Once again, I forgot to post this last night.... sorry but at least this time i remembered early enough. Please post your responses by 11:59p on Sunday. Thanks!
Q1: What is/are Lisa Delpit's major argument(s) about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children?
Q2: In Black Skins, White Masks, Fanon argues that "the Negro of the Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language"(p.18 in reader). What problem is Fanon referring to?
Lisa Delpit says that white educators and academics are unable to listen to the actual experience of a teacher or student of ethnicities or cultures other than white, and prefer their research when controlling how students will be taught. She also believes that they are unaware of the fact that they are not listening, creating “the Silenced Dialogue.” The issue Delpit focuses on between these two conflicting groups is the idea of teaching and learning with either a skills or process oriented approach. However, she does so by depicting the way that the white, middle class culture is the “culture of power;” and working according to the culture of power is the only way to get ahead. Therefore she places importance in all students being provided with the skills to act in accordance with this culture. This is where she finds fault in some progressive teaching styles. She argues that white students are more likely to have the background necessary to be successful at the tasks involved.
ReplyDeleteFanon writes about the black Martiniquens and the dilemma between speaking their native Creole or French. The problem that they face is that French is the language of power. French is the language of the colonizer, and they are the colonized. Therefore to be successful and able to get an education requires that the black Martiniquens be taught in French. Fanon describes the instance of a Martiniquen that goes to France to become educated. While he is there he strives to speak perfect French but has trouble because Creole is his first language. However, when he returns to his home he will be changed and will be different from his fellow Martiniquen, because he speaks French. But even with the ability to speak perfect French, he is still isolated from the white French man because of his color; Fanon points out that the Martiniquen who speaks perfect French will always be a man who speaks French well for being black.
Delpit’s major argument about power in the classroom in her piece is that there is a culture of power, but it is an arbitrary one. She points out the differences in students’ views of the power that teachers have. Lower class and African American students reacted better to teachers who were teachers because that had power, rather than teachers who had power because they were teachers. The teacher that feels no need to express personal power because her authority is not dependent on her actions will not be respected by certain students because she comes of as weak and ineffectual. Later in the article she discusses how these students need to be taught the codes necessary to obtain power, but without being stripped of the codes they already know. She explains that it cannot just be assumed that every child in the classroom knows the various codes necessary for power, often learned at home, leading to the children who don’t learn them at home being disadvantaged.
ReplyDeleteFanon’s problem that he argues for in this piece is centered on the learning of the language of the civilizing nation, in this case French, to become more ‘white’. He is quick to state, “Mastery of language affords remarkable power”, and this mastery is something that those from the Antilles need to accomplish to have opportunities open to them. They have to leave behind pidgin and creole language, and in doing so leave behind their culture, in favor of the French language and culture, the culture of the civilizer. He brings up the choice of students from the Antilles in Paris who must make the choice between conversing in French or to cling to their dialect, and it is this dilemma that can be broadened into the problem of language that ‘the Negro of the Antilles’ faces.
The first major point about power that Lisa Delpit makes is that its existence in the classroom is undeniable. Strictly as an objective statement, I agree with Delpit that power continues to exist in the classroom in many forms, such as "teacher over the students" and "the power of the publishers of textbooks" (24). I find her idea of "the culture of power" to be stimulating, because it gives power the ability to form relationships with people in such a way that some will be successful and others will never be able to gain membership to the predominant culture. Communication breaks down within different power groups, and I believe that this contributes to the inequities of learning in the classroom. Students who have access to the culture of power are more likely to do better in school and those who do not belong to the higher power will suffer throughout their education years. Delpit's last argument about power talks about how those with power don't recognize its existence, while those without it are more aware of its existence not belonging to them. It is actually quite important that power holders acknowledge their higher status to avoid additional discomfort that can follow an attempt to mask the power differences. Although some may oppose the idea of educators being too direct with their use of power, direct instruction can be beneficial in teaching (as described by the Distar reading program example).
ReplyDeleteIf language equates to power, the "problem of language" will always be inherently a struggle of power. Fanon uses the Antilles to exemplify the constant battle for the "inferior Negroes" to gain recognition and status by the dominant white French. Even if a member of the Antilles masters the French language, he will endlessly have to "prove the existence of a black civilization to the white world at all costs" (34). The physical appearance (for which is not responsible for) will naturally subjugate him to being powerless.
(Joyce Park)
In Lisa Delpit’s article, “Other People’s Children” she addresses the issue of teaching children of color and those that come from poor communities in the context of the white culture of power. Delpit also expresses the difficulty of feeling silenced by white educators, who in America hold the culture of power, they basically assume their colored colleagues would agree with their logic on issues around education. She strongly opposes this assumption and even goes a step further arguing that “appropriate education for poor children and children of color can only be devised in consultation with adults who share their culture” (45). One of her major arguments is that schools must provide colored children and those not a part of the culture of power a place where they can communicate across cultures and address the fundamental issues of power. These children need to be taught how to fully participate in the mainstream of America through dialogue. Teachers are called to assist their students in learning the culture of power while simultaneously acknowledging their students “expertness” in their own unique culture. Delpit expresses how teachers are key in creating an environment where their students can have true dialogue, and as a result where their colored students can be heard.
ReplyDeleteThe problem that Fanon conveys to the reader is a dilemma between the culture of the mother country and the culture of the civilizing nation. In this particular case, the mother culture is of the Antilles and the French is the civilizing nation. Fanon explains the significance of language when he mentions, “to speak a language is to take on a world, a culture” (38). The Negro of the Antilles will always be faced with the problem of language because he will constantly find himself wrestling between the language and culture of his mother country and that of the French. The struggle of power and gaining acceptance by the white French plays a significant role in how the black man from Antilles perceives himself. No matter if he speaks perfect French, he still will be viewed as not a member of the white world because of his color.
Lisa Delpit’s “The Silenced Dialogue” discusses how there is a “culture of power” that is influencing the way a child learns. She writes about two different teaching styles, a “skills” approach and a “process” approach and how viewing the differences in these two styles can help us understand why many colored people feel that they are not being heard, and that communication is just one-sided and primarily led by white people, hence her title. She goes on to explain how in order to excel in our society one must master the set of rules and codes that is in the “culture of power” (for America, mainly white middle class structure) and that responsibility falls on the teachers. But how the student learns from the teacher depends on a level of “explicitness” to explain the codes of the culture. Researchers found that many working-class children performed better from a teacher that displayed signs of power, instead of those who assumed they held power simply from their position; this was linked to their family upbringing. But the culture of power cannot just be one sided; it is also important to learn from the students, calling for a balance. Delpit calls for change not from the bottom up, but from the top down to change the power play that is going on within the classrooms.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Negro and Language” Frantz Fanon dissects the intense relationship of identity and language, in this case, between the “Negro of the Antilles” and his “mastery of the French language” because then he is “elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country’s cultural standards” (18). Fanon talks about the radical change that occurs when a man moves away from speaking Pidgin or Creole, making him more knowledgeable, but also someone that “better be watched…in the sense that he is starting something”(35). That man also has the choice to either “stand with the white world (the real world)” or “cling to their own world” (37). Whatever he chooses to learn will directly affect how he will be perceived.
Delpits major argument about power in the classroom is that the power of the outside world from the backgrounds of different children carry over to the classroom setting and therefore separate groups of students from being able to learn effectively from the same teaching methods. Delpit refers to what some would call “cultural capital” (28), where children with middle class background are able to best reap the benefits of a middle-class value based education and therefore unfairly empower them. This advantage is an expression of the power that she talks about in her “five aspects of power” as it serves as the root of the unfairness of children based on factors outside of their abilities to think critically on their own. This ties back into the theme of “Educating Other People’s Children” because utilizing an education system based off one social class empowers some children while disempowering others through cultural advantages.
ReplyDeleteFanon is referring to the problem of language for the Negros of the Antilles as a symbol of a problem of culture. A language is based strictly on the context it is used in and the people it is used by. By forcing a different language which likely does not support the same cultural experience as that of another, the Negros of the Antilles are struggling with the problem of their own culture and having to adopt another. Language serves as a systematic catalyst to the removal of culture for a colonized group. Fanon also references how a Negro of the Antilles is closer to being a human in the eyes of the colonizers is “in direct ratio to his mastery of the French language” which can be looked at also in how much a certain person has given up his or her culture. In this way, culture cannot coexist with the problem of language because they are so intimately intertwined, and the result is the destruction of the former.
Lisa Delpit’s main argument in her article is that because of the “culture of power”, students of color have a hard time meeting their standards in classroom settings. The culture of power is mostly made up of white educators, and they are ignorant to what cultural groups have to say about their teaching methods. Delpit suggests that the different perspectives of “skills” versus “process” reveals alienation and miscommunication and goes to say that this leads to the “silenced dialogue”. The “silence dialogue” is when educators of color stopped disagreeing with white educators and accepted their logic, when in reality they strongly oppose it. She points out five aspects of the “culture of power”, and how they have affected educators and students of color. Also, she argues that students of color must be taught the codes of language needed to participate in American life, and to understand the “arbitrariness of those codes and about the power relationships they represent” (45).
ReplyDeleteIn “Black Skins, White Masks”, Fanon argues how the Antille Negro leaves his native identity to the civilizing identity of the French, which he believes will give him a human entitlement. To master the French language is to achieve grandiose power and status. The Antille Negro leaves his native language, creole, because speaking it will label him as an “animal”. Therefore, the Antille leaves his culture and identity to assimilate in the French world. Even if he does master the language, he will be subjugated because of his color. I thought this article was very interesting because I can apply it to many people I know that do the same, and it makes me sad to see that they deny their culture because they think they can do better than it.
1.) Lisa Delpits major argument seems to be that the “culture of power” and dominant codes in mainstream American life, projected in the classroom, disempowers children not in the dominant power group and who do not have those codes present in home life. This often causes these minority children to be labeled as having poor skills or behavioral issues. Delpit speaks specifically about the indirect language teachers often use in the classroom, which is unknown terrain for African American children. At home they are spoken to directly, for example the mother who says to her son “Boy, get your rusty behind in that bathtub” (34) a direct command. The problem arises when they are placed in schools, where the dominant code differs. The commands are now posed as questions. Not accustomed to this type of language they will ignore the directions in the classrooms, and as a result will be labeled a student with “behavioral problems.” Delpit poses a diversity of style to aid in ridding this problem. The cultural groups should have the right to maintain and celebrate their own language, but they must also be taught the dominant codes of power to aid them in participating in mainstream American life.
ReplyDelete2.) Fanon is referring to a problem that is based in the idea of learning a new language of the civilized nation in this case French, and how the journey to literacy and comprehension in this language deals with identity of the individual. I believe Fanon is using a similar ideal to Delpit, there is a language of power, in this case that of the civilization nation, French. Mastery of this language will open opportunities to the Antilles, “the negro wants to speak French because it is the key that can open doors” (38). But those who learn the civilized language of power and forget their native language, Creole and pidgin, begin complying with the dominant white worlds language and culture effectively diminishing their own culture and a part of their identity.
(Joyce Halabi)
Delpit’s major argument is that “academics whose worldview demands the creation of categorical divisions” have created an educational system in which white teachers from the middle/upper class are in positions of power in the classroom. Furthermore, she states that this power puts children of minority at an academic disadvantage because the educational system does not support their individual needs, unless they are needs shared by Caucasian students. As mentioned in a previous reading, students are the most successful when they are educated in an atmosphere that represents their culture. However, because most teachers are white, white culture is typically the only represented in schools. White students learn from teachers who share their same social experience and culture, creating an environment conducive to learning, whereas other students have to learn new material in an unfamiliar way by a teacher that does not understand their needs as well as a teacher of their skin color would. Delpit suggests that this power is, in large part, due to the lack of communication across racial lines. As the quoted students in the article mention, the lack of communication is based upon the fact that white people are unwilling to listen to those who are not white, and therefore not in positions of power. Furthermore, teachers do not accept that they are placing their white students at an advantage at the expense of their peers, which causes the problem to remain unsolved.
ReplyDeleteThe “problem of language” that Fanon is referring to is the struggle between one’s native language and the language of the country that he/she inhabits. Fanon states that power is obtained through mastery of language. Therefore, the black man from Antilles, as many other students, have to decide whether to continue speaking their natural dialect, or to master the French language in order to gain respect from their French counterparts. However, even if the black man from the Antilles spoke French perfectly he would still lack power due to the color of his skin. His skin color, for which he is not responsible and has no ability to change, makes him naturally powerless.
Delpit’s main argument about power in the classroom is that the structure of the classroom reaffirms the existing power relations. The classroom is geared toward the white children of the middle class and empowers them, furthering the establishment of their power. Meanwhile the children of the already disempowered, and Delpit specifically mentions Black and Native American children, are semi excluded from the classroom as they lack the discourse to fully engage in the classroom. As they are excluded they are denied knowledge and their minority and disempowered status is thereby reaffirmed. Further it creates and encourages stereotypes, by constructing this idea that minorities do not or cannot learn when in reality the current classroom model that cannot teach them.
ReplyDeleteIn some way the Antille Negro must always be “less than” because of his relationship to language. He can either lose his original ethnic identity and become a quasi white man thereby gaining a measure of respect from those empower, but he can never full assimilate. Or he can remain in his own culture and be seen as entirely less than, by those in power. Whatever language they choose the Antillie Negro will lose out, but it is a choice that the educated and traveled are forced to make.
-Luke Edwards
First of all, Lisa Delpit asserts that there is indeed a culture of power that exists in the classroom that affects how different students learn. The most apparent allocation of power is demonstrated between teachers and students. Delpit argues that students from various backgrounds view the sources of teachers’ powers differently and react accordingly. For example, middle-class white students see the authority in teachers because of their position as “teacher,” whereas students of color adhere to the authority of teachers only if the teachers prove themselves characteristically authoritative. Furthermore, Delpit asserts that a general culture of power that resides outside the classroom exists and permeates students’ learning. For instance, she compares how a student of color might speak at home in his or her own “dialect” and how schools and the work world expect students to speak in “formal English.” Delpit argues that teachers should acknowledge this dissonance to students and teach kids to accept their native cultures but also to teach them “formal English” at the same time; doing both is the only way to change the culture of power that currently exists.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the “problem of language,” Fanon is referring to how “a man who has a language consequently possesses the world expressed and implied by that language” (18). In this case, in adopting the European man’s French or other European language, “the Negro of the Antilles” becomes more “white” and less “Negro;” in a sense, he is becoming a “new man” (20). However, this creates a dissonance because, like Luke mentioned, the man always “loses out.” In learning the white man’s language, he alienates himself from his native culture, but at the same time, he cannot quite become fully “white.” Therefore, there is a sense of alienation created by identifying with a new language.
This sort of theme continues in Fanon's piece. The problem of language is inextricably associated with identity; perhaps cultural identity. The case in the text references Martiniquens colonized by the French. Learning French becomes the only way to harness some of the "culture of power", we'll call it. However, even when a Martiniquen individual masters French, he is still only an individual who can speak French well-- for being black. Furthermore, identity becomes a struggle to hold on to when a Martiniquen attempts to climb the latter of the culture of power, because he is still faced with forever being a subordinate to native French speakers while subordinating his own native language of Creole or Pidgin, to try and make something for himself.
ReplyDeleteIn Lisa Delpit’s article, she discusses the concept of “culture of power,” indicating that many teachers are White and middle-class, oblivious to the needs of non-White or lower class students. These educators have their own styles of instruction that often discount teaching students about their individual cultures and inhibit success in the bigger picture of society. Delpit states that she advocates “…ensuring that each classroom incorporate strategies appropriate for all the children in its confines” (30). This implies that she strives for an educational system that does not covertly put white, middle-class students at an advantage because they can better understand the educator’s methods and concepts. The author also refers to two techniques used when asking students to perform a task, one which directly demands a child to do something, and the other which phrases the command as a question. She demonstrates that many African American families use the former style, directly commanding the child to do something. Regrettably, many educators use the latter approach, suggesting students perform a task and then berating students, many of whom are of color or lower-class, when they do not follow instructions (as they do not understand the question is truly a demand in disguise). Overall, Delpit suggests students be taught how to be active members of mainstream American society through significant and interactive teaching methods, while also being able to hold onto their own cultural values. Students should have access to teachers’ full realms of knowledge while also asserting their own knowledge in the classroom setting.
ReplyDeleteFanon is referring to the problem of the “Negro of Antilles” having to give up his native culture and language for that of his current residence. Because he has been colonized by the French, he is expected to “become whiter as he renounces his blackness” (18). If he were to retain his native languages of either Creole or pidgin, he would be considered an animal and treated worse for not assimilating. Either way he will inevitably be denied of his own cultural identity and language, or he will lose any rights and respect in his new residence.
The entire first half of my post, didn't post. I think I had a copy and paste boo boo when pasting from my word document.
ReplyDeleteDelpit assesses there is a "culture of power" which subordinates the diversity and culture of today's American education system. Individuals with power,the White middle-class, have been silently indoctrinated with this power due to the foundation and infrastructure of today's educational system being a subsequent implementation of 18th century Enlightenment reasoning-- which was almost entirely theorized and created by a group of White, upper to middle-class men.
Therefore students, teachers and co levies in the arena of education (and surely beyond) find themselves often (according the provided testimonials in the text) infuriated and then silenced by this power of which the holders are often oblivious. Delpit furthers individuals with this power are often unaware of it's existence and therefore respond to outside perspectives or approaches with "blinders and earplugs",
One of Lisa Delpit’s major arguments in “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children,” is that a cultural background and socioeconomic status directly effects a students ability to learn and adapt to the environment of a given classroom. Delpit argues that schooling is “intimately related” to power; as a result, students who cannot identify and conform to the educational institution are disempowered (Delpit, 25). One of the more interesting aspects of Delpit’s argument is that schools possess their own type of culture. Delpit states that schools develop a culture that corresponds to the economic status of the surrounding neighborhoods of power. Thus, children from those neighborhoods are taught at home how to correctly interact at school, leaving those who were not trained disadvantaged – unable to succeed and acquire power. A good example of this claim is Joey’s conversation with his teacher. Joey identifies that “white people” have labeled “Black English” as being the incorrect “way to talk” resulting in “Black folks” “getting bad grades in school” (Delpit, 43). Joey states that these students would probably perform better in a classroom that incorporated language more identifiable to them. Joey’s incite highlights the difficulty many individuals of diverse backgrounds have when trying to integrate themselves into the culturally exclusive school systems.
ReplyDeleteThe problem of language faced by the Negro of the Antilles is the culture associated with the French language. French was seen as the language of power or the ‘white’ language to the colonized people of Martinique. Although the Negro of the Antilles relentlessly tries to perfect his tongue, he is unable to fully incorporate himself into the French culture due to his skin color. Additionally, by learning to talk “like a white man,” he alienates himself from his own culture (Faron, 21). Thus, whether he chose to speak French or Creole he would be subject to discrimination.
Lisa Delpit's major argument about power in the classroom in the text Other People's Children is culture of power that most school elements are influence white culture to most children, even colored kids and most case do not recognize the problems. Especially, different culture students are approach different process to understand and different to learn skills. She explains of culture of power such as white middle class structure that the set of rules and codes. According to her, “arbitrariness of those codes and about the power relationships they represent.” In my experience that one word of English can has many different meaning that can be confused to me. You need know the contacts and truth of meaning of word. In addition, Lisa Delpit’s argument is that culture power do not recognize in the class.
ReplyDeleteIn Black Skins, White Masks, Fanon argues that "the Negro of the Antilles, whoever he is, has always to face the problem of language"(p.18). Fanon impasses between the Antilles that mother culture and the French that the civilizing nation. This problem is he referring to association with becomes the white language of the civilizing nation in France. Fanon and Delpit are agreed with power of language and culture difference because both talk about the colored people of language that need improve skills.
Delpit's main argument is that the culture of power in classrooms leads the silenced dialogue issue. I agree with the comment from Laura that different teachers teach in their own ways based on their cultures and students with the same cultures are likely to accept the way those teachers teach. In this article, many stories were talking about students' different responses to the way their teacher teaches. Lisa Delpit suggests that, "the differing perspectives on the debate over "skills" versus "process" can lead to an understanding of the alienation and miscommunication, and thereby to an understanding of the silenced dialogue". Deplit gives the five aspects of power to illustrate the relevance between white and non-white students in the U.S educational system. Deplit at the end suggests that teachers are in the ideal position in solving the silenced dialogue issue.
ReplyDeleteIn Black Skins, White Masks, Fanon refers to the problem that the Negro of the Antilles' status, or more precisely whether or not a human being, is determined by his/her mastery of the French language. I agree with the above comments that the Negro of the Antilles sacrificed their identity in order to learn perfect French and to be more knowledgable. "Mastery of language affords remarkable power." (18) The Antilles believed that language will give them them more power, even though they struggled with their native cultures and a new language. However, at that time, they would never get recognized as a member by the dominant white because of their skin color.
Yingwen Liu
In Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit argues that the dominating “culture of power” relegated in classrooms can often pose problems for students of color. Since American education is predominately made of white teachers, white ideology becomes the main standard used in schools all across the nation. These teachers often put on “blinders” and “ear plugs” when minorities speak up about their views and teaching styles because they view the white model as correct and works the best. This difference in skills and process creates a sense of alienation with minority students and the teacher, which forms what Delpit calls a “silenced dialogue.” There are five points she points out that supports her position on the power of the dominant culture. She then argues that minority children must be taught the tools in which they can engage in the American way of life and the power that it represents.
ReplyDeleteFanon’s piece points out how the “Negro of Antilles” always has to face the problem of language because he belongs in neither culture. On the one hand, if he were to speak in Creole, he would be denied access to the cultural norm and be shunned by most of society. On the other hand, if he were to travel abroad and learn French, the language of the elite and educated, he may come back and find distinct cultural differences between himself and his peers. This then creates a tension between the languages as to which one is the accepted amongst the “Negro of Antilles.” Fanon argues about the correct term of a “civilized” human being.
Lisa Delpit’s major argument about the power in classrooms comes from what’s going on in our society and at home. The fact that every children comes from different backgrounds and cultures, it is inevitable to bring in the things that they learn from their family and society because it’s something taught to the children before they even start going to school. Another argument she makes come from the idea of how middle class families have a better chance to be empowered by the system. They are able to reap the benefits because of having the comfortable lifestyle yet have the motivation to do well in school in order to do better than their parents. She calls this middle class, especially the whites, as the “culture of power.” In order to do well she says that working with this culture of power is the only way to get ahead of your fellow classmates.
ReplyDeleteThe problem Fanon is referring to a culture problem. He explains to his reader that culture and language will always be together and that one cannot exist without the other. Fanon takes Delpit’s idea of the “culture of power” and how the blacks in the white French community are in this struggle for power. They have such a hard time adopting this new language and culture that they become the inferior group of people.
In the text “Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit, Delpit focuses on trying to explain the concept of the “culture of power” that is prevalent in today’s classrooms. Arguing that the “culture of power” creates a barrier for minorities that are not familiar or adept to the dominant codes and backgrounds of certain “dominant” groups such as middle and high class white Americans, Delpit discusses how the “culture of power” creates a learning environment that does not support the individual needs of the minority groups, which ultimately puts members of the non-dominant groups at a huge disadvantage. Delpit also discusses two different teaching approaches – the “skills” approach and “process approach” – that differs due to the fact that one approach focuses on commanding students to complete a task while the other focuses on imposing commands in the forms of questions. Stating that the current academic system currently ignores the needs and different codes of minority groups that must be integrated into the classroom in order to create a learning environment that is familiar to all groups, Delpit offers a solution where teachers take the initiative to break the barriers that exist in today’s classrooms.
ReplyDeleteIn “Black Skins, White Masks”, Fanon uses the “Negro of the Antilles” as an example to discuss the problems that black individuals experience when they are forced to learn the language of the civilizing nation. Stating that the problem stems from the fact that these individuals are forced to view the language of the civilizing nations as superior to their own mother tongue, Fanon concentrates on using the example of Creole native that is put in a dilemma when he is forced to leave behind his native language in order to learn the culture and language of France the civilizing nation. Furthermore, Fanon also argues that even if members of the civilized nation successfully learn the culture and language of the civilizing nation, these individuals will still struggle to be accepted by members of the dominant culture due to the fact that they are separated by differences in skin color. Despite the fact that the individual has taken the steps necessary in order to adapt to the codes of the dominant culture while also alienating himself from his roots, the “Negro of the Antilles” will always be seen as inferior to the colonizers.
Trinity Taylor’s response:
ReplyDeleteQ1: The main argument focuses around the “culture of power” in which the white population has been the historical keeper of power. It is accounted that, pre-dominantly, the teachers in the education system are white. I believe Professor Nora said 80% or more of teachers are in America are in fact white. However, there are cultural divides between different groups of people. Each student has a different method of learning and preference for teaching style. This readily reminds me of the Banking Model that Freire advocates against because children are not ‘empty vessels’ or a ‘clean slate’. Students come in with different backgrounds, cultures, religions, ideas, etc…. An educational gap is present because education, even the teachers, is from a philosophically Western background. Minority students automatically come in with a disadvantage. Here in California, the Hispanic population is very much on the rise and is projected to be nearing 24%. It’s becoming increasingly crucial to initiate curriculums that promote the interests and diversity of our populations. One-size no longer fits all.
Q2: In Fanon’s piece on the Negro of the Antilles the author discusses the role of the French language as well as personal identity. It seems that the only type of status and respect that these Antillean Negroes can establish is by the adoption and proliferation of the colonializing French language. There is severe racism based on skin color no matter when the Negro of Antilles does. It’s ironic that the adoption and familiarized use of a foreign language and even culture only leads to suspicion of you, from both communities. By adopting the colonial language, you are, in essence, alienating yourself from both your native peoples, linguistically and culturally, but you’re alienated from the European group which you aspire to be like. The blackness of your skin can never be whitened, but rather the Negro of Antilles merely wears a white mask that can deceive no one.