“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 ‘progressive’ educational strategies imposed upon poor black children could only be based on a desire to ensure that liberals’ children get sole access to the dwindling pool of American jobs” (29).
This quotation made a huge impact on me because of how terrible it is. It is terrible in that it could be true but it is also terrible because even if it’s not true, this is how “progressive” teaching strategies and therefore “progressive” teachers are interpreted. For the first time in our reading in school thus far, I felt a real connection to this because unlike the other times, I could not separate myself from this category. In many of the readings from Zaher’s class, facts about what white people or liberals or whomever and what they are doing were discussed and many times I found what I read shocking, but I could just say, “yes, that’s terrible, but I didn’t do that or I wouldn’t do that”. In this passage, the author is directly talking about me.
I’m not sure that the author is trying to be shocking at this point or if she is simply filling the reader on one of the many things we don’t know (or I don’t know). She continues to say in this paragraph, that many black teachers mentioned that they thought that progressive teachers were acting with good intentions but that even the good indentations “are only conscious delusions about their unconscious motives”. When reading this, I have an actual physical reaction in my stomach. It’s a horrible churning sensation coupled with a hint of panic. Now I feel that I will be responsible for ruining children by speaking to them the wrong way, and that everyone (or everyone who is not a “progressive” teacher) is going to think that I’m teaching the way I teach so that my kids can take their kids’ jobs later in life. Good Grief!
What I can take away from this is just to be more cautious and to be more open to the help and influence of those around me. I don’t think that as a graduate of this teaching program I will naturally think myself superior to the teachers I work with, even if they aren’t “progressive”, but being more aware of my own judgments and recognizing the limits of my knowledge and experience will need to be on the forefront of my mind (along with all the other things that need to be on the forefront too, of course). I really appreciate the author stressing the importance of actively listening and hearing what is being said to us. She has reaffirmed and solidified in an entirely different way the importance of hearing and how really listening can be a teacher’s greatest tool.
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A white applicant who exhibits problems is an individual with problems. A person of color who exhibits problems immediately becomes a representative of her cultural group.(p.38)
ReplyDeleteI found this quote meaningful for two reasons. First off, I find this statement very true, but I feel it should be kept in mind that every individual can become a representative of their cultural group depending on the situation. While in America (as the book talks about) the action of a colored individual may represent an entire culture, for example, if one were to visit Australia, one white American individual's problem is applicable to their entire culture. I feel that in every place we may end up teaching, there will be situations like these mentioned in the book, and that we need to be mindful of that wherever we go. Secondly, this made me wonder how I represent my own country/cultural group. I recently received feedback on a paper with comments along the lines of “well your thinking process must still be in Japanese”. (For future educators- yes the people in cohort 3 that would be us -->) this comment, while I realize the person was trying to be understanding was not pleasant to hear, nor was it very helpful. I appreciated his honesty, but had to ask for more details on what exactly he felt was wrong with my paper.
The author talks about many of the different issues surrounding different language types. I felt that Lisa Delpit made a point to explain that many of the people trying to help had the best intentions in mind but did not always have the best solutions to these language issues. This idea is an important one to keep in mind for all educators- they need to keep in mind that certain tasks may help some kids, but that other kids may not learn the same way. Some may even be learning, but not show it in the same way. Constantly observing the children is important in making sure every child is keeping up, and trying to improve the curriculum to fit every child's needs is always necessary.
What was discussed is something I will most definitely keep in mind for my future teaching. The section which talked about some children not understanding that some questions/options are instructions was something I had never thought about before. I had never thought about the fact that something like that could be the reason a child may be misbehaving in a classroom, and I could easily see myself judging a child for their behavior rather than wondering what I could be doing differently. Delpit showed that care to little details such as these are important, and I will keep this in mind in the future.
Hi, Anne,
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised and disappointed that you received that comment on your paper. How could that person be so reductive! You are very lucky because you have the ability to think and process in TWO languages/cultures, not just one. Argh!
Anne, that sucks about the comment on your paper. I think you make a really good point about looking at the whole child to understand particular behaviors rather than just focus on the "problem". It seems that the case study we're working on right now really helps us to see that before you decide how to deal with a child's issue, it's useful to think about their strengths, affinities, family, and also developmental theory. Every child is different regardless of the cultural package they come in.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to comment on Abbie's post, I also had a similar reaction a few years back when I became aware of some problems, like oh this is awful, but I'm not doing it. Then I realized that I'm a middle class chick! Guess what? I can push people around and kick some ass! I'm still learning how to say things I'm not saying from my white friends, but I've already started using my MC power for good and it feels so good.