The Delpit article discusses the rules of power that dictate
our world. She asserts that these rules
are enacted in classrooms as well.
According to the author, there are these ‘codes’ of conduct that the
majority culture are aware of (consciously or subconsciously), and those who
don’t know the ‘codes’ have a difficult time achieving power in our
society. This was a difficult read in
that I was not exactly sure what she meant by Skills-oriented writing vs.
Process-oriented writing. I have ideas,
but I am not sure if I am on the right track.
Overall, Delpit is saying that Black children need a more direct, authoritative
teaching style than White children. This “minority culture” is used to being
told what to do, and will easily disrespect an authority figure who does not
act with explicit authority. As a result, Black students may seem to misbehave
in the classroom when they do not know the ‘codes’ of the “majority culture.” These students must be taught how to
assimilate into the American culture, but not lose their identity. Finally, Delpit says that the educational
system must pay attention to and respect the ideas from Black parents,
teachers, and members of community.
The Young article is a very humorous, yet serious journey
into his head and his views about language in America. Young believes that education helps to
support the divide between Blacks, Whites, and in his words,
ghetto-Blacks. He asserts that Black
students’ culture should be respected, and they should not have to ‘code switch’
in order to be successful. He seemed to
wish that we could do away with race, and that all students should be able to
write the way that they feel.
After reading both articles, I must be honest and say that
this is too much reading for one week…not because of the amount of pages, but
because of the content! I have taken
several breaks, but these readings are really DEEP, and my mind is
reeling! I honestly don’t know where to
begin. Both articles brought up so many
issues--I mean, even one issue could be debated forever.
In my experience, I always tell my students that we are
judged by the words we use and how we use them.
It is just a fact that will not go away.
People from different cultural groups tend to use language in different ways,
and as human beings, we will make our judgments and first impressions. I think it is in our nature to categorize
people, places, and things, so I don’t see this changing. I have been judged
more than once by the words that I use.
As I mentioned before, I learned to ‘code switch’ early in life. I was constantly getting bad grades in
writing; I grew up in a predominantly white, suburban neighborhood, while
family came from the south (and they were country as hell). Mixing the two cultures together was like striking
matches to dynamite. School was a
struggle because of it, but the only advantage that I had was that I loved to
learn and I enjoyed reading.
I can think of one instance in particular many years ago. I became friends with my neighbor, who
eventually introduced me to her friend (also named ‘Pam’), who seemed to have
some jealousy issues. The three of us
spent quite a bit of time at backyard barbecues, McDonalds, and hanging out
with our kids. We were three Black,
Christian, married moms who somehow needed one another’s company. Because we all shared the same race, I felt
comfortable to use my ‘native language’, and not worry about grammar. I felt free to use incorrect verb tenses, say
words from my old country, and otherwise chop the English language to death. One day, Pam found out that I had a Master’s
degree, and said something like, “Yeah right…oh no she don’t.” That was quite a shock, but it said a lot
about how our language can be used to judge us.
This ruined my self-esteem, and it made me feel so inferior to her.
Despite what happened between Pam and me, I also make such judgments
when I meet people. I don’t know if it
comes from being a teacher, or just from being a person…the truth is, I think we
all do. When we meet other people, we
make a mental inventory from the clothes, hair style, mannerisms, and of
course, language. By listening to
another person’s language, we are SOMETIMES able to pinpoint what type of
neighborhood they grew up in, who their friends are, and how much they make on
their jobs.
Both articles were a good reminder of this. The Delphi article was especially interesting,
because I have never taught young children before. I had to think about how I raise my own
children, and admitted that I do have to take that authoritative approach with
them. I agreed so much that our Black
children need to be taught the codes, so that they can fit into society. To me, it is just a fact that cannot be
denied. The Young article was a hope for the future (in my opinion), but I do
not see it ever happening. I cannot see
a world where every student is allowed to write/speak in his or her own
way. Maybe I am being short-sighted, but
without some form of standardization, we would all sound like we just climbed
the Tower of Babel.
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