Hi there,
First of all, I am happy to see you are taking our invitations to engage in critical analysis to heart. The timing is working out rather well in many aspects although it is more accidental than it appears - really:). However, with the "current confluence of content" lending to the power of the message I will now rest easy knowing you are walking in eyes wide open and ready to challenge it all!
The good news...
For your blog post before class on Monday please just post your reflective paragraphs on "Other People's Children" as outlined in the syllabus. That way you do not have two separate writings to do this weekend for our class and we get a jump start on sharing our ideas. You do not need to bring a hard copy to class but do print out a hard copy to include in your portfolio.
Hang in there, you have worked through and synthesized a tremendous amount of vocabulary and information. You heads should feel full!
The bad news...
I did not get to L/C to put your work in your mailboxes so I will have to return it to you on Monday. Sorry about even mentioning it since I wasn't able to deliver.
Have a good weekend I'm looking forward to Monday's class!
Zalika
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“We must learn to be vulnerable enough to allow our world to turn upside down in order to allow the realities of others to edge themselves into our consciousness.”
ReplyDeleteI found this quote meaningful because it summarizes one of the main ideas that I want to take away from this section of the book. I was already familiar with many of the issues brought up in this book, but I’ve been living abroad for the past 6 years in a place with a different history and different power dynamics that those in the U.S. Reading this book has been a great way to familiarize myself with these issues again. I hope to store this quote away in my mind as a reminder of the importance of keeping my race and class privilege present when interacting with students, parents and colleagues. Not only is the message profound, but I really like the imagery. The idea of putting yourself in a place where you are willing to let your world be turned upside down really gets at the idea of the fear and discomfort that sometimes comes along with really opening your mind to really listen to people that come from different experiences and personal histories.
I think that the author wants us to think about the need for dialogue between people from different backgrounds. By dialogue, she means putting your own experiences and beliefs on the shelf for a minute and really listening to where people with differing perspectives are coming from. She uses this powerful metaphor because she wants us to realize that it’s not an easy thing to do.
As I mentioned before, I hope to keep this quote as a reminder to always come into dialogue from a place of humility. Because teachers have so much power to influence young children, this is especially important. It’s so easy to disregard someone else’s experience or opinion when it contradicts your own experiences and beliefs. If you are the one in the position of power, this disregard often silences and discredits the other person’s opinion and personal experience.
“Those with power are frequently least aware of- or at least willing to acknowledge—its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence” (24). When I read this, I could identify with it. Until I started reading material at Lewis and Clark, especially in Zaher’s class and now in this one, did it really register that because I am a white middle class person I have power and a lot going for me because, as crude as this may sound, I was born with the right skin color. For the majority of my life I have grown up in a bubble. It wasn’t until I met one of my best friends up here in Portland, who happens to be half black, did I see race issues still going on today. Another thing that this quote addresses is specifically power held only by some. I feel like if I was on the other side of things, I wouldn’t just be understanding these issues now, I would be feeling powerless on a day-to-day basis. In Zaher’s class, Andrea gave the definition of racism as prejudice plus power. I had a hard time grappling with the idea that minorities couldn’t be racist because they don’t have the power to. Also, as mentioned a little later in the book, that these issues are uncomfortable for some and frankly, I do feel that way at times. I can’t even quite explain the feelings I have when reading the materials I have lately in this program. But, in the end, I do appreciate this newfound awareness.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the author wants to point out the voiceless minorities, especially black, and flaws in the liberal or progressive white ideology. I believe Delpit wants to give a voice to those people. It is important not to just blankly listen and nod your head, but think about what is being told to you. Personal experiences can be just as telling as statistical evidence. Lastly, no one theory is correct, the best practice incorporates many to work with the students.
I hope I never forget the important lessons being expressed in this book. It was very informative when Delpit explained the differences between middle-upper class students who were mainly white and lower class students who were mostly black, in the use of indirect and direct teaching. Also it was shown how students’ values had a large impact on their learning especially in terms of how they felt about the teacher and their willingness to learn. I look to my future classroom now as being a challenge, but to aid in that challenge I need to listen, be aware of the student’s different cultural backgrounds, and I can’t assume anything.