Blog on Lisa Delpit

Blog number 3 was based on a writing by Lisa Delpit titled Other People's Children. From reading the Depit article it is clear to me that she has a serious issue with the way most classrooms are run in our country. Delpit argues that "mandates" in education curriculum and concentrating solely on how high test scores should be is a major flaw in schooling today. Delpit also touches on the issue of race and how some teachers, perhaps ones who have white children, are not using explicit teaching methods when research shows lower class and kids of color benefit from this teaching style. Here are a few passages I found helped me in understanding the article: In the introduction I found this line really insightful: "We in education have allowed politicians to push us to act as if the most important goal of our work is to raise test scores." This quote makes me feel like we are all under the control of a twisted bureaucratic society that wants us to educate are youth like robots. I think Delpit is saying we have to buck the trend and teach kids the importance of being a good member of society first so a child test scores can come second. Delpit is not minimizing education in this article, she is just saying being a good human being should take precedent. I agree with her 100 percent. This next passage is one I am not sure I understand but I am very interested in the subject matter: "I believe that the actual practice of good teachers of all colors typically incorporates a range of pedagogical orientations." This statement is right before Delpit explains her "culture of power" aspects. In my opinion this quote is saying that if teachers collaborated in their teaching experiences and shared success stories from whatever race they were teaching, it could benefit a child becoming educated in our society. Encouraging teachers of all races to share resources would allow a child a more complete educational experience as opposed to some federal mandated test score. This last quote was on page 29 and I picked it because it reminded me of the Johnson article. "Several black teachers have said to me recently that as much as they'd like to believe otherwise, they cannot help but conclude that many of the progressive educational strategies imposed by liberals upon black and poor children could only be based on a desire to ensure that the liberals' children get sole access to the dwindling pool of American jobs." Delpit includes this article maybe to raise the argument that the middle-class is more white dominant. I am not a teacher but I don't believe that we, as a society, are fixing the school system in are subconscious to bullet proof the middle class from blacks and minorities. I believe social problems have more to do with a lack of education than a conspiracy by white liberals does. I think some blacks would agree that a majority of black kids who do not make it from the lower class have come from broken homes and have had no proper caring or nurturing. Delpit raises a great argument on how to educate all people. The way a person perceives power was also very intriguing and made sense for most of the reading. I agree with Delpit in the fact educating should be a hell of a lot more than a test score. On the issue of power, I believe that if you want to succeed in life get a solid education and have good manners and you will never have a problem. It has worked for me!!!!!!