Discussion, Discussion

1. 
   “…the attempt by the teacher to reduce an exhibition of power by expressing herself in indirect terms may remove the very explicitness that the child needs to understand the rules of the new classroom culture.” (p. 35)
   This quote from Delpit’s book is a good example of how different cultures are in play in a classroom. Where one student will understand that the teacher means for something to be done even when the teacher uses indirect phrasing, it is possible that another student will not based on his/her culture. This difference in cultures can have a major impact on a teacher trying to get their point across as there are so many different nuances among different groups of people that are taken for granted generally. However, when one student is not doing something that the teacher said to do it does not necessarily mean that student is misbehaving; it may simply mean that the student misinterpreted the directive. This is something that I believe will be very important for me to keep in mind as I start teaching.
2. I think that the author wants us to be aware that students are coming from different backgrounds and those backgrounds will bring with them different expectations and behaviors. The author also wants to convey that there is not just one right way of teaching but, different teaching methods will work better for different children. Also, just because children speak different dialects does not mean they are wrong and that it will affect their ability to read but, that students do need to understand that our culture does place a certain dialect (middle to upper class white) above others and that is what is used in the professional world.
3. A lot of what I have read will likely play into my thoughts when I am a teacher. Specifically, Other Peoples Children has given me a lot to think about, especially when teaching children from different backgrounds. It will be important for me to keep in minds a child’s culture and beliefs and how things can be best phrased and taught for their understanding. I think all reading up this point, especially when reading the theorists, are great in theory but, in practice it is hard to say that one way of teaching is impossible when you are trying to best accommodate all children. I think that is what the take-away message is for me from Delpit’s book, not all children will learn best from one teaching method.