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

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

3 Talking Points

1. The people in power rarely ever acknowledge that they have power, similar to what Johnson said about privilege, and those who have no power are the most aware of the power others hold. "...those who are less powerful in any situation are most likely to recognize the power variable most acutely." (p. 26). "When acknowledging and expressing power, one tends towards explicitness...When deemphasizing power, there is a move toward indirect communication." (p. 27). People in power think that by being indirect it makes it easier to communicate and to lessen the power struggle, when in reality it amplifies it that much more. 

2. "The answer is to accept students but also to take responsibility to teach them." (p. 38). This is something that I have talked about in other courses and it seems so simple, but clearly it is not. Celebrating diversity is important, but it is the teachers role to have students embody and be proud of their culture, beliefs, etc., but it is also crucial that teachers teach how to function and how to live in mainstream America. There are untaught rules and codes that American's know because they are American, but these need to be explicitly taught to those coming from other cultures. It also creates a positive relationship between teacher and student when the teacher takes the time to learn about a student's culture, but also teach them how to function in America. 

3. "...it means turning yourself inside out, giving up your own sense of who you are, and being willing to see yourself in the unflattering light of another's angry gaze." (p. 46). This is so important and something that stuck out to me when reading Johnson, you can't truly ever understand what someone else experiences unless you also experience the same things, but you can being to listen, accept, and understand why people feel a certain way based on the experiences they have gone through. You need to be able to look at yourself through the eyes of someone else and analyze why they may be angry. She latter talks about the guidelines to take perspective of someone else and begin the dialogue, she states, "...we must learn to be vulnerable enough to allow our world to turn upside down in order to allow the realities of others to edge themselves into our consciousness. 

Argument 

Lisa Delpit argues that people hold different forms of power and in order for children and adults to be successful in the dominant culture, they must be explicitly taught the rules and codes while also preserving their native culture.