Prompt 4 and Delpit

When I first entered my service learning school I thrown into a lot of different experiences I have never had before, meeting a bunch of third grades, worrying even within my last visits if I know enough to help these students among many other things. I tried to take note of the diversity of the classroom but I was constantly busy working with individuals. I think it was because I was thrown into something totally new that may experience in a different cultural group didn’t really take on the meaning it might have. I myself can be considered a cultural group of power, meaning white, middle class, able person, as Lisa Delpit would describe. The students in my classroom are mainly not of the class of power, being of minority race, usually lower class and some disabled (being in an inclusion class). Even though I did not immediately notice that I was one with cultural power over the students, I did actively try to learn from as well as teach the students I was helping. By working with students of all races one on one I was able to free some of my bias expectations, like that all the children with cornrows would have a destructive attitude and that all children with a disability will need constant help. Both of my own stereotyping of children have been broken, all the students I have helped are always courteous and try to be attentive, and I have been sometimes amazed by how much the students know, not only the material that they are being taught but just life knowledge and understanding. With all this insight I now can identify with students on many levels besides the race, age and economic background. (Even though by this time in the semester they probably have more money in their piggy banks then I do in my checking account.)

Cartoon of Delpit's description of power, how white are innocent until proven guitly while minority races have to prove thier innocents.

Delpit discusses the “Silenced Dialogue” which is the absence of discussion about how different students need different teaching methods to learn, and that the majorities of white moderate teachers do not really listen and believe that this is true. This may be what is happening in my service learning classroom, not with the main two teachers but with the teacher aid, she has previously said to me how well her own children succeeded in homeschooling while the children in this classroom are lazy and waste time watching TV, while in my own experience I have seen all the children work with their upmost ability, granted a few have good and bad days. I believe the teacher’s aid could be projecting her, self frustration and previously constructed idea onto the students, almost setting them up to fail to her expectations, which I feel is strongly unfair. I do understand how this could happen, if you do go into an environment with set ideas and a few instances happen to sustain these ideas, one could not have an open mind to assess the situated actually present. Delpit says this in one of her 5 aspects of power “Those with power are frequently least aware of it or least willing to acknowledge its existence” which goes along with the fact that “ those with less power are often most aware of its existence” myself and the students have less power than the teacher aid as we are able to identify her misuse of power, even little first grade who were in our classroom on day were talking amongst each other how “that lady is a meany pants” after the teacher aid scolded them for being there, when they were supposed to be sitting. By no means is coming into a new setting without bias possible, everyone comes from somewhere and no one comes from nowhere, to quote my professor, yet it is very possible to keep an open mind about your new environment and situation, to once again mention Delpit to be a teacher who allows flow of idea, and to give power to students by “being told explicitly the rules of that culture” in order to succeed in the classroom and in life.