Response to Question #3
One of Delpit’s specific proposals is that “appropriate education for poor children and children of color can only be devised in consultation with adults who share their culture.” (500). Usually, parents want a better life for their children than they experienced, including education; there is no reason to suppose that Black and working class parents are any different. They may feel that they do not know what their children need to be taught in order to improve their situation in life. To address this problem, the parents could explain to the administrators what they want their children to be able to do at the end of their public education, and then the administrators could suggest methods of achieving those goals. The end result would be a cooperative effort of the parents and the administrators.
posted by Kelley @ 9:56 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I agree that parents and educators should work together to see that children receive the best possible education. I think there is the same sort of silenced dialog between parents and educators as there is between white and black educators. Both sides feel like they are right and know what is best, but only one side is really getting the opportunity to take part in the conversation.
I also believe that it is important to talk to the parents of the students because the parents will know the personality of the child as well. This is helpful in learning how you, as a teacher, can really aid in the education of the student. Each student learns differently responds differently in various situations, and it is good to have some sort of understanding of what you should attempt to do. In my opinion, teachers have one of the most difficult jobs ever. They must focus a lot of time and energy to each student in different ways. They are overworked and underpaid in my opinion!
I also agree that better communication between parents and teachers is needed. A dialog there would mean too that the parents are more directly involved in their kids' education, and I think this would help solve the problem of both the parents thinking certain aspects of education are the teachers' responsibility only and vice versa.
I agree that most parents want a better life for their children than they experienced. In certain situations involving minority parents or low-economic status families, the parents may not have the means to provide their children with the education they have in mind. This is when the teachers need to step in and give the student a fair and equal chance of earning a high qualiy education. I like your plan of action having the administration and parents come to a concensus together on catering to the students' needs. I think it's very important to keep the parents informed and thus connected and involved with their child as much as possible. Once the school team and parent team agree on a plan of action, the success rate for the student goes way up.
Perhaps the cooperative participation of parents, teachers, and other members of the community will help evenly distribute "cultural capital" and make the language of power more accessible to all students, or even further, make the language of power itself more accommodative for minority community members.
Agreed. Good concepts to think about! And not only does this apply to African American families, but Hispanic Families in the U.S. as well. I agree with cuzzo in making the language of power more accommodative for minorities, but feel that that will take years to even begin to change.
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