Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit

1. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit Jill Summerville SPED 561 Book Report Assignment November 9, 2006

2. Summary Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom is a collection of essays in which the author, Lisa Delpit, discusses that many of the academic problems found in minority students are often caused by miscommunications between students and teachers of different races and cultural backgrounds. The author uses professional research and her own experiences from schools in New Guinea, Alaska, and other US states to discuss and support her views. She says the goal of educators should be to celebrate, not tolerate, diversity (Delpit, 1995). Then she goes on to discuss ways in which educators can build on students’ backgrounds and cultural experiences to prepare them for life outside of school. She also suggests ways to reform education so that cultural conflicts will be reduced.

3. Personal Reactions When I first began reading this book, many of Delpit’s ideas made me feel angry because I felt that she was attacking my upbringing and my teaching practices. As I continued reading and thought about my previous teaching experiences, I realized that a lot of her ideas made sense and I found that many problems I had with previous students were probably caused by a cultural conflict. I enjoyed reading the rest of the book and learned a lot from it. One important idea I learned was that teachers need to get to know their students and their students’ families outside of school, so they will know the students’ backgrounds. I believe students’ backgrounds are assets that should and can be used in learning. If teachers are going to incorporate students’ lives into instruction, then they need to know where the students come from. When teachers know their students’ life situations, they will have a greater understanding of the challenges their students face and be able to better prepare their students to meet those challenges.

4. Personal Reactions After reading this book, I realized many things that I do as a teacher are a result of a cultural conflict. I realized cultural differences in speech and communication can cause conflict between students and teachers. Delpit stated that African American children operate best under direct authority, such a African American teacher saying, “Put those scissors on the shelf.” In contrast, white teachers are likely to give more indirect directions and say “Is that where the scissors belong?”. Lerner (2003) also says to accommodate students with behavior problems the teacher should give clear, concise directions. Learning this made me feel guilty, because I know I have unfairly punished children because they could not follow my indirect directions. This will effect my teaching in that I will be more direct in giving instructions so that I can be sure they are understood clearly by all of my students.

5. Personal Reactions As a reading major, one interesting idea I found in this book was Delpit’s discussion of the controversy between the whole language approach and the skills-based approach to teaching literacy. She suggested that neither approach is the “correct” way and schools need to balance between explicit, direct instruction and more constructivist, inquiry types of instruction. Delpit says that schools should teach students to use skills in meaningful contexts so that they will be successful in the world outside of school. I feel that this is an important implication for educators, because research shows that “school policies and practices, specifically curriculum, pedagogy, tracking, testing, discipline, and hiring, can either promote or hinder learning among students of different backgrounds” (Nieto, 2003, p. 8). I feel teachers need to consider their students’ strengths, weaknesses, and cultural backgrounds and adjust their teaching practices to best fit students’ needs.

6. Connection to Education This book has many implications and connections to education. I would recommend that all educators, especially those who teach ESL or large populations of diverse students, read this book. It will help educators see that many problems in education today are actually the result of a cultural conflict. Delpit offers many ways teachers and administrators can change their practices so that they are more culturally relevant. For example, many of the children diagnosed as having a learning disability are African American males. Delpit says that this may be a result of classrooms not being designed to meet their needs. She says African American boys benefit from classrooms that allow for greater movement and interaction, and those types of classrooms would better facilitate the learning and social styles of these boys (Delpit, 1995). I believe that this is a practice worth consideration as it would probably curb behavior problems and improve learning in African American boys which would result in less African American boys being misdiagnosed with a learning disability.

7. References • Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press. • Lerner, J. (2003). Learning disabilities: Theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies (9th ed). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company • Nieto, S.M., (2002/2003, December/January). Profoundly multicultural questions. Educational Leadership, 60(4), 5-11.