"It is impossible to create a model for the good teacher without taking issues of culture and community into account". Quote post

"The teacher's role is to maintain the full attention of the group by continuous questioning, eye contact, finger snaps...and by eliciting choral responses and initiating  some sort of award system" (27). The Distar method. What Alfie Kohn would have approved of in his perfect classroom setting. Yes, these things should be happening. But Lisa Delpit, author of Other People's Children, questions and allows us to think about the cultural barriers that have a tendency to lessen the value of just how much children learn. How can I stand in front of a classroom and speak about what it is like to the zoo if a child has never been? That is a very simple example, but the same type of scenarios can be made for various situations. If a child has not been to the zoo, they may not understand the words being used to describe the areas where the animals live, the names of the animals, etc. It could go on and on for days.
But do not think that because this child has not been to the zoo that they do not have much. Do not think that because this child has not been to the zoo that they will not be able to learn from your lesson. They will, but with explanations that will get their imagination going, get them really into what you're doing, get them working with others, and explaining all that they DO know. Creating scenarios like this for children in classrooms will allow us to stay away from the "silenced dialogue", or the approaches in teaching that lack true comprehension for the children.

One great point Delpit brought up throughout her book was about actual experiences she has talking to students where they feel as though they were not given everything they needed to become knowledgeable about what they were learning in their classes. "The teacher cannot be the only expert in the classroom"(32). Someone standing in front of a group of students and not allowing them to have any input is wrong. Class becomes boring for students, and they begin to develop negative attitudes towards it. With this, nothing can truly be learned. Instead it is all isolated knowledge, or knowledge that is retained but not comprehended. In my eyes, something is not truly learned until you have full understanding and can apply it to your everyday life.

"Actual writing for real audiences and real purposes is a vital element of helping students to understand that they have an important voice in their own learning processes"(33).  Lessons should not only be centered around "what standards a teacher needs to cover before the end of the year", or "what they SHOULD know" but more about what students HAVE to know in order to become established, educated people in this world where you can only get ahead if you have a head on your shoulders. I believe, as Delpit, that students should read and learn from various types of writing and scenarios, and take what they can from it about life and how they can apply it to theirs. This means student-centered group work, peer editing and conferencing, etc. So students will get the opinions of others mixed in with theirs.
Therefore, there is no question that the student lacked the cultural beliefs of another student. There is no question that they are hearing more than the facts said by their teachers. There is no question that they will be able to develop their own opinions and ideology's toward what they have learned, and take something valuable from it.

 

 

 

Finally, the last point that really stood out to me throughout Delpit's book was the idea of how the way a child is spoken to at home affects the way they learn at school.  "...working class mothers use more directives to their children than do  and upper-class parents" (34). Therefore, it is easy for a child who is used to more direct approaches to expect authority from a teacher, to experience personal emotions and connections with the person they are learning from. Some students might be scared off by authority, if they are used to being questioned on what they want to do at home. Ex) "What do you want to do after dinner? Homework, or help me clean the dishes?"

Other children may be used to authority, understanding that they have to listen to anyone who has authority over them.

Ex) "After dinner, clean the dishes and do your homework".

Therefore, every teacher should have a good balance of questioning and authority; creating their own voice. In my opinion, if a teacher is confident her voice is something a student can understand and relate to, the student will be more apt to want to learn and to positively respond to what goes on based upon the atmosphere of the classroom.

 

 

So, as whole, I agree with Lisa Delpit. I agree when she says that, "Educators must open themselves to, and allow themselves to be affected by these alternative voices". I agree that every good teacher must listen, not just hear what their students have to say.

 

 

To speak about in class:A good teacher must take into consideration the cultures of his or her students. They must realize that students have great ideas and experiences that can positively apply to their classrooms. If all of this is taken into consideration, I believe, like Delpit, that a great classroom environment can be created. (No matter what grade, age group, or size of class you are working with. ) All students and teachers should speak out for what they believe in, and get each other talking about it. And in my opinion, the only way this can be done is if a teacher allows the students in their classes to feel comfortable enough to say what they feel and learn from it.

 

 

 I found an interesting article from the New York Times titled "The Science and Art of Listening", about how actually listening is becoming something people in this world do less and less as technology expands along with the amount of information we consume per day.

 

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