I don't remember reading "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children" from Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children as part of my pre-induction reading for TFA. This time around, however, a few things really made me stop and think. After our discussion about equity at our last session, I feel like I have less training or experience in discussing equity, whether in a professional or educational field. This chapter was a good start to the unit, however. Delpit's first of the five aspects of power helped me understand just how deep the culture of power is projected in education (24). It goes far beyond the teacher's instruction and what happens in the classroom, to the curriculum that is published, state and federal laws governing education, and the way that students are evaluated and measured based on their academic abilities.
The fifth aspect of power was the most thought-provoking: "Those with power are frequently least aware of--or least willing to acknowledge-- its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence" (26). This statement seems all too obvious now that I have read it, but before this point I had never deeply considered the fact that those who do not benefit from the ways that society and education have been established are the ones who must confront that truth the most and are painfully aware of their own lack of power. Even more complex is the way that this imbalance of awareness hinders productive discussion from taking place. Delpit's observation that those who become aware of their power attempt to downplay it by becoming less explicit in communication with others could not be more true and might help to explain why issues of equity and power are so difficult to navigate. I don't really know where to go from this point in terms of my own beliefs and my role as a teacher, but I will continue to reflect on this point.
The entire section about veiled commands vs. direct commands (34-35) forced me to think about behavior management from the perspective of equity and different cultural norms. I have been taught that direct commands are always more effective in redirecting behavior than asking a question or phrasing it as a request or a favor. But I never considered any deeper cultural connotations of the two types of commands in the classroom, nor am I sure that I completely agree with Delpit's classification of which types of families, by racial and socio-economic group, use which types of commands. A part of me wants to dismiss this entire conversation because I think I "know" that direct commands are more effective--why waste time thinking about what would happen if I misled my students by asking them to improve their behavior? But I could also think about it as a teacher who has no white students and few that would be considered "middle-class." If I had a white middle-class student, should I modify my commands for that student based on what he or she is used to at home?
This reading definitely raised more questions than it answered for me, but the final pages, with their examples of productive dialogue and activities to address the language and code barriers that exist in our educational system, gave me hope that there are ways to raise awareness of these issues without coming off as one who tries to avoid direct communication about power.
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3 comments:
Hi Claire. I agree with you that this article raised more questions for me then it gives answers as well. I feel as you said this article will need to result in more personal reflection for myself, to determine my next steps as a teacher striving for equity in my classroom.
I agree with you that I have always thought direct commands are more useful when dealing with classroom management. However one thing I know I do is try to use positive praise like, "I love the way X is sitting like a Rocketeer..." and wonder if instances like that when turning the situation around to compliment a positive example instead of directly disciplining a negative can be viewed as indirect. You make an interesting point on if we taught in a predominantly white school the issue would be reversed and we would have to consider using more indirect commands in our teaching which just sounds comical. It seems as we teach in different populations throughout our teaching careers there will always be new cultures and perspectives to consider and adjustments to make as a result.
Claire, I focused on some of the same aspects as you-- the five aspects jumped at me too. We have heard 'culture of power' so much during Rocketship culture conversation, but this was the first time I'd seen it broken down too. The fifth aspect was the most personally challenging for me-- being aware of our own position is hard!
I also focused in on that bit on veiled versus direct commands. I know I'm guilty of so, so many veiled commands in class "Are you behaving like a Rocketeer?" or "Should you be playing with your pencil?" I really honestly have never even thought about how confusing it could be for the kids.
It definitely raises a lot of questions. I enjoyed reading your reflection on this--- did we read it at Institute? If we did, I definitely don't remember it (although at different points in this article, I remembered some of the conversations that we had during DCA in Long Beach-- intense!)
I appreciate your comments on Lisa Delpit's fifth aspect of power. In my experience, arguments tend to go like this:
People with more power: "I've just been very lucky in my life (which has lead to success)."
People with less power: "That's not luck. That's privilege given to you by society because of your race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc."
People with more power: "That's not true. I worked hard to get where I am. You could be here too, if you worked hard."
While oversimplified, I've heard this argument/discussion many times...and it's problematic because of the resistance of those with power and privilege to recognize it and the incredible advantage they have because of it (and their determination to insist that they have fully earned their success).
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