In “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit, Delpit argues that a culture of power within the classroom puts students who are not participants in the culture at a disadvantage. She believes that these students need to be explicitly taught the skills/ code needed to successfully participate. Delpit also argues that each student must be encouraged to recognize the value that their culture has, as well as how to participate in the mainstream culture of power.
Delpit lists five aspects of power that make up “the culture of power” within the classroom.
The first is the issues of power are enacted in the classroom. Delpit lists several beings that hold power; the teacher, curriculum writers, state/ government who enforce the teaching, and lastly the power of the group that fits within the culture of power.
The second is that there are codes or rules for participating in the culture of power. To fit into the culture of power, students must speak, dress, write, and interact in a certain way.
The third is that the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have the power. Delpit writes that students who are from middle-class homes do better in school than those not from the middle class because the culture of power is based on the middle and upper classes.
The fourth aspect is that if you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier. Members within a culture learn the rules implicitly, leaving those who are not members at a disadvantage and often unable to communicate clearly. By explicitly teaching the rules, students can learn the ‘cultural norms’ more easily.
Lastly, the fifth aspect is that those with power are frequently least aware- or least willing to acknowledge its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence. Someone within the culture of power may not know another way and may not have had any reason to question the status quo, since it has always worked for him/her. Whereas, someone not within the culture of power may want and/or value something different for their child.
The biggest takeaway I have from Delpit’s article is that all students, regardless of culture, have value and that students need to feel heard, supported, and included. Teachers need to find ways to relate to their students and recognize the importance of students’ cultures in learning. I immediately think of meeting students at their level. The movies “Criminal Minds” and “Freedom Writers” come to mind. The teachers in both of these movies use non-mainstream methods and themes to teach outside of the culture of power to appeal to the students to teach them the skills they need to be successful in the mainstream culture. In both movies, the students initially resist their mainstream teacher’s attempts to earn their trust and only when she proves she’s willing to make be uncomfortable and learn about her students, do they respond. The movie clip below is of Michelle Pfeifer attempting to engage her students with a sentence on the blackboard. She is attempting to get the students to identify the verb in the sentence. Only when she changes the sentence to something the students care about, do they respond to her.
We choose to die - Grammar scene from Dangerous Minds (1995)
Hi Amanda, I really enjoyed the video you chose to connect the reading to. It perfectly describes how you teach to your students rather than at them. The teacher in the video connects to the reading because the teacher chooses to teach the same lesson but with more meaning to the demographic of students. It reminds me of something I do in my classroom. Much of the music that is suggested to use in the curriculum is classical music written by white men. I still teach the curriculum but I use rap, hiphop, and R&B music to better engage my students in what we are learning because that is what they care about. Nice job!
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