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Summary:
An updated edition of the classic revolutionary analysis of the role of race in the classroom.
Winner of an American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Award and Choice Magazine's Outstanding Academic book award, and voted one of Teacher Magazine's "great books," Other People's Children has sold over 150,000 copies since its original hardcover publication. This anniversary edition features a new introduction by Delpit as well as new framing essays by Herbert Kohl and Charles Payne.
In a radical analysis of contemporary classrooms, MacArthur Award-winning author Lisa Delpit develops ideas about ways teachers can be better "cultural transmitters" in the classroom, where prejudice, stereotypes, and cultural assumptions breed ineffective education. Delpit suggests that many academic problems attributed to children of color are actually the result of miscommunication, as primarily white teachers and "other people's children" struggle with the imbalance of power and the dynamics plaguing our system.
A new classic among educators, Other People's Children is a must-read for teachers, administrators, and parents striving to improve the quality of America's education system.
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Review of Other People's Children
Customer Rating:
Other People's Children: Culture Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit is a nonfiction book based on Delpit's personal experiences with students of color and different races. The theme throughout the book is "the Culture of Power." The Culture of Power has five components in which she explains in detail with personal experiences as her examples and case studies as well as solutions to problems that arise within the five points. It is stated by Delpit that the culture of power must be explicit in the classroom and experienced as useful in the wider world. In the revised version she answers some questions that she has been asked since writing the first version.
The book is very insightful and useful for students getting into the teaching field as I am. It put school related instances into perspective and made me rethink some of my previous expectations and ideas about teaching in the school system. At times I questioned Delpit's approach when writing about white teachers but as I read through the book I see why it is so important for her not to "sugar coat" the problems within the school systems. If this book was not as straight forward as it was I do not think she would have been able to get her point across.
I agree with most of Delpit's ideas in this book. Teacher's today are not prepared for teaching students from different races, and cultures and are loosing the power to successful teach in the classrooms. The book raises the fact that in a classroom the average nonwhite students are at about 40% where the nonwhite teachers is only about 10%. This affects what the students learn in relation to their culture. How are the white teachers able to fully in capture the cultures of other races when it is not how they were raised? Delpit gives quotes from parents and students to show their frustration with teachers and what they are teaching. One parent states, "My kid knows how to be black--you all teach them to be successful in the white mans world"
Delpit tries to show the reader the problems that are arising in today's classroom with detailed examples from her own experience as well as other teachers, parents and students. This book really opened my eyes and was a great read for my introduction into the teaching program at my school. It was insightful and forced me to take a look at the issues I was unaware of in the classroom and how I can begin to think out of the box to help students that are being left behind due to their race or color. I plan on using it to help me become a better teacher and hopefully it can help others. The one thing I must say is that at first some might take offense to the way Delpit explains things, but when I put myself in the student's shoes I see why it is so important for Delpit to be blunt and upfront about these issues. If she was not I do not think that I would be considering teaching in an inner city school when I graduate. I want to make sure these students are successful and she helped me see the need for great teachers in schools with majority of minorities.
Diversity is Key
Customer Rating:
In her book, Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, Lisa Delpit provides readers with evidence that cultural issues are still very much present in schools today. She discusses hot button issues such as race, gender, social class, and other prejudices with in the educational system.
Lisa Delpit uses first hand evidence to support her claims. In the beginning of the book she explains how she felt when considering the way she spoke compared to how she was expected to speak. She states that upon returning to school an African American boy asked her why she was trying to speak "white." This situation could easily be turned around and a teacher could chastise a student for speaking the way he or she was taught at home, but what is noticeably not correct English. This is obviously still a hot issue today. Should teachers forcefully correct a student's bad grammar, or accept it as part of their culture. Because these lines are so thin it's hard to decide which is the best course of action. This book helps readers explore these type situations and gives them ideas as to better handle them.
Other People's Children is a great tool in the educators arsenal. Lisa Delpit sheds light on what it means to be an educator of diverse learners thus this book should be widely read. It helps show how stereotypes can be hurtful not only to the person stereotyped against, but also to the learning process of that particular person. If more people understood diversity in the classroom perhaps graduation rates would be higher than they are.
Needed it for class...
Customer Rating:
It was a good book but not one of my favorites for the education classes I've taken. I didn't always agree with the author and felt the author didn't write for all audiences. But, it does have some good content.
Other People's Children
Customer Rating:
The book was in pretty good condition but did have some underlining in it. Other than that, I was happy with the service. The shipping was quick.
Another one worth reading
Customer Rating:
Other People's Children is a valuable resource into perception regarding the difficulties African American children face in classrooms frequently "led" by white teachers. Another one worth reading.
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