Lisa Delpit: The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children

Connections:

    This reading by Lisa Delpit really highlighted the ways in which schools and culture interact and what should be done to fix the way we oppress any culture that isn't white. She ultimately explains that teachers must teach all students the explicit and implicit rules of power as a first step toward a more just society. As I was reading this article, I was able to make connections to other readings from this class. 

    First, I saw many connections to Allan Johnson's "Privilege, Power, and Difference," in this reading. Within the first few pages, I noticed how these black people that the author was using as examples, all felt the same underlying theme of being listened to but not heard. Their concerns were brushed off by their white colleagues. This invalidation of their concerns lead them to stop speaking out, making their white colleagues feel as though they must have assuaged their concerns. This is an act of oppression, and according to Johnson's article, white people hold the most power over society, making it nearly impossible for black people to rise up out of this oppression, which in the case of Delpit's article means making their voices heard. 

    Johnson also speaks about how white people create these rules in society which is why it is so hard for minority groups to rise out of oppression. Here, Delpit depicts the same thing in her "culture of power." She says that there are codes/rules for participating in power and these rules are a reflection of the beliefs/culture of those who already hold the power. Delpit explains that the culture of schools are based on the culture of the upper and middle classes because those are the people who are in power, the white people. Here is an article on the racial inequalities in education. 

    Also like Delpit, Johnson explains how white people don't like to hear about racism or be told that even if they aren't outwardly racist, they still participate in a society that gives them power. Likewise, Delpit explains that those with power are frequently less aware of it or are, at least, less willing to acknowledge its existence. As Delpit and Johnson would explain, this is a major part of the problem. 

    I was also able to connect this reading to Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini's "Shifting the Paradigm..." as they mainly describe teaching students from an asset-based model -- teaching students based on their strengths and interests. Delpit suggests doing this as she says that students should be taught to their cultural strengths. She also provides the example of when someone she knows was working with "slow learners," and the teacher had the students analyze rap songs for underlying patterns. Once the students became experts in explaining the rules for creating a new rap song, the teacher then used these patterns to relate it to the structure of grammar and Shakespeare's plays. This is an example of asset-based learning. 

In class, I would be interested to know what everyone thinks about how culture and English should be taught in schools. I found the teacher and Joey's conversation eye-opening and would love to know what everyone thought about that.