Other Peoples Children

Other People’s Children
Lisa Delpit
Overview
 This book consist of essays written by Delpit that examine her journey into understanding power and how it plays a critical
role in our society and the education system
 3-Part book:
 Part 1: Contains two essays that people thought were attacking the “child-centered” and “progressive” teaching movement. A third essay
explains her thoughts on the language that is bring brought into the classroom from home.
 Part 2: Delpit’s understanding of these origins through her work in Papua New Guinea and Alaska
 Part 3: Delpit offers solutions and directions for future educators
 Lisa Delpit’s Background:
 African American women who attended a poor black catholic school
 Attended Antioch College in Ohio – Bachelor of Science Degree in Education
 Began teaching in Southern Philadelphia
 Harvard Graduate School of Education – Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Curriculum, Instruction and Research
 Selection:
 I haven’t been exposed to education of this sort. My education has always been seen as “high performing schools” so this book
interested me because I was eager to learn about something I do not have experience in.
Knowledge
 Delpit discusses about the education she had learned about during her time in graduate school
 “Child-centered” & Alternative Classroom layouts
 Waitlist for white kids – bought into the process
 Her white students flourished through this method, while her black students were having fun but not
growing and improving at the rate of her white students.
 Progressive Education & Writing Processes
 Holistic techniques of integrating reading and writing, focusing on meaning rather than form
 Literacy in writing – focus on “fluency” and not correctness
Comprehension
 These techniques that curriculum/policy makers were not benefitting the black students
 “These people keep pushing this fluency thing… what do you think? Our children have no fluency? If
they think that, they ought to read some of the rap songs my students write all the time. They might
not be writing their school assignments but they sure are writing. Our students are fluent. What they
need are the skills that will get them into college… This is just another one of those racist ploys to
keep our kids out. White kids learn how to write a decent sentence. Even if they don’t teach them in
school, their parents make sure they get what they need”
 This was a theme for many teachers – “The White folks’ project”
Application
 Skills and Other Dilemmas: Delpit discusses at the end how much her colleagues impacted her
thoughts on the way literacy was being taught. She agreed that skills were important and a
bigger emphasis should be made on strengthening those.
 The Silenced Dialogue: One area of power she discusses is “Those with power are frequently
least aware of it”.
 “I want the same thing for everyone else’s children as I want for mine”
 Wrong. This is a goal for people whose family’s already participate with the culture of power
 Jung-Sook Lee and Natasha Bowen (2006) discuss parent involvement and how it is impacts all
different races. The parents with the most involvement (whites) are seen in classroom, creating a space
for kids to learn at home and hold motives to benefit their kid’s education.
Analysis & Synthesis
 Deficit Thinking: Looking at the things students don’t have and defining them by those characteristics.
(Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017)
 “She thought all black children were poor… she kept talking about how we couldn’t expect too much from
them because they were poor.”
 “Education in a Multicultural Society: Our Future’s Greatest Challenge” – a piece that she believes to
summarize what needs to be changed to improve education for poor children and for children of Color.
 Cultural Clash between Students and School
 Discourse in the way teachers speak to children
 Stereotyping
 Asian American Students; African-American girls vs. White girls
 Invisibility
 Teachers can’t just do the minimum. In order to reach students, we must see them as individual and find ways to assist
them in understanding the curriculum. We are not robots.
Evaluation
 I would definitely recommend this book to educators entering the field. I think being exposed to
this or not, it opens your eyes to cultural difference that are happening all around us. It can help
a teacher understand what not to do and see how those actions could impact a student of color.
 Race and the battle of equity in education is never ending. I think Delpit does a great job of
helping us understand this as well as explaining that you have to be ready to change with
education.
 Learn from those who hold different perspectives and teach others what you have learned
through your experience.
What I Learned
 I don’t know where I will be and what type of classroom I will have one day
 MALT 601 & this class, I have learned that being open minded, the owning your mistakes and
being willing to change for your students and classroom is a great place to start
 Understanding and addressing your own biases is so important for your improvement as a
teacher and for your understanding of your students.
Sources
 Delpit, L. (2006). Other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, NY:
The New Press
 Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts
in social justice education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press
 Lee, J. & Bowen, N. (2006). Parent Invovement, Cultural Capital, and the Achievement Gap
Among Elementary School Children.

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