1. What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
2. In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
1. Delpit talks about five aspects of power: issues of power are enacted in classrooms; there are codes or rules for participating in power (there is a “culture of power”); the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power; if you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture make acquiring power easier; those with power are frequently least aware of, or least willing to acknowledge, its existence, and those with less power are often most aware of its existence.
ReplyDeleteShe then discusses how teachers in power are very uncomfortable with the idea of having power, and try to downplay their authority. Delpit argues that downplaying authority leads to indirect communication (p. 27), and that students who grew up in the culture of power can understand these indirect cues, but students who did not grow up in the culture of power do not understand them. Delpit believes that teachers in the classroom need to exert their authority more clearly and explicitly in order to help minority students understand exactly what is expected of them. She also believes that by displaying their authority, teachers are not necessarily disempowering their students (p. 33). She explains that although the teacher must demonstrate expertise in the classroom, he/she cannot be the only expert in the classroom, and that direct instruction needs to be tied to real-world experiences for students. In this way, Delpit believes that minority students can better succeed in the classroom.
2. The problem of language that Fanon is referring to is the more eloquent and esteemed French versus the native Creole. At the beginning of the article, Fanon states that, “…it [language] means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.” (p.17-18). The issue is that when the Negro of Antilles goes to France, he has to assume the French culture. He learns to speak French as the French do, and he learns to act as the French act. Then, when he comes home, he is a changed man. He describes, “…every people in whose soul an inferiority complex has been created by the death and burial of its local cultural originality—finds itself face to face with the language of the civilizing nation.” (p. 18). Fanon also says, “Every dialect is a way of thinking….And the fact that the newly returned Negro adopts a language different fro that of the group into which he was born is evidence of a dislocation, a separation.” (p. 25). Fanon describes an issue of identity as one tries to “better” oneself by adopting French culture.
1)
ReplyDeleteDelpit’s major argument is divided into five aspects of power. She first suggests that “issue[s] of power are enacted in the classroom”, meaning that teachers, and textbook publishers, and those running the American education system have socially constructed what it means to be a “normal” and successful student. If someone does well within the formal education system, which is not catered to minorities, they will be successful in the workforce. Someone who is not successful in school, due to extraneous circumstances accompanied by an education that does not cater to his or her needs, will be at a disadvantage for the remainder of their lives. Delpit further argues that there are “codes or rules for participating in power” and further that these “rules,” are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power”. This means that an idealized set of qualities have come to constitute power. These skills however do not resonate in the homes of many minorities and therefore more difficult to pick up in a formal education system, further placing certain races and cultures at a disadvantage. Delpit concludes her argument explaining that acquiring power is easier if one it “explicitly” told the rules. Further Delpit suggests that those in power are less aware of the existence of this power hierarchy. This means that obtaining this “power” is difficult because those in “power” have trouble aiding those without power. Instead of teaching minorities the skills necessary to “succeed “, minorities are often punished for what they don’t know based on their cultural upbringings. Moreover, Delpit suggests that the formal education system does not take into account many student’s previous learning backgrounds and home lives which do not coincide with the expectations of students within the democratic learning system.
2)
The “problem of language” Fanon describes constitutes the negro of Antilles speaking French, versus his native tongue which is Creole. Fanon, describes that “a man who has the language consequently possesses the world expressed and implied by the language…Mastery of the language affords remarkable power” (18). When the Negro of Antilles went to France he understood the importance of learning French and stopped speaking Creole. But upon learning French he felt that he began dissociating with his original identity. He adopted French culture in order to better himself, but he questions why he must give up his original identity in order to become a better self.
Question 1 (Delpit):
ReplyDeleteLisa Delpit’s major argument is that teachers and students of color are silenced by the white majority. Teachers are often left unheard because their experiences do not provide enough evidence based research to create programs or curriculum that addresses why students of color are often left behind. She argues that students of non-white cultures are often labeled as the misbehaved students because they do not follow directions from their white teachers. However, it is not that they do not want to follow directions; it’s that they are not accustomed to following direction through indirect statements. Students claim that they are not told what to do; if the teacher told them what to do they would do it. Teachers think that by ‘being nice” and using indirect comments they are overcoming the power barrier between them and students of color, but really they are just hurting them. The issue here is that different cultures see authority in different ways and white teachers/educators do not see that. Delpit suggests that in order to overcome this issue in classrooms is to not ignore the personal experiences of all teachers and all students, because ultimately it is them are learning and teaching each other.
Question 2 (Fanon):
Frantz Fanon refers to the “problem of language” as its power to control people. “The negro of Antilles” is a black man who visits the motherland, France, and comes back a completely different person, a European. He chooses to learn French because it is the proper language of the powerful, of those in control. On page 20 of the original text, Fanon describes how a man who learns to speak French is someone to be feared because he is becoming more white and less black. He is separating himself from the group in which he was born into and grew up with. He has to give up his previous identity to be able to become more powerful.
The controlling ability of language can also be seen through the way that people of different classes speak to each other. Language is used to demean the black man by “dumbing down” the way that the white man speaks because the white man assumes that he won’t understand any other “proper” language. In doing so, the white man is maintaining himself as the status quo by not allowing the black man to actually understand what he is saying if he were to say it in his natural language, in this case, French.
Question #1
ReplyDeleteHer major argument in the text is that everyone should keep in mind that people are experts on their own lives; therefore, we cannot judge their different interpretations as “false consciousness” (Delpit: 47). The beginning of the text also stated that white teachers never listen to what color teachers have to say, especially in the matter of teaching poor and color kids. The white teachers always think that they know the best, when in fact many of the color students cannot accept the white teacher’s style of teaching, which results in failed learning. Giving an opportunity to black teachers to give input on how to teach color students will not only build a good relationship between white and color teachers, but it will also lead to an efficient teaching style to apply to students. Teaching is not only about giving the students the knowledge they need, but it is also to communicate that knowledge in a culture that they can understand because in that way the students can learn better without being cynical about the teaching style the teacher uses. Also, students need to be aware of the existence of power realities, and they need to be equipped with the codes to adapt with the mainstream.
Question 2
The problem of the language that Fanon stated on the reading is when the culture of the mother country confronted by the language of the civilizing country (Fanon: 18). He also continued that not only the Negro of Antilles who faced the language problem but also every colonized people. In the case of Negro of Antilles, they need to learn French because they will gain the power and authority among their community; it will give them access that Creole language cannot give them, which also the reason why the students are encouraged to abandon their original language to learn French, and they also need to adapt to the culture that is associated with the language. The author portrays the reality in the education of many countries, where the students are encouraged to learn English as the dominant language. For example in Indonesia, if a person goes to an international school that uses English instruction system, he or she will have a better chance to go to university and will get higher status compared to those who goes to national public school. Language has the power to bring someone out of his or her own culture and change into a new person with civilized culture.
Thomas Cycyota
ReplyDelete1.
Lisa Delpit argues that “identifying and giving voice to alternative worldviews” will promote much more effective teaching methods for all students. She believes that in the world of education, there is a schism between the perceived goals of different races of educators. Those educators in the culture of power, namely white teachers and theorists, fail to acknowledge that their methodology of education alienates and discourages certain groups. By failing to accept this fact of a dominant culture, a “status quo” is maintained that benefits those with prior knowledge of the culture of power. She contends, “How can such complete communication blocks exist when both parties truly believe they have the same aims?” It also means that those with power are “least willing to acknowledge” the existence of that which empowers them. Until this acknowledgement is made, methods of education that promote equal learning opportunities cannot proceed.
2.
In a city where lives are “deplorably played out” in their simplicity and routines, language becomes a currency for the “negro of Antilles,” lending higher social status and respect depending on its use. This article talks in depth about the encounter between the home culture and the “culture of the mother country,” or most apparent, “the language of the civilizing nation.” Inherent in this statement of mixing of culture is the suggestion that one group is the “civilizing” force behind an adoption of language, as if forcing cultural traditions on another people is a righteous endeavor. This article proposes, however, that by creating a language of power the class dynamics within the country, even within the same race, change dramatically.
Speech becomes an identifier: “Yes, I must take great pains with my speech, because I shall be more or less judged by it. In the case of the “negro of Antilles,” having experienced the language of France in France itself places one in a “kind of magic vault of distance,” where he “adopts a critical attitude toward his compatriots” and often no longer understands the local language. He was ready to take up French and forget his home culture because that lent him power and a route out of his cultural subservience. This “problem of language,” then, is that one cannot hope to gain power or prominence while still upholding his traditional culture.
Justin Shamtoob
ReplyDelete1. Lisa Delpit discusses five aspects of power. Among these rules of power, she claims, “Success in institutions- schools, workplaces, … is predicated upon acquisition of the culture of those who are in power”; certain ways of talking, ways of writing, ways of dressing, and ways of interaction of the upper and middle classes give students from these socioeconomic backgrounds advantages in being successful in life (Delpit 25). In other words, since these children are already exposed to the culture of those in power, they do not have to adjust to the culture of power. Furthermore, individuals in the dominant culture of power are hesitant to admit or recognize the existence of this culture.
2. Frantz Fanon suggests that the black individual from the Antilles, or West Indies, is forever challenged by language, and I believe that he is referring to the problem of people with black skin having to immerse themselves in the language and culture of others, especially the French. As Fanon urges, “I must take great pains with my speech, because I shall be more or less judged by it.” (Fanon 20). In other words, he is arguing that theses individuals are judged on their ability to speak French, yet how they speak their own indigenous language makes not difference to others. In essence, these Black individuals are, as the title of the text implies, attempting to disguise their true origins by hiding behind a mask of the French language and culture. Therefore, “the negro of Antilles” is constantly cursed with the trial of having to accommodate to the French language in order to be “elevated from his jungle status.” (18). To the extent that the Black man behaves, as a French individual would act, is he treated with more respect and dignity. Furthermore, another plague of this language barrier is the condescending and patronizing manner in which white people will speak to black people and enforce a sense of inferiority in Black individuals.
Q: What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
ReplyDeleteA: Delpit proposes five aspects of power that she discusses further in her argument: 1) Issues of power are enacted in classrooms; 2)There are codes or rules for participating in power; there is a “culture of power”; 3) The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power; 4) If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, bring told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier; 5) 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. She uses these five aspects of power to conclude that students of color are often silenced by the white majority. These five aspects of power continue to force minority students (specifically african americans in this case) to be left behind in the curriculum and have a sort of social stigma in the class room; Delpit provides examples of how a black student may seem to not be following directions or listening, but in reality may not be accustomed to the white teacher’s way of teaching.
Q: In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
A: As basically everyone else has stated in their blog responses, the problem of language that Fanon is referring to the negro of Antilles having to speak french over his native tongue creole in order to be able to function with power in society. In an effort to try and make this comment a little more unique - I’d like to relate this problem to the borderland readings that we’ve read previously. While the scenario is a bit different aesthetically - Antilles moved to France and realized he must learn French and stop speaking his native language to “better himself” vs. borderland citizens having to adapt a hybrid language that fits in neither category - the effect is similar. In these cases, the borderland citizens and Antilles have to feel disconnected with their identity in order to please the society around them. Both take on an entirely new identity on themselves, and have to use the power of language to live in their respective environments. While borderlands may not be seen as legitimate (as they don’t really fit into the english category or the purely spanish community), Antilles is forced to create his legitimacy through the power of the french language.
1. In Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit’s argues that educational institutions at all levels are inherently structured to grant bias to those who operate within the dominant culture, and that the presence of the dominant culture in these institutions disadvantages minority students who come from backgrounds outside of that dominant culture. In this article Delpit describes several instances of tension between minority students and their teachers. According to Delpit, while the dominant culture, or the culture with power, is almost always represented in educational institutions, the cultures of minority students are not similarly acknowledged or represented. While this lack of representation of students’ cultures may not always be obvious, it represents an institutional inequity in education.
ReplyDeleteOne example Delpit provided that I thought was interesting was the difference in the way white middle class families and parents of African American children use discipline, and how these differences in discipline methods are interpreted as behavioral problems by teachers. Without knowing that their students are disciplined in a different manner at home, teachers might treat students as “problem children” leading to a sort of self fulfilling prophesy in which these students actively misbehave, when really they initially just did not understand what the teacher was asking. After reading this article, I am going to try to pay more attention to how the teachers at St. Martin De Porres provide instructions to their students.
2. Fanon refers to the inherent power associations that language possesses. Because of the different power associations provided to language, “the negro of Antilles” is often identified by the language he speaks. According to Fanon, an immigrant to France from Martinique will be treated differently depending not only if they speak French, but also how they speak French. Similarly, if this same person returns to their home, they will be treated with deference by their peers when they return and use the dominant language.
1: Delpit discusses five different aspects of power. The first, which is applicable to us, is that issues of power can be found in the classroom. Just like how there are power dynamics in society, the classroom holds power. Then, there are rules that one must know and understand to participate in power; to supplement this, she also states that these rules reflect the rules of the culture in power. In a pre-dominantly white society, it is the white culture that holds power; therefore, people must assimilate to this white culture in order to gain power. Delpit also claims that an outsider is able to rise in power more easily if explicitly told the rules of power. Finally, she claims that most everyone acknowledges the existence of power whether they are on the top or the bottom of the power chain. This is all applied to teaching due to the power dynamics set by the teachers in the student-teacher relationship. Delpit claims that the teachers often feel uncomfortable with having power and try to downplay their authority when they should be exerting it. She says that this downplay in authority leads to indirect communication and causes problems in the classroom.
ReplyDelete2: Fanon's claim on the problem on language refers to the negro of Antilles who learned to speak French in order to rise in power. However, in the process of learning French, he had to discard his native tongue, Creole. Through this process, he felt that he lost a part of his identity and began to wonder why he had to throw away his existence in order to gain power. This is clearly the problem in society today. Different cultures are raising their children to speak English and lose their native language in the process. Through this, English has become the dominant language and it is possible to be understood in every country. But is the loss of this essential part of culture worth the exchange for power?
1. In her article, Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit discusses five aspects of power. They touch on power in the classroom, how to participate in that power, and the awareness of its existence. A main argument about power is the power “of the teacher over the students” (24). Teachers make the rules and decide what students will learn. That is a huge responsibility and source of control. According to Delpit, “the teacher cannot be the only expert in the classroom. To deny students their own expert knowledge is to disempower them” (33). Teaching is about letting students be creative and use their uniqueness to shine academically. Students need to have their voices heard, but unfortunately Delpit believes that only those in the culture of power can be successful in school (25). In order to make changes and make success a reality for all students, teachers must acknowledge that power exists. They need to guide students while letting them be their own unique selves at the same time. Students need to be taught that even though there is a culture of power, it does not have to control your fate.
ReplyDelete2. In his article, Fanon argues that, “the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language”(18). Fanon is referring to the Antilles struggle with the decision of “stand[ing] with the white world… or to reject Europe” (37). Should they assimilate and speak the new language, or stick to their roots and maintain their dialect? Language is a huge cultural tool and speaking “with the white world” means that the “Antilles Negro who wants to be white will be the whiter” (38). Speaking the new language opens new doors and creates so many opportunities. But is it betraying your culture and your past to abandon your native dialect? It is an impossible question and it’s easy to see why Fanon explained that they will always have to face this problem of language.
Lisa Delpit argues that the voices of colored students and teachers alike are silenced by the white majority in the world of academia. Throughout the article, Delpit addresses five issues that she feels greatly contribute to the “culture of power” that is evident in schools today. Delpit discusses the issues of power enacted in the classroom, the codes/rules for participating in power, the culture of those who possess power, the rules for acquiring power in varying cultures and the awareness of those with access to power. Delpit addresses how educators who are uncomfortable with the amount of power they have use indirect cues to communicate with their students. While this form of communication may be effective with a predominantly white student body, students of different cultures and races respond differently to direction. In order for minority students to receive an equal education, teachers must learn to speak more directly and concisely to their students.
ReplyDeleteIn “Black Skins, White Mask,” Fanon claims that the negro of the Antilles is faced with the problem of language because when exposed to other cultures, such as that of France, one is forced to adopt and alter their persona. Because varying vernaculars and tongues represent different ways of life and societies, a man living in France who is originally from the Antilles will morph to act as a Frenchmen. After spending time in France, a Creole man will have grown more accustomed to French culture and practices. “To express it in genetic terms, his phenotype undergoes a definitive, an absolute mutation”(19). Because in a sense language represents power, an acclaimed Creole man will have learned to speak and act as the French do. However, in time, the Creole man will have abandoned his original practices in order to find his way in a foreign society. In a sense, the white men use language as a means to represent superiority, forcing the Creole men to adapt to their practices rather than meeting halfway.
What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
ReplyDeleteTo summarize Delpit’s argument she is saying that the rules of the culture of power must be explicitly taught to students not of that culture, while at the say time their own culture must be explored. She notes that the teachers who have the most problems with doing this are white liberal middle class people who do not want to establish themselves as being in the culture of power. This is why Delpit puts emphasis on the exploration of the other culture, which allows the students to be masters of one type of learning while the teacher is master of another. She gives several examples of teachers using this system the most notable being a Native Alaskan teacher creating a world wall that distinguishes between the students’ “Heritage English” and “Formal English.”
In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
In Antilles, a land formerly colonized by France, Creole or Pidgin is primarily spoken. Proper French is also spoken but with different a accent. By speaking “inferior” types of French the black man of Antilles, especially the university educated one, faces several problems. In France, which many visit, he must strive to perfect his French or else not be taken seriously. Upon returning to Antilles he is now considered pompous for changing his way of speech. These two views lead to numerous other problems; French people speaking down to all black people, well off Antilles people shunning the use of Creole, and black men from other colonies such as Senegal adopting Creole to appear to be from Antilles. So the problem to which Fanon is referring is that no matter what dialect a black man from Antilles speaks he is actively making a statement about how he perceives himself within his race. As Fanon himself puts it, “To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.”
1. Delpit’s main argument is summarized in five points, but the main idea is twofold: first, there exist systems of power (which Delpit refers to as “cultures of power”) within classrooms; second, the details of these cultures of power correspond with the cultures of those who are in power. Problems arise when the people in power are culturally different than the students. To put it in more concrete terms, the article deals with the issue of white teachers and policymakers being the ones who decide how African American kids are to be educated. The teachers and policymakers are out of touch with the kids for whom their policies apply, and as a result, many people feel the policies are unfair. However, when these people try to criticize the system by citing their own experiences, the policymakers get defensive, as “they only want to go on research they’ve read that other White people have written,” as one Black woman principal and doctoral student states. I can sympathize with this woman’s feeling of her voice not being heard, but at the same time, I can also sympathize with the policymakers’ reluctance to give weight to anecdotal evidence, which is often cherry-picked or only partially accurate. And in the cases where anecdotal evidence is accurate, it can still be highly varied, and expecting a teacher to be everything to every child is an unreasonable demand.
ReplyDelete2. In this quote, Fanon refers to the problem of Black people living in the Antilles islands adopting the language of the “civilizing nature,” but in so doing, renouncing their “blackness,” (18). These colonized people grow up with an inferiority complex due to the loss of their cultural originality; they find themselves unable to rely on their native language. In French-speaking colonies, these colonized people must “take great pains” to learn French, lest they be judged with contempt by others: “He doesn’t even know how to speak French,” (20). Indeed, the people in power see a “negro of Antilles” as “closer to being a real human being in direct ratio to his mastery of the French language,” (18). Therefore, in order to become more “human” according to society, colonized people must allow more of their language to be overwritten by the dominant language in which they live, renouncing their very own culture in the process.
1. What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
ReplyDeleteDelpit starts by listing her five main “aspects of power:” 1.) the different power relations in the classroom, like teacher over student. This aspect of power can reach so far as to determine a student’s socioeconomic status as an adult, as a result of the power that educators have over determining the educational path a student will take, and thus what their role in society will be. 2.) There is a culture of power. This includes ways of communicating. 3.) Elaborates on number two, the culture of power forms the rules, and likewise the rules reflect the culture of power. Numbers four and five, Delpit explains, are less frequently discussed in conversations about power. 4.) For those who are not already in the culture of power, explicitness is often the easiest way to assimilate them into that culture, and to allow them to fully understand it. And 5.) while those in power are often least aware of it, those not in power are often the most aware of the existence of a power culture.
2. In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
Fanon argues that language poses a problem because it defines a person and his culture. The negro of Antilles faces the problem of being forced to change his language, and even who he is. On the one hand, the negro has his native Creole dialect, but the whites look down upon it, and treat him as they would children; on page 31, Fanon uses the example of the priest speaking to a negro as he would a child, “smirking, whispering, patronizing, cozening.” But on the other hand, if the negro learns to speak “French French,” (proper French), he is patronized by his peers. The negro of Antilles goes to France and changes—his language, but also his mannerisms, his interests. While he may have earned some respect from whites, he has lost it from other blacks. And I think it speaks to a larger problem that we still have today. Looking back to Delpit’s piece, there is a strong culture of power, and those not a part of that have the struggle of learning two cultures, often two languages, and often to be successful in the culture of power and their native culture, they must be able to be two different people.
1) Delpit’s major arguments are reinforced by five aspects of power, or, as she refers to them in her presentation, the “cultures of power.” The idea that power issues are enacted in classrooms stands out as number one. With this aspect, one should realize that there are two very distinct factors at play. In other words, there is x because of y: teacher authority precedes students, textbook publishers and developers of curricula determine how students view the world, and groups setting the bar for what’s deemed as normal or intelligent. Next, Delpit states that “there are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a ‘culture of power’.” This aspect reifies her thesis and exercises great brevity by essentially saying that appearance equates authority—linguistically, communicatively, and phonically. The third aspect pertains to socio-economic class and intrinsic culture; Delpit submits that middle-class children do better in school than those from mainstream families. Fourth, the author expounds on the breakdown of illicit communication and its adverse effect on assimilation, whether in the classroom or the other cultures. Transversely, a more direct approach in divulging pertinent information would make learning “immeasurably easier.” And I would have to agree. The last and most long-winded aspect is the argument that there is a debilitation of administration. “Liberals” act assumingly beneath a guise that goes against liberal principals; in turn, this limits “the freedom and autonomy of those subjected to the explicitness.” Yelling to express power is a pragmatic implication here.
ReplyDelete2)The problem of language for "the negro of Antilles" is assimilation to culture through language, particularly French. In order to be socially accepted, the tribulations of culture double-crossing must be faced. This man realized he had to learn French in order to avoid negative judgment and extinguish any preconceived notions people held based on his dark complexion. His native tongue, creole, would not hold up to their standards and he would have to extricate himself from his roots to be accepted. Delpit touches on this in The Silenced Dialogue when she notes that she does “not advocate the attempt to change the homes of poor and nonwhite children to match the homes of those in the cultural power. That may be a form of cultural power.” (30) Of course hers is in an academic pulpit, but the same message holds true for the man of Antilles.
1. Her main arguments deal with “the culture of power.” 1. “Issues of power are enacted in classrooms” 2. “There are codes for participating in power of culture, that is there is, there is a “culture of power ” 3. The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power.” 4. “If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier.” 5. “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.” For example, some black students might not understand when a teachers gives an indirect as a means of making it a direct command, at home they are spoken to in more authoritarian forms. Since, the rules of “the culture of power” are a “reflection of the rules of those who have power,” black students will not see their form of communication depicted in a school setting. Delpit concludes, that “each cultural group should have the right to maintain its own language style,” instead of having a specific style dominant the school system; there should be diversity of “style.” I found interesting the example about a Native American student, whose writing skills weren’t the best, because the author mentioned that, “a person of color who exhibits problems immediately becomes a representative of her cultural group.” This made me think a lot about how sometimes as a student of color, in classroom settings, I am called on to speak on the behalf of my race. At times, I am not just seen as a student by the instructor, but as a representation of my race. I really could relate to her point and agree with it.
ReplyDelete2. The “problem of language” that he is referring to is that language dominates culture and that people wants to be well versed in the language that has the most power. Not being fluent or speaking the dominant language causes inferiority complexes relating to not being as highly valued as a white person, because they are the ones with “power.” The author states that, “mastery of language affords remarkable power.” The negro of Antilles that comes back from their trip comes “radically changed.” In a sense they become a part of the dominant culture and are feared and seen as “almost white,” by their own people.
1. What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
ReplyDeleteLisa Delpit’s main argument centers around the issue of power and in deciding whose voice gets heard in determining what is best for poor children and children of color in the classroom. She answers this problem by calling for the dialogue to open up between educators, parents, and students of different cultural backgrounds. This will create many different perspectives and each one should be heard equally because even though “people are experts on their own lives” in the classroom there are many students from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. After all, every party “believe[s] they have the same aims” (23). When a classroom is operated under the culture of power, which adheres to the principles of the white upper and middle class, poor students and students of color are already disadvantaged before even taking their first steps into the classroom. Such students would then be labeled as needing “remedial” instruction (30). Delpit furthermore outlines five aspects of power,one aspect being that those who have the power are the least aware of or least willing to acknowledge its existence. Those “with less power are often more aware of its existence” (24). For example, a teacher will try to deemphasize her power through indirect communication. This may even further harm the student’s understanding.
2. In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
Fanon suggests that to “speak a language is to take on a world, a culture” (38). For the Antilles Negro, French culture and the French language was deemed more important and valuable than their native Creole tongue. As a result, they adopt the French language and customs, and in doing so society views them as becoming more civilized—more white. However, as he “becomes whiter” he inevitably “renounces his blackness” (18). He is faced with a conflict when he returns home from being educated in France, as he is now seen as being pompous and more white; “his phenotype undergoes a definitive, an absolute mutation” (19). He betrays a part of his own culture to become more like the French because he realizes that was the only way for him to gain importance in society.
Lorna:
ReplyDeleteLisa Delpit argues that those in charge of the national public education system have created a definition of what it means to be a normal member of society. Normal is a trope, created to separate out those who do not fit into the mold of education. This often applies to students of color, as the majority of those in charge of the American education system are white. As a result, the power they hold over deciding what makes someone successful in the education system gives them the power to often decide who is successful in society and who is left behind. The education system is unfairly biased in regards to the rules created (based on an idealized set of qualities) and its basis on a power hierarchy. Those who have power tend to perpetuate the power hierarchy by punishing difference rather then embracing it or teaching ways to adapt to social power structure. Additionally, if one is never explicitly taught the rules of how to succeed in society, they will struggle to adapt and learn the process on their own, as we are currently seeing with ethnic and racial minorities. Delpit argues that cultural differences in minority cultures holds them back from being successful in the education system, and as a result, places them at a disadvantage for future economic and social success.
The “problem of language” describes the struggle between one’s native language and the dominant social language. The “Negro of Antilles” is faced with such a problem when the society in which he lives holds French in higher regard, and therefore he must give up his native language of Creole in order to advance in society. However, while he is therefore of higher social strata, he loses part of his identity and connection to his cultural heritage. This is very evident in today’s society, as language holds varying degrees of social value and often children are taught to give up their native language in favor of English. Learning a new language can open up different cultural avenues, yet by giving up one’s cultural heritage it is another form of submitting to a dominant social power.
1. Delpit provides 5 premises for her description of “the culture of power” involved in education. The first three she regards as agreed and assumed in education and they focus around the description of this culture of power.
ReplyDeleteThese first three premises specify that there is a set of beliefs, behaviors, actions, etc… that define a culture of power; moreover, this culture exists in classrooms. Lastly, these codes and rules depict the nature of those who hold power. That is, the nation of this culture says much about those who hold power.
But the interesting part of Delpit’s discussion is in the latter two premises for which Delpit advocates. Delpit first point is about the process of learning the culture of power. She argues that acquiring power is facilitated by learning the rules and norms of that culture. That is, direct communication through another person facilitates the learning of the culture of power. This may seem trivial on first view, but it points to the deeper idea that the social component in the culture of power, the communication between people in conversation and circumstance, plays a strong role in the culture of power.
Her last premise involves the phenomena that the perception of those in power differs in awareness of power than those lacking power. That is, those in power tend not to acknowledge the power they have, while those without power more aptly perceive their lack of power. Once again, this seemingly trivial premise points to the deeper idea that our psychological perception of the culture of power is very much influenced by whether we have power. With power, we do not focus on having power, while without power we seek it and focus more such lack.
Both of these psychological suggestions that Delpit wants to hold as premises in the understanding of the culture of power point towards correlations that I would imagine Delpit wants to use to spearhead a further thesis that relies on these claims.
2. Fanon’s “the problem of language” could be described as the “Eurocentric, hegemonic ideological racist apparatus” that blacks of Antilles faced when visiting France. This problem is a cultural, racial wall embodied in the European language that blacks faced as they experienced Europe, one that deemed black native culture as inferior and European culture as dominant. By viewing French as the dominant language, blacks would go to Europe and learn French, just in virtue of this believed dominance.
The blacks of Antilles particularly faced this problem because they actually visited France where he “returns radically changed” and described his change “in genetic terms” as “an absolute mutation” (19). He is feared if he “talks like a white man” (21), or adorned by other blacks if he receives an “European identification” (26). It is the fact that the European language was believed to be superior and put on a pedestal, which all should learn, that brought about this vicious cycle of people believing this made up superiority, to influencing blacks who visited France to believe in this superiority in language, to blacks who had not visited Europe to believe as such, and so on. It is a recurring belief system that plagued the minds of so many, a ideological plague that knowledge and equality even have found difficulty in fixing, up until today.
Furthermore, it is a plague that Sartre describes as “taking place in darkness” (29), one that “philosophy and intelligence” cannot necessarily save, for philosophy has just as much been the reason for the perpetuation of belief as for its possible use as a cure.
1. What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument/s about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
ReplyDeleteLisa Delpit argues that the culture of power exists in the classroom as well as in the whole society. As the culture of power and its rules in the classroom are determined by those who have power, schooling is closely related to that power. Unless one is a participant in the culture of power, one needs to understand the rules of that culture in order to get power easier. Though the system of autonomous education proposed by liberal educators is good for those with power, parents and their children with less power need to be first taught the codes of the culture of power. Otherwise, they will remain permanent outcasts in their education and also in their society. But this does not merely adopting direct instruction but also allowing an important voice to the students in their learning process. In addition, black teachers and parents should not be silenced even by the liberal educators who argue for children's autonomous learning. As Delpit says, "we must become ethnographers in the true sense" (47).
2. In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon argues that "the negro of Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language" (pg. 18 in reader 2). To what problem is he referring?
When Fanon refers to the problem of language faced by the negroes of Antilles, he does not discuss a linguistic problem but a more comprehensive problem created by their forced adoption of the language of the colonizing nation. As he argues, "to speak a language is to take on a world, a culture"(38). Living under the French colonization, the negroes of Antilles are forced to give up their native language and adopt the language of the civilizing nation. The loss of their native language leads to the loss of their local cultural originality and ultimately to their inferiority complex. This problem, however, could not be solved by education. The more educated the colonized are, the more intensified their inferiority complex becomes. The negro newcomer from France exhibits a critical attitude toward his compatriots. A foreign language user from an independent nation can keep his own language and different standards, while the colonized negroes lose their culture, civilization, and political power as well as their own language by their coerced use of the language of the colonizing nation.
1.
ReplyDeleteShe speaks of five major aspects of the issue of power in the classroom, the first of which is that it exists. This is seen to be true by simply acknowledging the power a teacher has over students in the easiest example. A culture around this power, a link between this culture and the culture that created the power structure, and a peculiar property of those in power to not recognize their privilege are three more of these aspects. The culture of power is formed of the linguistic styles and tools used to apply power, and the link between cultures comes as a natural result of the societal culture in power's attempts to teach. A last premise is that to be told explicitly what the rules of the culture of power are tends to make it easier for those unaccustomed to operating in such a culture to adjust and thus gain their own power.
2.
Fanon is indeed referring to the problem of power given by different dialects of language. Creole, as the native language of the negro of Antilles, is nonetheless seen as inferior and uncivilized by the European Frenchman. In France, it is considered unintelligent and stupid to speak in such a manner, and so people who speak like this have less power than those who speak perfect "white" french. This is apparent when Fanon elaborates upon the negro that has returned from the mainland and holds his new-found speech style above the heads of his once contemporaries. To be given the benefit of the doubt and to have his opinion considered, the negro of Antilles must abandon his own cultural method of speech (creole) and adopt the manner of white men. This situation is not reversed, as creole does not command respect in any areas of power, so it is only the negro of Antilles who must change. Changing one's one cultural aspect to gain power is the problem Fanon is talking about here.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteIn Other People’s Children, Delpit constructs a clear argument that education provides a stage for a power struggle. Delpit astutely acknowledges the idea that power is viewed in different ways depending on your culture, your upbringing, or the simple fact of whether or not you possess power. There is a clear disconnect in cultural communication in the examples that Delpit highlights, in almost a comical way. My personal favorite is the example of the black student who disagreed with white teachers writing and peer evaluation techniques. There was such a clear disconnect that by the time the parent needed to get involved, the father of the black student had this to say: “Well at least now I know that she thought she was doing something. I thought she was just a fool who couldn’t teach and didn’t want to try.” The teacher, holding power, had dictated the students should learn in a way she saw effective. The student and student’s father, coming from an entirely different culture, saw no value in the teacher’s method and went as far as to believe the teacher could not teach. Power captivates the attention of mankind and each culture views power slightly differently. Knowledge is power. Therefore, education systems are inherently a power struggle arena whether or not the participants consciously acknowledge it.
Question 2:
When describing the trials and tribulations of the “negro of Antilles” as the problem of language, Fanon is referring to the basic idea that cultures communicate differently even if they speak the same language. Fanon refers to language as a cultural tool which is a perfect description for language. For the black man to succeed in white culture (aka USA), he must learn to speak in a way that white people understand. He must completely internalize the ideals, values, morals, and beliefs of a white male. In this way, he can communicate with them, relate to them, and succeed in achieving what he desires. The best living example of a black man assimilating to white culture is Barack Obama. He is certainly a black male, yet he has developed the understanding of white culture and speaks that language fluently. He manages to use the cultural tool of language so beautifully that he can reach out to multiple groups of people. He is living proof that although the negro of Antilles will always have the problem of language, it is a problem that has a solution.