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Running head: BOOK REVIEW: OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN

Book Review Final: Other Peoples Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom
EDUF 7235: Multicultural Education
Jeff Patty
Georgia Southern University

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Book Review: Other Peoples Children
This book entitled Other Peoples Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, was
written by Lisa Delpit in 1995. The book is a collection of essays, articles, and personal
reflections that spans her career working and teaching in varied multicultural settings. The
overall theme to the book suggests most educators are attempting to teach in multicultural
diverse environments completely, but completely going about it in the wrong manner.
Overview
The book is divided into three parts and spans the authors career in teaching in diverse
surroundings around the world. The different sections of the book represent different points and
encounters with both her cultural environment at a particular time or as it relates to her dialogue
with different people on the topics of teaching to culturally different students. The three parts are
Controversies Revisited, Lessons from Home and Abroad, and Looking to the Future. Delpit is a
firm believer that our current teaching concepts cause more harm to students of color than good.
The concepts are designed around methods that best reach middle-to-higher-class, white
students. To successfully reach these other minority students, we must utilize their own cultures
in the process. Students from different cultures learn and interact with their surroundings in
completely different ways. Students may appear not to be capable learners when in fact they just
communicate differently.
The first part, Controversies Revisited, consists of three essays that explore the issue of
teaching students of color in the classroom setting. Delpit believes that because the classrooms
have been filled with prejudice, stereotypes, and cultural assumptions, teachers have either given
up on many of these students or simply do not want to waste their time on them. She also
believes the methods employed by the collective educational thought process are flawed and will

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not reach students from these diverse backgrounds.
The second section of the book, Lessons from Home and Abroad, spans the time she
spent teaching in other countries abroad. It details the hard lessons she learned from these varied
cultures she taught in. From each new culture she was immersed in, she not only learned how
best to cope with her new environment, but also how to best reach the students of that particular
culture. She often found successful native teachers that adapted to the students strengths and
cultural differences. The white teachers that insisted on their tried and true methods were almost
always unsuccessful. When she would return home to her own family she was often accused of
not fitting in any longer. She had to learn to adjust back into the acceptable cultural norms her
family and friends were more comfortable with.
The third section, Looking to the Future, provides us with advice and strategies all
teachers can utilize to best reach the multitudes of diverse cultures our students are coming from
today. She believes we can better educate students when we properly recognize and incorporate
the students own unique cultures into the pedagogical fabric of our schools and classrooms.
Teachers can then reach these students that have previously been mislabeled and assumed
unintelligent or incapable.
Quotes and Reflections
The following are some of the top quotes taken from the book that stood out to me. My
analysis to each follows, either in agreement or disagreement.
Quote 1
Delpit (1995) writes, One of the tragedies in this field of education is that scenarios such
as these are enacted daily around the country (p. 23). This tragedy that she is referring to is in
relation to what she entitles The Silenced Dialogue. In response to these essays and articles

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she has written on the subject matter of native teachers ascribing to the theories and
methodologies of white educators on how to best reach multicultural students. These native
teachers have let her know in numbers that they actually just finally stopped fighting white
educators on the issues. So these white educators finally reach the conclusion that their
arguments and methodologies are accepted across the board, as their explanations seem to have
quieted the dissenters. Delpit suggests that there is evidence that supports not just one model to
approach teaching students and that a blend of both the writing process and skills-oriented
programs both have merit. When this approach is used in conjunction with allowing the unique
cultural influences of students to enter the classroom, everyone wins. It seems that educators get
stuck in their thinking and moving them to an alternate view is next to impossible. Academia is
steeped in tradition. Getting some outside the traditional mindset of how to reach students is a
difficult proposition. Experts, and some self-appointed experts, believe without reason in their
methods. They will not consider other opinions or ideas. Even when there is overwhelming
support from another group, they manage to strike down those ideas with research or evidence
concocted to support their narrow views. You can make most data look how ever you wish it to
be if you work hard enough.
Quote 2
The acquisition and development of ones native language is a wondrous process,
drawing upon all of the cognitive and affective capacities that make us human (Delpit, 1995, p.
49). This statement is so beautifully written it makes you think of your own language and
culture in a more appreciative light. The passage goes on to talk about the process of learning a
second language. This is described as a process requiring rote-learning methodology, full of
memorization of complex rules and extensive practice needed to acquire the second language.

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Much of this occurs out of context and only confuses and alienates children when they perceive
their lack of quick application to be of failure. While it is important to learn the language most
predominant in a country, perhaps there are better methods to be considered that slowly allows
integration of both languages through the process. Other children in the class can then also pick
up a second language as an outcome. I believe it is becoming increasingly necessary for all of
us, and especially our kids, to become bi-lingual.
Quote 3
One of the most difficult tasks we face as human beings is communicating meaning
across our individual differences, a task confounded immeasurably when we attempt to
communicate across social lines, racial lines, cultural lines, or lines of unequal power (Delpit,
1995, p. 66). Again, this summarizes our challenges we face in this country so well. I have
heard all my life that our country is going to become this melting pot. While this has been truer
in larger metropolitan areas, many smaller cities across the country simply have not had to face
this in large part. That is changing quickly in communities across our nation. Our kids are going
to experience a different society to live and raise their children. The time has come for us to
consider alternate approaches to education, which will feed the rest of our society. We have to
reach all people and our old methods simply will not suffice.
Quote 4
In the section, Lessons from Home and Abroad, Delpit (1995) simply states, The
worldviews of many in our society exist in protected cocoons (p. 74). After traveling abroad
and living in several different cultures, Delpit had to immerse herself in the culture in order to
survive and reach the students she was responsible for teaching. She learned there were many
differences in the world and in order to reach people that were culturally different than her, she

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had to throw away much of her previously learned philosophies on both people and learning
styles. She believes that most of us are born, raised, educated, and taught to believe a very
narrow view of our worlds. Without knowing diversity, we believe we have the answers. After
all, they are what we have been surrounded by and been taught our entire lives. It is time that we
consider a different worldview than the limited information we have been exposed to our entire
careers. Are there better methods? What are they? We need to allow for this conversation to
enter our realms.
Quote 5
While working abroad in Papua New Guinea Delpit observed some unique differences in
two schools barely separated by water. In the Vilis Tokples schools, they wanted an education
that prepared them to live within two cultural worlds (Delpit, 1995, p. 87). More specifically,
one world would be for the children who would stay in the village. These children would go
away and soon return. The other world would be for those that would spend most of their lives
in towns and cities. The citizens felt like they were offering their children the best of both
worlds with this scenario. One offered them a strong cultural base and the other allowed them
access to the best of the new world. Maybe this is not such a bad approach. In some ways,
this seems much like our technical/vocational colleges in comparison to our traditional
associate/baccalaureate colleges and universities. This approach meets students with realistic
training in the areas that will best match what their lives and families will best need.
On the flip side, the tokples school taught their children the basics of reading, writing,
and counting in their native tongue, but at the same time they also received basic cultural
education in customs, values, and acceptable community behavior. It is interesting how such
geographically close schools ended up with slightly different approaches to educating their

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children as a result of their unique cultural perspectives.
Quote 6
Delpit (1995) states We assume that literacy is unequivocally good, and that everyone
should aspire to be literate (p. 93). This was an interesting concept presented in the book. She
goes on to say that most of us have not taken the time to consider the alternate motivations and
drawbacks when used as a political tactic, a way to sway people, promotion of alienation within
communities, and overall means of control. I understand this point and realize other countries
are quite different than ours, but I struggle to see past the benefits of providing some basic
literacy to all people. Surely they can come to a place of thinking for themselves if just given the
opportunity. Maybe their government is oppressive, but was it not already? I think everyone on
Earth should get the opportunity to become at least a little literate in the basics. It is the
evolution of humankind.
Quote 7
There can be no doubt that issues of diversity form the crux of what may be one of the
biggest challenges yet to face those of us whose business it is to educate teachers (Delpit, 1995,
p. 105). Diversity is a huge topic from all sides. This topic has been of hot debate on college
campuses for several years. We have spent a great deal of time at Georgia Highlands College at
regular meetings, budget meetings, and every strategic leadership retreat on this topic. We are
dealing with a snowball of diversity in our children that must be educated while at the same time
continuing to see a decline in diversified teachers. There are several reasons for this, which
Delpit raises in this book. One of the largest is the decline in college-bound students from these
ethnic groups. These teachers that have been teaching in the trenches feel like they cannot
overcome the obstacles from the narrow white philosophies on teaching all kids alike. This

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issue is not going away and is only going to continue to grow as our classrooms become more
diverse.
Quote 8
To further this line of thinking, one of the major reasons is found in this statement, The
teachers interviewed frequently encountered negative and/or stereotyped cultural and racial
attitudes directed towards themselves and toward ethnic minority children during their teacher
education and subsequent teaching lives (Delpit, 1995, p. 110). These are detailed reports from
teachers working in the profession or almost about to enter the profession. They have either
experienced harsh treatment by white colleagues, witnessed blatant racism towards the minority
children, or quickly realized during their teacher education they were not about to enter into the
field. These people have spent their lives and educational careers preparing to be teachers. The
attitudes and treatment towards them are so negative that they have to completely abandon the
profession. If this does not signal a problem I am not sure what will.
Quote 9
Delpit (1995) discovered that we are, by virtue of our own pedagogical practices,
excluding a great source of knowledge from our educational curricula (p. 124). All of the
interviews she conducted and letters sent to her over the years points to a common problem.
This is at the very core a pedagogical issue. We have to change our ways of thinking when it
comes to approaches on reaching different types of students from different backgrounds. We
have to explore new ideas, new curriculum methods, be willing to open our minds to a different
way, and be unafraid to listen to someone elses ideas. I am not sure why faculty and
administrators like this are so threatened. How dare anyone question his or her brilliance! The
facts are beating them literally over the head and yet they refuse to move.

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Quote 10
One of the most difficult tasks we face as human beings is trying to communicate across
our individual differences, trying to make sure that what we say to someone is interpreted the
way we intend (Delpit, 1995, p. 135). Communication is always one of the biggest challenges
in any arena of life I think. This is certainly true of the home situation in a family between
spouses and parents and kids. This is usually one of the top issues in most businesses as well.
How can we communicate better internally amongst employees and externally with our
constituents? This should come as no surprise; this same issue is faced in the educational system
in how we engage with students and faculty. In this setting, we are dealing with communication
across social lines, genders, race, class, or other cultural aspects. When we add this diversity
into the mix, one can see how this further complicates communications in delivering an effective
education.
Quote 11
In a comparison between preachers and teachers, Delpit uses this example to illustrate
how perceptions of either group have similar issues. She states, The issues of assessing
teachers are analogous to the problems of assessing teachers (Delpit, 1995, p. 138). Depending
on the style of a preacher for a particular church or community they can be judged differently.
One preacher might thrive in one set of circumstances or be run out of town in another situation.
Teachers likewise face a similar challenge. While everyone seems to agree we have a very
culturally diverse student population, not many are willing to address the issue of vast
differences in teachers. Teachers are just supposed to all learn to teach the same way. That is
how most institutions of higher learning prepare teachers after all. The problem, however, is that
these teachers bring with them those same cultural differences as the students. They interact

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differently, approach solving problems differently, believe in interaction with people in different
ways. They are quite unique. Often teachers can quickly be dismissed as ineffective or not
qualified because of how they are being assessed based on these same old principles. When you
take into account some of these differences and take a true look at many of these diverse
teachers, you learn they actually are quite capable teachers.
Quote 12
There can be no doubt that in many classrooms students of color do reject literacy, for
they feel that literate discourses reject them (Delpit, 1995, p. 160). The point to this comment
comes from the concept that minority students must give up their own culture and language for
the mainstream discourse, or way of doing things. This statement suggests that students will
intentionally choose to not become literate on purpose because they refuse to allow this
acquisition of discourse to take away their own identities. There have been several documented
examples where this is the case. It is not uncommon for groups of minority kids to refuse to
acquiesce to this process because it requires them to give up who they truly are. They would
prefer to stay illiterate rather than be someone they are not. This is remarkable to me.
Quote 13
Delpit (1995) writes, In any discussion of education and culture, it is important to
remember that children are individuals and cannot be made to fit into any preconceived mold of
how they are supposed to act (p. 167). There is basically no one-size-fits-all approach to
dealing with this issue. We are never going to create this system where each kid is perfectly
culturally matched. Instead, we have to identify when problems arise where the childs culture
and the schools culture clashes and work to find a reasonable solution. Too often these kids are
misread and mistakenly identified as having aptitude issues or behavioral problems when the real

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issue is simply a cultural communication issue. When this occurs teachers can use different
instructional approaches to better serve these students. When teachers reach out to the parents to
identify exactly where the conflict lies, they can then employ the appropriate measures needed to
reach the students. All it takes is a little creativity and flexibility. Many teachers simply will not
do this.
Quote 14
There is a widespread belief that Asian-American children are the perfect students, that
they will do well regardless of the academic setting in which they are placed (Delpit, 1995,
p.170). This is an example of a stereotype that is often placed on particular cultural groups. In
this case, many people simply assume Asian-American children are always bright and will
succeed in all situations. When placed in the wrong atmospheres or simply ignored, however,
they can be completely overlooked and actually not perform. This could be caused by how they
are raised to not be disruptive perhaps. When the teacher does not engage them, the children do
not ask for assistance or even participate sometimes. This can be viewed as a failure on the part
of the student, when in actuality it is a cultural barrier that has been brought into play by
incorrect stereotyping. This same example is manifested in many other cultures and ethnicities.
Quote 15
If we are to successfully educate all of our children, we must work to remove the
blinders built of stereotypes, monoculture instructional methodologies, ignorance, social
distance, biased research, and racism (Delpit, 1995. p. 182). This quote perfectly summarizes
the point of this book. These factors are of equal importance and currently pose roadblocks to
educating of all of our diverse children and paving the way for a more diverse teacher workforce.
Only when we can recognize all of these issues with an open mind, be willing to actively engage

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in discussion, and bring action will we start to move the needle on this issue. Delpits vast
experience offers some great insights from a different perspective and certainly challenges all of
us to be more open in our thinking.
Conclusion
This book takes a hard look and stance on the issues of how multiculturalism is handled
in the classrooms across the world. The author believes the current methodologies are actually
doing more harm than good and even well-intentioned experts have the modeling wrong. Delpit
believes that children from these minority backgrounds should be allowed to flourish in their
own languages, as they gradually learn the skills necessary to fully be immersed in the
predominant culture. By recognizing these differences and allowing students to flourish teachers
greatly improve the students views on education and students resulting achievements can
improve dramatically. Additionally, other students also get the opportunity to learn additional
cultures and languages in the process.
My personal reflection on this book comes with mixed emotions. I believe the book
certainly offers some interesting points to consider when it comes to the topic of dealing with
multicultural diversity in the educational system. We indeed need to establish alternate
pedagogical methods for dealing with this issue in a more positive manner for all students
coming through the educational process. Every child should have the opportunity to learn the
material and be successful. There should also be accommodations in learning styles, cultural
differences, language diversity, and overall acceptance of all people in how we deliver an
education. I think the time has come for us to move past the antiquated approach to delivering a
one-size-fits-all education, where all students are forced to learn in a very prescribed method or
simply allowed to fail. Speaking from my own experiences in school, I now look back and know

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that I struggled to learn in these tightly controlled methodologies. I could have learned more and
excelled in school if I had been allowed an opportunity to learn in an alternate manner. The goal
should be to educate students in whatever methods and strategies that work best to reach each
student. So I find very good information and agree with the overall concept the author is
attempting to represent on the topic. I do at times feel like she categorically implicates most
white teachers and educators, which I feel is a similar stereotyping. Sometimes what we
perceive becomes our reality. Overall, however, this adds to the needed conversation and
hopefully additional support will eventually work its way into our educational culture.

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References
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New
Press :.

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