Lisa Delpit "The Silenced Dialogue"

Throughout Delpit’s article I found myself having to breathe. I was getting frustrated with the generalizations of African Americans, at least what I thought were generalizations.  It doesn’t seem real to me that a black woman, according to Johnson, needs three forms of ID. Nor does it seem realistic that black educators are not listened to or taken seriously when it comes to education. A quote from Delpit’s article that stuck with me is “Most likely the white educators believe that their colleagues of color did, in the end, agree with their logic.  After all, they stopped disagreeing, didn’t they?”  A part of me thinks that this is “assumed,” but after reading Johnson and Delpit’s texts, there is a part of me that thinks perhaps I am very naïve to think otherwise.  Is the world still that racist? Both Johnson’s and Delpit's text were written over 10 years ago, perhaps things have changed. I guess I just don’t WANT to believe that many white people still feel “privileged” or that they think they have the “power.”

The  big picture of Delpit’s article focuses on teaching with cultural diversity in mind.  In an idealistic world each teacher would have the insight into how to best  instruct each and every child sitting in front of them. We live in a diverse country and this diversity is what makes the world interesting. I agree that in the classroom, teaching with strategies that aim to incorporate cultural diversity would be wonderful. My school does have an ESL program but that doesn’t foster and nurture their diversity, it helps them learn to speak English and be more like the “norm.”  This link is a website devoted to diversity education. Delpit is listed under the references.

http://www.ncte.org/cee/positions/diverselearnersinee

I also found a great video with characters of Lisa Delpit and Christine Sleeter, a professor and author of many multicultural education books, discussing some of their arguments about cultural teaching in education. It is very interesting, and although the voices sound computerized, it is very informative.

Many times, teachers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

“A doctoral student of my acquaintance was assigned to a writing class to hone his writing skills.  The Student was placed in the section led by a white professor who utilized a process approach, consisting primarily of having the students write essays and then assemble into groups to peer edit each other’s papers. That procedure infuriated this particular student. He had many angry encounters with the teacher about what she was doing” (31).

First off I understand the student frustration. He wants to learn from the teacher and he feel s like other students will not be able to help him. Although this particular student was a doctoral student, he still felt like he had more experience knowing how the teacher should teach. This does sound familiar, as a teacher I have had students tell me the best way to teach.  However, the students usually jump to conclusions and do not realize the depth of what they will learn or the skill the lesson is geared at.  I will admit I have tried some strategies that have failed, but what if they worked and worked well.  I can’t help but wonder why Delpit puts this story into her article. Black and white teachers both incorporate peer editing as a skill to help students. It may work out well for some students, and not as well for others. The teacher needs to try it. If it works, great, if not, then try something else.  This young man she quotes sounds racist against white teachers, he says “”Now my buddy was in a black teacher’s class. And that lady was very good. She went through and explained and defined each part of the structure.  This white teacher didn’t get along with that black teacher. She said she didn’t agree with her methods. But I don’t think that white teacher had any methods” (32).  Yes, there are bad teachers, but there are also many good teachers.  There are corrupt policeman and there are also fine, heroic policemen and women.   There are corrupt politicians, but there are also many honest politicians.  I personally do not see color or race. I wish others didn’t either.

Teachers need to be a “person “first

“But those veiled command are command none the less, representing true power, and with true consequences for disobedience. If veiled commands are ignored, the child will be labeled a behavior problem and possibly officially classified as behavior disordered. In other words. The attempt by the teacher to reduce an exhibition of power by expressing herself in indirect terms may remove the very explicitness that the child needs to understand the rules of the new classroom culture” (34).

 I found it interesting that the example given was an example of dialogue between mother and child.  One mom says “Isn’t time for your bath?” and the other says “Boy, get your rusty behind in that bathtub.” Both moms love their kids, but each communicates differently. Teachers are the same way.  They all want to teach effectively but they can‘t be expected to know how children are spoken to at home. Also, adding a question mark shouldn’t give a student the right to misbehave.  “Its veiled nature only makes it more difficult from some children to respond appropriately, but in no way mitigates its existence.”  I don’t think the teachers “indirect terms” are veiled, they are just different.  A good teacher will know how to respond to a student who may question his or her authority, as a result of miscommunication or a “veiled command.” And I don’t mean by punishing the child but by explaining or refraining the command.