Rating: 
Summary: A very different perspective
Review: Lisa Delpit's award winning book, Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, gives educators a different perspective on teaching children of color. Delpit is a leader at the forefront of teaching diversity in America's school systems. In her book, Delpit's main purpose is to challenge educators to really examine their efforts to meet the needs of children from diverse backgrounds. The book is divided into three parts. The first part, "Controversies Revisited," is a collection of essays that reflect Delpit's beliefs about educating children of color, especially African-American children, whom she believes to be in "alienating environments." She concentrates a lot on teaching culture. The thing that is different about Lisa Delpit is that she wants to teach everyone's culture. I think that learning about your culture and your classmates' cultures is a very important step on the road to eliminating stereotypes, ignorance, social distance, and racism. The second section of the book, "Lessons from Home and Abroad," concentrates on some of the author's experiences teaching in New Guinea and Alaska. These essays, again, stress the importance of culture, customs, language, and heritage. She has included a collection of opinions of other teachers. This collection, entitled "Teachers' Voices," expresses teachers' concerns with the lack of diversity in the teaching field. The final section, "Looking to the Future: Accommodating Diversity," really takes a close look at teacher assessment models, and offers some alternative approaches. It also focuses on concerns that Delpit developed when she was working with "well-meaning liberal and even radical white teachers of English and Language Arts." They did not want to teach "standard English" to students of diverse languages because they believe that to do so would devalue the students' home languages. Interfering with students' home languages would thus enable them to learn the standard form, even if it was taught, because it would damage the students' emotional connection to their identities. This book is very different from the "mainstream" thinking about education. In making our classrooms multicultural, we do not really think about comprising different teaching methods for different children, weather they were white, black, Hispanic, etc. Delpit presents the idea that children of color learn differently from European children. I always thought that the goal of multicultural education was to eliminate stereotypes, prejudice, and ignorance and to allow understanding and compassion. Do we need to separate our students by cultural backgrounds to teach them individually using different approaches? We need to focus on teaching all students. We need to find a method that works for all children. This book is also different because it challenges teacher education and assessment. She believes that the tests are biased towards white teachers. She takes a stand to try and change current assessment methods that overlook the qualities of teachers of color. Perhaps the main difference between this book and the "mainstream" ideas is the author. Lisa Delpit does not bite her tongue. She comes right on out and says exactly what is on her mind. For example, in the beginning of the book she questions the reader's own biases by giving this scenario: "When we see a group of young black men, we lock our car doors, clutch our hand bags, or cross to the other side of the street." I cannot decide if I agree or disagree with the book as a whole. There are so many ideas that I support, but there are also so many that I absolutely think are ridiculous. I think that education should focus on teaching all children. Lisa Delpit gives the example that children of color have difficulties learning with the whole language and process writing approaches. Why would this be? If children of color are having this problem, aren't all children having somewhat of a problem with it? Delpit supports a comprehensive instructional program that concentrates on teaching "basic skills" along with the whole language approach. This seems like a good idea for all children. She goes on to say that without basic skills, children of color are denied access to the knowledge that they can receive from the whole language approach. Without basic skills, wouldn't any child be denied this access? I have already recommended this book to my aunt who is an English teacher. My reasons for doing this are simple. I think that is very important for pre-service teachers and professional teachers to be exposed to different ways of thinking about education in America. These diverse perspectives help to educate us and open our minds to different views the same way that we should be open-minded about culture. These diverse perspectives are very valuable to the teaching community. The second reason that I recommended this book is because of the author. Lisa Delpit, as I mentioned before, really tells you what she thinks. She isn't afraid to say anything!! My favorite example of one of her rather racy comments is this: "well-meaning liberal and even radical white teachers of English and Language Arts." She really lets her readers know what's on her mind.
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: A great easy read for all who care about children of today
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: Codes of Power
Review: Ms. Delpit thinks traditional, tightly structural, pre-determined, direct instruction will "provide access to 'codes of power'" --- but, she adds, one must at the same time honor the culture chidren bring from home. She says, ". . . such teaching [grammar and form] is important because it allows students to gain 'meta-knowlege' of how language works, which in turn leads to the ability to manipulate, to analyze, to resist while advancing." I am concerned about what happens to students who are provided with access to these "codes of power" but who don't want to use the "power" in the way the dominant culture of his/her society is using it. What if a student feels deprived of a big chunk of his/her love of learning because the emphasis on learning these "codes-of-power" disciplines at an early age interfered with the desire to learn and damaged the ability to derive pleasure and joy in learning? I think elementary school children are better served by following Gardner's direction for teachers to provide for a variety of "points of entry" into subject matter, so that students can experience the "power" of using their own strengths to mold their lives and influence the society which effects them.
Rating:
Summary: An indepth view into today's diverse classrooms
Review: My interpretation of Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom is that Lisa Delpit is attempting to allow educators to realize what can be done to better educate all children no matter what nationality, ethnicity, gender, etc. Delpit also goes to explain how each individuals educational needs are different and how their needs should be met. The author divides the book into three main parts. Part one is entitled "Controversies Revisited" which contains several essays about literature and literacy. Part two, "Lessons From Home and Abroad" explains what an impact culture has on education in today's society. Delpit entitles part three "Looking to the Future" to indicate different ways society can make the changes necessary to teach within diverse cultures. Mainstream education can also be classified as dominant education. Today, the dominant culture is that of an urban professional and business population. These people are usually white, college educated, middle-class individuals. However, Delpit proves the majority of children in the classrooms today are black, low-income families. Throughout this book, Delpit tells us of several cases that prove what an impact our culture has on our education. Children of color tend to not have the same code of language and therefore lack the tools necessary to establish "Standard English." Delpit begins to tell us that without the basic knowledge and instructional skills, knowledge is limited to children of diverse cultures. She continues to tell us that we as educators are to set the same standards for each individual regardless of color. Not too many educators today pay attention to the basic skills and 'steps' needed to build and enforce necessary knowledge to get through life. In today's society, an individual must be well educated and well informed of his/her surroundings. As a student and rising teacher, Lisa Delpit has opened my eyes to a series of problems involved in schools today. A lot of teachers are not worried about the future of each child. More are worried about just getting the child through his or her particular class. I strongly agree with Delpit's point of view in this particular book. We as teachers, parents, etc. must encourage all individuals to learn at their fullest capacities. There should be a code of learning yet each individual should be allowed to express their feelings and opinions through stories, experiences, etc. They should be allowed to use their own words, but we should be there to guide them in the right direction. We as educators should not constantly correct an individual but guide them into the same fluency of language allowing them to learn more about themselves and their world around them. Comprehension of this particular book was harder for me as a beginning educator. I do, however, recommend this book to those educators who have been involved in the field longer. I feel they are more in touch with the problems faced and are more apt to understand Delpit's point of view. I do believe that if I read this book again, I will be able to better understand and relate to Delpit's essays. Different views on American education are extremely important. It allows us as educators to recognize patterns, changes, or even solutions to problems that we as an individual may not have realized. Each opinion matters and should be voiced. I feel that there should not be one dominant culture. We should all be equal and just as important as the next.
Rating: 
Summary: Very educational and helpful.
Review: Other People's Children was a wonderful book. I am studying to be a teacher, and after having read the book, it really opened my eyes to aspects of teaching that I wasn't aware of. One can get a good grasp of the troubles both teachers and students have to face everyday in the classroom dealing with prejudices, various culture differences, language barriers, and communication problems.
Rating:
Summary: An effective analysis of multiculturalism in the classroom.
Review: Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom (1995)- by Lisa Delpit; The New Press: New York Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom is a thought-provoking analysis of multicultural education and the variety of issues that surround it. Delpit believes that diversity plays a major role in creating a fulfilling society in which to live; however, she is also convinced, based on her research, that individuals of different backgrounds possess different learning styles, and that these different ways of learning have to be acknowledged and addressed by educators. The link between teaching strategies used in classrooms and methods of teaching used in the home warrant attention in the educational field. Delpit endeavors to expose the cultural biases which permeate our society, and to propose how to educate children from all cultures effectively and make school environment a happy one for poor and minority children. Delpit's views on education are controversial and tend to differ from mainstream thinking. For example, Delpit believes that what a person acquires in life is based on the amount of social power he has, as brought out in her chapter "The Silenced Dialogue". These issues of power, states Delpit, are enacted in classrooms. Included in these issues which she feels are prevalent in schools are (1) the power of the teacher over the student (2) the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum (3) the power of the state in enforcing compulsory schooling, and (4) the power of an individual or group to determine another's intelligence or "normalcy". School administrators and educators disagree with Delpit's argument on social power in the classroom. They assume these roles to be appropriately utilized within the school system. In her chapter "Language,Diversity and Learning", Delpit suggests that if a teacher constantly corrects a child's grammar while they are speaking, that negativity will result. She believes that the child will choose to remain silent and their attitudes will be affected toward their teachers and schools. In a recent research project conducted at an inner-city middle school, students interviewed felt that teachers are always interrupting students' conversations for the purpose of correcting and they would like for the teachers to "mind their own business". Delpit argues that emphasis should not be placed on how well a child's grammar is or on how well they speak Standard English. Instead, her conviction is that teachers need to support the language that students bring to school, but yet still provide them with input from an additional code of language and give them the opportunity to combine the two in a communicative context. In addition to her thoughts on social power within the classroom and Standard English not being a priority for students, Delpit boldly declares in her section entitled "Looking to the Future: Accomodating Diversity" that students and teachers of different cultures may be unfairly judged by assessments that have been designed for those from the "mainstream". Because it is a difficult task to try and communicate across individual and social differences, one has to be sure that what is being said to someone is interpreted the way intended. An example of how barriers can prevent effective communication is that of teacher and student assessment. In recent years, conventional tests and observation procedures have been placed under close scrutiny by research groups,licensure agencies , and test developers. Having been used as a traditional means of testing teachers, the National Teachers' Exam is thought of as ethnically and culturally discriminatory because it attempts to eliminate people of color from the teaching force. Its "fill in the blank" test questions are biased because the correct answers are ones Caucasian males will expect because they are generally the ones who design the NTE. This also holds true of student assessments, which Delpit believes are culturally biased. Because I am a minority female and a student, I can relate whole-heartedly to Lisa Delpit's point of view on the struggles and dilemmas of black families when it comes to education. I agree with Delpit when she says that many traditional teachers focus on fluency but not skills in their classrooms. Black students are constantly drilled on how to write and speak fluently with coherent thoughts, but emphasis is not placed on defining whether or not the black student has the necessary skills to understand what fluency and coherence means. White students will learn how to write a decent sentence, if not from the teachers, from their parents who will make sure they get it elsewhere, such as private tutors. On the other hand, low income and uneducated black parents lack the motivation and skills to teach their child what a well-written sentence is, but yet teachers expect these black students to spend all of their time in school learning to be fluent. I also agree with Delpit's research on African-American and Native American teachers as being ones to display emotions differently,but maintaining the same assessment consequences. Native and Black teachers have often been berated for "lacking a professional attitude". However, they are successful at developing their own disciplining procedures and handling conflicts within their classrooms themselves. I would recommend this book to anyone pursuing a career in the education field and to also any parent, especially of minority background, who may not realize how it is that minorities are viewed in the classroom as well as society. The book is also beneficial to anyone who desires to study the depth of multiculturalism and of how an imbalance of power exists in the world today. Diverse perspectives on education are extremely valuable because our nation is considered as the "melting pot", filled with an assortment of values,beliefs, and ideas. Our children are the ones who possess these values,beliefs, and ideas, and it is to them that we owe an unbiased education in which they can achieve at an optimal level. Because we live in a society that nurtures and maintains stereotypes, we must give education which exemplifies diversity a great deal of consideration and discover more ways to effectively education our children.
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: 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: Another attempt to further complicate the education system.
Review: Teachers and future teachers in America, are being faced with an increasingly multicultural population. In order for our society to move forward, it is necessary for all cultures to become educated. As a society and as teachers, it is our job to understand the different cultural backgrounds, and to find the best methods for teaching our culturally diverse society. In order to meet the needs of educational diversity, the educator must be able to look at the education system from many different angles. Lisa Delpit does not feel that the current system, which is a system that does not allow for cultural differences to interact in the classroom, does justice for diverse cultures. In fact, the author feels that it is an unfair and extremely bias system. Delpit believes that cultural differences make students feel alienated and can restrict his or her ability to learn. Lisa Delpit uses with great success examples of the problems teachers and students are faced with everyday when trying to overcome cultural conflicts that exist in the classroom. Throughout the book, she is trying to suggest different strategies of teaching, that would not only benifit the "white students" but also "poor children" and "children of color". Delpit suggest changes such as comprehensive instruction, basic skills, and whole language approach to best suit the interest of culturally diverse children. The system that is used in schools today, tends to draw the child away from his or her community and cultural background. This specific system also emphasizes that the child should learn the way the "white child" learns. Delpit states that the proper way of teaching children of different cultures would be, not to insinuate that the culture the child brings to class is wrong, but to include it in his or her learning skills. The author says that instead of mainstreaming, which would bring all different cultures together in one classroom setting, there should be different classes for each individual culture. She believes that this would create a better learning enviroment for minority students. Through this she hopes that the student will be able to keep his or her cultural beliefs without feeling intimidated. Other wise this intimidation could stifle the childs ability to learn. This is assumption is referred to as "affective filter". Delpit believes that incorporating methods, which would address cultural differences, must be considered when using mainstreaming methods of teaching. In support of the authors prospective, I feel that nothing is more recognizable than the cultural differences in schools. Lisa Delpit believes that it is necessary for the educator to be able to acknowledge the cultural differences, so that they can be addressed. For example, by being able to recognize cultural conflicts in the classroom, the educator can then include these conflicts and differences in his or her daily curriculum. This would help to prevent the child from forming "affective filters", which could result in hindering the childs learning process. Other Peoples Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, does an excellent job of exposing the cultural differences in our teaching programs. Lisa Delpit brings to the forefront the problems of educating the different cultures in our society. I believe that she has brought out the obvious and made me aware of how the different cultures in our society will affect the way I will teach. Although the author has presented these many problems, I do not feel she offered workable solutions. For example, she only suggested ways of dealing with "poor and ethnic groups", but did not address how it would affect other cultures. I strongly suggest that people read this book with an open mind. This book puts the obvious into perspective when it emphasizes the problems that are faced in classrooms. One reason for reading this book would be to make an individual more aware of the cultural differences that play such a big role in our education system. Another reason would be to help educators and future educators look for ways to include cultural differences in the teaching process. As I go through my educational courses, I learn new terms and different teaching strategies everyday. For example, mainstreaming, full inclusion, least restrictive placement, etc. Reading Other Peoples children: Cultural Conflicts in the Classroom, the author Lisa Delpit has brought to my attention another issue that affects the education system. After absorbing all the different terms and solutions that researchers have tried to come up with to better our standards of teaching, I have to question whether or not we are making our educational system to complicated. As a society, maybe we are looking for to many reasons and excuses for why students struggle in school.
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