Blog Post #2 - Delpit Reading (Reflection)

          In "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children", author Lisa Delpit tackles the tough subject on how different teaching styles affect children of different color and background. She also discusses how white teachers teach vs. African American teachers. The "silenced dialogue" she is referring to is white educators not listening to African American educators and parents alike when they try to tell them that their teaching method is not effective based on the fact that African American children learn slightly differently when compared to white children. This is due to a number of different factors. Differences in life at home and rules children are given change the way they perceive commands. The "silenced dialogue" is the white teachers listening, but not really listening.
         
          This was another piece that made me realize that there are problems in the world that people deal with every day but because of my skin color and gender, I simply don't realize exist. For one thing, I can't imagine how unbelievably frustrating it would be to tell someone something and have them not listen and keep on making the same mistake. This is how I allowed myself to get into the mind of someone experiencing having their dialogue silenced. From here, I read the remainder of the article in this mindset. One quote that helped me further understand this problem was a comment made by one of the parents of the African American children. They said (in direction to the white teacher) "My kids know how to be black - you all teach them them how to be successful in the white man's world." This quote was especially powerful to think about. Again, an issue that I personally have not witnessed by as soon as it is introduced to me, makes me think. With our class discussions of the subject of white privilege and whites holding powerful positions in the job world, and the fact that the average white family makes 10x more than the average African American family, a parent being upset that a white teacher is teaching their African American children how to succeed in the white man's world makes complete sense. The white teacher has a warped sense of the world because they can not see the world through the eyes of the African American student, making succeeding much more difficult for them.

          This piece made me realize that just because there is a difference in the way certain children learn, doesn't mean that we should silence those just trying to help. If a person understands a problem better than you, the best course of action is to listen to that person rather than attempting to solve the problem based on your own solution. This was a powerful piece, and made me realize there are problems in the world that need to be tackled together.

Lisa Delpit talks about her book Multiplication is for White People

Lisa Delpit: