Please consider the following two quotes that I believe capture Delpit’s main points from the two essays in this reading segment:

The Vilis Tokples Schools of Papua New Guinea -  “…when the policy reflects the goals of the people it is to affect…and when it reaffirms rather than negates a people’s knowledge of its culture and heritage, then there is no better prospect for its success.”

“Hello, Grandfather” – “…successful teachers of Native Alaskan children found ways to contextualize the literate endeavors and to celebrate, rather than limit, the sense of connectedness which the children brought to school.”

Reading between the lines of feedback I got from some parents last year, I would suggest there is a contingent of the community that believes we do more to “negate” than we do to “reaffirm” the culture and heritage of the students we serve.  And, it was often implied that some of our practices limit “the sense of connectedness” students have with their community. 

As you respond, please attempt to do one of the following by July 8th –

1) Reflect on our school’s practices through the lens of the students/families we serve and support the claims above – that we do more to negate than we do to reaffirm and that we limit the sense of connectedness students have with their community.

2)  Defend our practices by providing examples of how we reaffirm the culture and heritage of the students we serve and/or celebrate the sense of connectedness students have with their community.    

Great conversation so far!  Thank you all for taking the time to read and communicate.  The next goal is to read up to page 105 by July 8^th.  The discussion prompt will relate to the first two essays in Part 2, but not the third essay (as it relates more to teacher prep training).  I will post it in the next day or two.  It will relate to the concepts of “context” and “connectedness” that Delpit addresses as a result of her work in Papau New Guinea and small villages in Alaska.   

In Part 1, the author suggests that "progressive" educators are less focused on skills than they should be. She defines these skills as "useful and usable knowledge which contributes to a student's ability to communicate in standard, generally acceptable literary forms...best taught through meaningful communication, best learned in meaningful contexts."  Would Delpit support our methods of literacy (both reading and writing) instruction in Warren?  How would she recommend modifying our approach, if at all, to better serve students of color? 

Please post answers, thoughts, responses, etc. to Part 1 any time before June 17th.

Welcome to the SIA Summer Book Club.  Our book is titled Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit.  The goal of this book club is to engage in critical conversations based on the book that will help us better serve the students and families of Stonybrook.