Lisa Delpit's The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children

 The author Lisa Delpit argues that: there are five aspects of power within the "culture of power".  This culture of power is present in our current day classrooms.  There are inequities in our education system including a dominance in one culture over another and that some voices and perspectives are left out in educational systems.

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: 

-"1. Issues of power are enacted in classrooms.

2. There are codes or rules for participating in power; that 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 less aware of- or at least willing to acknowledge-  its existence.  Those with less power are often most aware of its existence" (page 24).

-"These issues include: the power of the teacher over the students; the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented; the power of the state in enforcing compulsory schooling; and the power of an individual or group to determine another's intelligence or "normalcy" (page 24).

-"When acknowledging and expressing power, one tends towards explicitness... When deemphasizing power, there is a move toward indirect communication" (page 27).

There are sets of rules and norms in educational settings that those in power may not recognize.

Middle:

-"To deny students their own expert knowledge is to disempower them" (page 33).

End:

-"The dilemma is not really in the debate over instructional methodology, but rather in communicating across cultures and in addressing the more fundamental issue of power, of whose voice gets to be heard in determining what is best for poor children and children of color" (page 46).

Reflections and Connections:

This reading made me think about how we set up our classrooms on day one of the school year and how there is a sense of hierarchy and order within a classroom where there are lines of difference, for example, teacher needs to maintain order of a classroom and meet the needs of a diverse population of students with a vast range of needs.  When setting structures and norms in place in a classroom, a good opportunity for making the classroom a home away from home and a place where students can learn, grow, and thrive is to have them come up with an explicit list of norms or a charter or agreement in which they all sign off on.  Having discussions related to the norms and allowing students to express the reasoning behind the norms they created fosters a sense of collaboration and teamwork but also a learning space that is hopefully co-created with the teachers and students so that everyone can see themselves as active participants in their learning community. 

This reading also connected back to the "Privilege, Power, and Difference" reading and how these dynamics are present in classrooms.