Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic without really addressing issues at hand
Review: "Hello Grandfather" is one scholar's perspective on the deficits of traditional education in the Alaskan Bush. The author, Lisa Delpit, often reflects back and draws comparison between several Native Alaskan cultures and her own African-American culture. Ms. Delpit addresses the issues of relevance, context, and decontextualization within the Alaskan Bush classroom.

My response to "Other People's Children" is going to be a fairly critical one. Through her writing, Ms. Delpit stumbled upon a few major pet peeves of mine: ignorance and shortsightedness. While I am sure Ms. Delpit researched her hypothesis well, she left out one very important element which would have surely impacted her point of view; actually teaching in the Bush. I, myself, have taught in Napakiak, Alaska, a fly-in village along the banks of the Kuskokwim River. My experiences there drastically changed my views of rural education and the many contributing factors which "make or break" educational effectiveness. I am always extremely irritated with people who tend to romanticize the reality of Bush life when they themselves have not actually lived there for any extended period of time. There is this tendency among the more affluent population to want to make reparations for exploitations past by justifying away behaviors today.

Delpit attempts to link the failures of traditional Alaskan public education on outsiders coming into villages and half hazardously educating Native children without any regard to custom or culture. This is a great fallacy for many reasons. Firstly, one of the greatest obstacles to achieving literacy in Alaskan villages today is not the student's focus on context. It's the ongoing movement that all children must first and foremost become fluent through the public schools in their native languages. For example, in the Lower Kuskokwim School district, the first critical years where connectedness of language takes hold is wasted on teaching kids Yup'ik that the parents could teach at home if they so choose. Instead, the kids are dropped into a Yup'ik Immersion Program where the teachers are not qualified. (By qualified, I am referred to the fact that the teachers had not graduated high school, were not fluent in Yup'ik themselves, and knew very little about educational process or strategies.) How can I say such politically incorrect things? Easily. I lived there and supervised the Yup'ik Immersion Program unlike Ms. Delpit.

Ms. Delpit does not ever address sociological concerns of wide-spread alcohol abuse, child abuse and neglect, poverty, drug/inhalant abuse, or the lack of opportunities in village communities. How one can possibly criticize a teacher's inability to reach their students without fully confronting those issues is absolutely confounding to me. Perhaps had Ms. Delpit spent less time talking to Grandfather Mountain she might have had time to brush up on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Another constant source of confusion was Delpit's constant reference to her own experiences as a child within her African-American culture. Comparing rural Native Alaskans' cultural experiences to urban African-American cultural experiences is like comparing the proverbial apples and oranges. Both cultures are fantastically rich in perspective but being the receiving end of racism is not a leveling factor. Delpit repeatedly pointed to her own moments of revelation such as her mother stating Romper Room was only for white children. How does she parallel that moment of clarity with children who did not have television and were struggling with the daily challenges of subsistence living? How about the blind, generalized statement that at "white" universities that what you said was more important than how you said it? Delpit clearly has lead a sheltered existence is she honestly believes Caucasian people cannot read her body language or are not equally as offended at her subtly "rolling" her eyes.

Delpit comments towards the end of her paper, "Unfortunately, most Native Alaskan children do not have Native Alaskan teachers...". I would challenge Ms. Delbit to look deeper at that statement. Why is that? Are their cultural influences discouraging it from happening? I also have a story to share that a close Yup'ik friend told me while I lived in Napakiak.
A couple of years ago we had a girl go to school here. She was so smart. Everyone told her how lucky she was to be so smart. The girl studied hard and stayed in school. The year she was to graduate her teacher told her wonderful news. She had won a scholarship to go to college! When her grandfather, an elder, heard this news he did not celebrate with her. As the village elder, he refused to allow her to go. He said because she was so smart she was needed in her village. This wise old man could not see past the nose on his face.

Life in the village is not nearly as cut and dry as it seems. The race card is any easy one to play and often, a valid one. However, people are multifaceted and to ignore the factors in their lives which make each culture's experiences unique is a disservice to all. I wonder if Ms. Delpit is rolling her eyes now?

Rating:
Summary: Eye-Opening, Alarming...
Review: Currently a recent college graduate from a predominantly-white Midwestern background, this book got me on a serious soul-searching thought process. This fall, I will teach high school students from a culture considerably different from my own... a Public School in the primarily Cajun and Creole areas of Southern Louisiana (where Lisa Delpit was raised!). I'd always thought I could rely on my own memories of great teachers from my childhood to guide me in my own techniques. This book opened my eyes to the fact that my own assumptions are based in my own culture. Effective methods of learning, communicating, and especially TEACHING children of other cultures can and probably will vary significantly from my own.

I think a previous reviewer seriously misjudged Ms. Delpit's intent by saying she implies "we need to separate our students by cultural backgrounds to teach them individually using different approaches." Far from that, Ms. Delpit simply explains that we need to question our own assumptions on all levels of the teaching profession, from the way we teach students to the way teachers are evaulated as "competent" on a national level.

Lisa does not present simple answers... difficult problems are seldom solved by such methods. Like any good teacher, she thoroughly presents us with a serious problem and leaves us to explore the answers within ourselves, while pointing us in the right direction. This isn't a "How to Fix Public Education" guideline as much as a "What Needs to be Fixed and What We Can Begin To Do About It" memorandum.

The language was honest, powerful and easy to read. I cannot stress enough how important books like this are to improving the quality of education (not just for minorities!) in our school systems nationwide.

Rating:
Summary: For All of Our Children
Review: Delpit writes a compelling, engaging work that is accessible, understandable, readable. Soon-to-be-teachers, new teachers, veteran teachers, teacher-educators, teacher-researchers, educational researchers wil surely find meaning in the words crafted together in this award-winning book. This book will most certainly be an education classic. She, in this work, has provided an avenue of hope for all of our children in today's and tomorrow's classrooms.

Rating:
Summary: Overall - Inspiring!
Review: Each year our schools are getting more and more diverse. We, as the entire US population, must understand what this means and how to incorporate all cultures into our schools. Lisa Delpit is the author of "Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom" which addresses the issues of diversity in our schools. I believe Delpit wanted to make the public aware of the problems involving diversity in our schools. After reading this book you will have a better grasp of the troubles both teachers and students have to face everyday in the classroom dealing with prejudices, various cultural differences, language barriers, and communication problems. "Other People's Children" is divided into three sections. The first section, "Controversies Revisited," is a look at Delpit and her ideas and/or issues. The second section, "Lessons from Home and Abroad," is a diary of experiences. The third section, "Looking for the Future," addresses many of the current aspects of education which need to be changed or improved for the future. Delpit starts her book with an essay called "Skills and Other Dilemmas of a Progressive Black Educator." Delpit spent some time defining skill. She is a huge supporter of programs that enhance basic skills and the whole language approach. She agrees skills should be taught to minority and poor students, but it must be taught in a context that respects the student's cultural background. Skills should be taught meaningfully. Delpit feels that many whole language classrooms focus on particular skills for a short a period of time, which causes the particular skill to be not internalized. Children of color are denied access to the knowledge that is expressed through whole language without being given the basic skills. With the proper skills and tools, children of color must be held to the highest standard and challenged to do great things. The educator must provide the students with these skills. In the second essay, "The Silenced Dialogue," Delpit is concerned with "the culture of power." She suggests in this section that there are five aspects of power. It seems to me that you must fully understand these codes in order to be successful as a student in today's world. Delpit argues that the aspects of power should be taught to the students in order for the codes to not be used against those out of the power structure. Educators must provide students with the skills to retrieve the power within our culture, and educator must keep alive the native culture and background of each student. Delpit states that students should not be taught the codes of power to be a slave to it, but rather a master of it. I believe, students need to find their medium in order to be successful. I personally found the first section of "Other People's Children" to be difficult to grasp. I found myself feeling many emotions such as confusion, understanding, sadness, anger, and inspiration. Maybe that is exactly the way Delpit wanted me to feel. I did not attend a public school where there was a lot of oppressed cultural diversity, so maybe I am naive. Delpit does have some valid issues, but I feel she is to the extreme of these issues. During my education to become an educator, I see that the issues of diversity are being addressed. The language approach and the aspects of power are good point. I found them to be very informational and introduced me to new ideas. The language approach seemed to be a little premature, and the methods did not seem to be the proper way to instruct children of color. I do not agree with the aspects of power, because I do not feel that the actual aspects need to be taught as codes of power. They can be integrated into the curriculum and supported by the educators. The educators have a lot of control in their classroom and it their main responsibility to be sensitive to all cultural diversities in the classroom. I really enjoyed reading the second section of the book. The essays stressed the importance of the heritage of native people all around the world. It is imperative that each culture up-hold the values, customs, and languages. Students are most successful when they are educated by someone who is from the same cultural background. It is more effective if the curriculum is done in the context of the culture and community. In Alaska, there is an importance in understanding body language and only a native of Alaska could educate someone properly on the communication methods of Alaskans. If anyone has ever lived in a foreign country or even visited can understand this concept. I took Spanish for three years in college and after I graduated I lived in Mexico for seven months. Those Spanish classes by no means prepared me for the cultural shock I went through (not just in the language). I agree fully that in order to understand a culture you need to be immersed into it. The easiest way to do that is to be taught by a native. I would and would not recommend this book to others. The book is very informational and can give an insight into the cultural diversity issues that have plagued our schools. The book is very bias to Delpit's ideas and experiences. The testimonials in the second section were very interesting, so I recommend those to you to read. Mostly, this book has inspired me to be a major part in overcoming cultural diversity in our schools. Now I am more aware and try to make my contribution. Cultural diversity does take place in our schools today. We are currently trying to take the steps to overcome these problems. Starting with the teachers. The teachers are being better educated and informed. The students are more aware because of their families and communities. I believe one day we will see cultural equality in our schools. If everyone makes a small step in that direction, we will get there. The first step in recognition and understanding.

Rating:
Summary: there is a reason it has won so many awards
Review: I m so enlighted thanks to this book. Delpit encourages teachers to get to know the culture, teachers within that culture, and parents.

I got the book from the library, but now I'm going to purchase my own copy.

A book like this will cause controversy. But I agree it deserves every award it has won.

What she says is true... it take time, effort, and patience to get understand how to reach OTHER PEOPLES children.





Rating:
Summary: I am the enemy
Review: I previously wrote a scathing review of this book, and I guess Amazon.com did not print it because I don't see it here. Delpit is an African-American principal, or was a principal. I feel that her book depicts white teachers as wimpy, ignorant, and incompetent to face multicultural classrooms.

Being the enemy (a female teacher of European descent), I am constantly facing frustration on reaching my students who enter school not knowing letters, colors, or sometimes their own name (I am not kidding). It's also quite a task reaching parents who do not speak English, do not attend conferences or open house, do not return information to me (even when sent home in their native language), do not return phone calls, do not check their child's backpack, and work one or more full time jobs.

I wish Delpit had offered some constructive criticism instead of pointing fingers. I have to admit that the book gave me much to ponder, and that she made some thought provoking accusations. Unfortunately, her negative opinions of me as a teacher (even though she's never met me) serves as yet another reminder of how split by race and culture our country still is.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy into it...
Review: I think a lot of people have read this book with a defensive attitude and have totally misunderstood it. If we want to be better educators, we need to listen with an open mind and humble attitude. Pay attention to Dr Delpit's life story--she is not coming from an anti-white perspective; she is coming from the perspective of one who has made the same mistakes that we as white educators tend to make. She has a lot of relevant life experience AND relevant research and theory. What's more, her words fit perfectly with everything I have observed.

As a white person from upper-class background who has been trying to "make a difference," and has been bewildered when my best efforts still seem to fail to reach some kids, I felt that this book was the answer I have been seeking for years.

If you think you already know everything you need to know, don't bother reading this review or the book. But if you keep questioning why African-American kids fail in such dramatic numbers, and if you refuse to accept that it is someone else's fault or problem, but instead continue to ask how educators can do better--then skip the review and get this book.

I have been working with children of all backgrounds for more than fourteen years and have been trying to understand the riddle of why African-American kids have a hard time in school. I had come to two essential understandings but lacked a third that this book provided.

First, I used to blame Af-Am children's school problems on their parents and communities, but then I came to understand that their parents are as likely to be loving and supportive as anyone else's, and that their community's cultural values dictate that education is essential to success.

Second, I learned more that made me see how schools unintentionally contributed to the problem of academic failure, but I still didn't understand the root. Specifically, I learned that many African-American kids get dumped into special education because they have "behavior problems" (often consisting of things that could be handled just fine if their teachers didn't have 40+ students in class!). This means that children of sometimes high intelligence are stuck in classes designed for IQ's under 70, getting "credits" that won't get them into college. In that discouraging situation, it is hardly surprising that behavior and truancy worsen.

So I came to understand these two pieces of the puzzle, but was still missing a crucial third piece: why *do* African-American kids have more "behavior problems" than others in the first place? Some people told me "it's a cultural thing," but I didn't understand what that could mean. When they would explain, the "blame-the-parents" hints would creep back in. I have spent enough time "round the way" to see that many children who are out-of-control in school are perfectly well able to be polite and respectful to their elders in their own communities. So--why did these children not think that this same behavior was called for in school? I didn't understand.

At the same time, on a personal level I was also starting to "feel" that elusive "cultural difference." Somehow, some of my African-American students didn't "see" me the way that the white kids "saw" me, but why? They seemed to like me, were friendly and personable, but oddly enough, they seemed not to understand what my role was and why I was there--and they continued to learn more slowly than others, even though I could see they were often bright. It was becoming clear to me that somehow, on some level, I was not communicating well with the children. But why?????

The very first part of this book, the "Controversies Revisited," is the part that answered these questions and really blew my mind. I was so excited after reading it that I wrote the author with pen and paper (couldn't wait for my computer to warm up) to thank her. In fact I haven't even finished the book because I couldn't wait to tell more people about it.

Delpit told me exactly what it is about the way I express myself that "doesn't compute" for my African-American students, which finally explains why they do not respond as I wish or expect. I did not take this as blame or "anti-white bias" because I know--I really do the things that she describes, and I know that other white educators do too. I didn't feel that Delpit was blaming us--rather, I felt that she understood that we were trying to nurture and support in ways that are appropriate to our culture, and that we are so bewildered when kids continue to fail.

Delpit is teaching us how to do better across cultures, and it will help us immensely if we can suppress our pride and listen to her, understanding perhaps for the first time that what we are faced with truly is "cultural difference" just as if we were in another country. Just as in another country, we need to withhold our value judgments and seek ways to be effective communicators, so that African-American students can understand our expectations and meet them.

Although I will get "unhelpful" votes, I will make no attempt to summarize the findings of the book here. I don't think that the other reviewers have done justice to the content, and I urge you to read the book for yourself. One really needs to read the book to gain a larger understanding--there is far too much to put into these paragraphs, and any excerpted ideas will sound simplistic and misguided without their explanatory context. Everything she says is well-supported by research and experience, and it fits perfectly with my own observations. This book should be required reading for persons of all backgrounds in the field of education.

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic without really addressing issues at hand
Review: Living and teaching in a multiethnic county such as SF, I found this book inspiring and eyeopening. I am guessing those of you who are not educated enough to read this book, (or better yet to pose an intelligent comment of the book...)should start with opening your eyes to the world of today and get out of your house more often. Thanks for such a good read!

Rating:
Summary: Learning to Teach to the diversity of students in shools
Review: Shocking, informing, or unbelievable are three words which can describe Lisa Delpit's book,OtherPeople's Children. In the book book she claims, "We can continue to view diversity as a problem, attempting to force all differences into standardized boxes. Or we can recognize that diversity of thought, language, and worldview in our class rooms cannot only provide and exciting educational setting, but can also prepare our children for the richness of living in an increasingly diverse national community." Through this explanation she has taken her experiences as a black educator, as well as other teachers of different ehthnicity and backgrounds to point out problems that occur in the classroom to support her ideas on improving cultural conflict in the class room. The book provides information on how and what educators can do to improve students of all types learning. It is written in a series of essays that can be broken up into three parts. Delpit offers a whole new way of viewing children's learning process in the classroom. She wants teachers to stop blaming students and their backgrounds for the reasons why teachers and students have a hard time understanding each other. Her approach is different from the "mainstream" style of education. It is easy for any open-minded person to agree with Delpit. Our way of teaching must be changed in order for all of our children to become successful learners in and out of the classroom. It reminds me of a part in the book where a teacher's correctional skill is being annalyzed. The teacher is a typical white female. A black inner city first grader has written a story and he is reading it to the class. The teacher corrects him on his use of language in his story. He refuses to reword his essay for the teacher. Meanwhile, she thinks he has a problem with grammer usage. Instead, his character is the one using improper english because of his story context. The character is using dialect or culturally influenced english slang that the teacher does not approve of. Because of his background and culture, which the teacher did not understand, a mistake was made about his lack of knowledge on grammer. It is important for teachers to be knowlegable of their student's background and to know the difference between the use of proper grammer and dialect dialogue. Teachers need to learn how to handle the different cultured children that exist in their classrooms. Delpit speaks of a tribe in New Guinea whose parents belive school is up to the children because the children have just as much respect as adults do in their culture. The teachers were haveing problems with the students not doing their homework and the parents weren't aiding with the teachers concerns. The teachers needed a better understanding of the stundent's culture, so they could at least have a grasp on how the students learned. On a more positive note, Delpit gives examples of a whole new concept of teaching. Where, teachers are able to combine both a students culture and the way they learn into an effective learning experience. An inner city teacher (who just happened to be a white female) was helping her students with the use of their expression combined with their knowledge. The teacher had them rap lyrics to help aid in the learning of the teacher's lesson. Compared to the old conformitive way of teaching, the lesson would not be proper. To meet the needs of the growing diverse community and it's students the teachers style may be the only way to reach the students. The students could learn more effectively, dealing with their style of rap culture. It is critical for teachers to adapt and create new ideas from the mainstream method of learning. Delpit's solutions to the problems mentioned can be taken seriously because the problems dealing with the teachers and the way they were educating the students is related to the problems teachers currently face in America. Lisa Delpit's book helps people with the question: What must be done for teachers and students to better understand eachother? As a student, the book is easy to relate to because the problems occuring are real. The problems sound very familiar to the situations and problems that occurred while I was in school. As a future teacher I am now more of how such a great impact the issues have. The book touches topics of diversity that some people do not realize exist. I will full fill Delpit's view on trying to take a non-stereotypical opinion on people as well as on my future students. It may be hard to ignore stereo-types and views that have been formed over the years, while living in such a diverse country. Supporting diverse educational style for students is vital for a successful unique culture such as America. Some may view a multiculural system not like the American way because it opposes assimilaiton, known as the "melting pot". As this thought may occur in teacher's minds, one must wonder what they should do to deal, teach and react differently with each group of students they have. If teachers do not value diverse education as much as they should, as Delpit points out, how can we value our diverse society and it's people that live in it?

Rating:
Summary: Yet another book on the bad white teacher!
Review: The question is often why are there so few people of color in the teaching profession. I have thought a great deal about this lately and I have come to this conclusion. They are smart! Why, in this day and age would anyone want to teach. I teach at a second language school, where each day a new pile of paperwork arrives for me to fill out on my students (well, to the state now, just mere numbers and levels). I teach at a school, where on Mother's Day, I am writing the Spanish for my students because they are unable to read and write their language. I teach at a school where I often discuss aspects of latin american history I studied in university classes and studying abroad. However, after reading Lisa Delpit's book, and many like this one, I am left with the feeling that I couldn't possibly be an effective teacher because I am white.

I understand the philosophies and theories expressed in Delprit's book. I was once there. We all have been in the land of theory. The problem is that many of our authors, university educators and state "educators" have never left the land of theory. If they did enter the land of practice, they quickly returned to the land of theory right quick. These are our role models. Yet, many of them have spent little time in the classroom.

This teacher of 7 years, white and male (the root of all evil), is fading. I can not possibly be all things to all students. A parent, a counselor, an ear, a cheerleader, an advocate, a comfort, a teacher, these are not enough. Since I will always be who I am, I couldn't possibly be Latin-American, African-American, Asian-American, Arab-American or Native-American. Nor could I ever understand their culture for I am just an American. Boring and plain with nothing to offer to my diverse classroom.