Codes of Power

Reading Other People's Children, by Lisa Delpit, 2006, provides me with monumental insight and advice on how to interact and teach those that speak a different dialect then me. Most importantly, it highlighted just how essential is to embrace the different dialects our students possess while providing them with the needed skills embedded in the linguistic code of power - Standard English. The key is to know when and how to teach the current code. This book challenged me to look at where this linguistic code comes from, who decided it was the standard, and how important it is for all children to know it, and most importantly how we teach Standard English counts tremendously.

The passage most meaningful to me is "No, I am certain that if we are truly to effect social change, we cannot do so from the bottom up, but we must push and agitate from the top down. And in the meantime, we must take the responsibility to teach, to provide for students who do not already possess them, the additional codes of power." There are two highly significant and important parts to this passage. The first is that teachers should be part of a top-down movement for change. And this does not mean merely within the academia framework. This means through personal involvement in societal matters. And second is our responsibility to truly teach. Giving up on a child because they speak a different English dialect (or even a first language whose grammar rules differ from Standard English) is absolutely unacceptable.

I applaud and am grateful the author has provided us with such rich insight so we can search deep within ourselves and determine how we would respond in these various scenarios. Americans speak a multitude of English dialects - from sea to shining sea. However, by understanding issues that surround learning Standard English for people of color we will be much better suited to fulfill our new responsibilities. And the most affective method to continue to understand the needs of various communities of learners is to embrace the language they bring into the classroom; simultaneously engaging in dialog with those adults that speak the same dialect and share the same culture. For understanding culture - with a pure heart - is vital not only to our success as teachers but also ultimately the success of our students. We must understand, we must embrace instead of merely tolerate, and we must educate ourselves on best practices so all may have the code of power. How they use it is up to each individual. How to learn it is up to us.