers and future teachers want to strive to be better educators for all children of any culture. Lisa Delpit is not without any faults; she openly discusses the mistakes she has made in teaching and they mirror the same mistakes as the white teachers she speaks about. After reading this book, I have a more in depth realization that many assumptions we carry are based on our own culture. As educators we need to acknowledge that our way of communicating and teaching is significantly different from others. Overall, I feel this book is an eye-opener of the many troubles both students and teachers face in the classrooms. It is my understanding that Delpit carries the vision that when we become committed to removing oppression in our daily interactions, those cultural boundaries she discusses in her book will not impede our desire as educators to see all children as “our children,” and not as “other people’s children.”

 Cassie Dubois:

            This book was a challenging journey for me; the book was an easy enough read, but the author brings some very controversial ideas to the table.  At first it was hard to digest some of the outlooks people had on “white folk”: “Please Lord, remove the bile I feel for these people so I can sleep tonight” (Delpit, 1995, p. 22). As one of these “white folk”, I found myself vulnerable to the sometimes aggressive opinions from other individuals. At times I was given the impression that many people hold an “us versus them” mentality (Delpit, 1995, p. 41), and this deeply saddened me; some of the points that the book made I could agree with or argue against, but I cannot argue with feelings.

            The author (Delpit) delivers one ultimate reality check to the reader: Teachers cannot present the curriculum in a one-dimensional context (a context typically reserved by the “white middle-class”). The approach to transferring information must be multi-dimensional and reflect the needs and learning types of the classroom’s students. To me, this should not be limited to race or culture (although these groups should definitely be supported by this idea); if a student requires reasonable accommodations to grow and thrive, these accommodations should be made. Another point that jumps right off the page is the idea that culture is truly precious (Delpit, 1995, p. 89); it is our duty and our privilege as teachers to recognize, support and protect the culture of every individual that walks into our classroom. If we do not help students to see the “brilliance of their legacy”, we are doing our children a great injustice (Delpit, 1995, p. 177). There could come a day when that culture will be gone, and once a culture is gone, there is no getting it back.