Teach Out Proposal

I have been thinking deeply about the articles that we have read and which ones would be the most beneficial to teach out, in terms of the families and students that we service.  After reading Delpit, I knew I wanted to teach out about the culture of power, identity, and race.  I also felt a strong connection to Finn's text, specifically domestic and empowering education.  Therefore, for my teach out project, I will focus on the culture of power, identity, and race. I connect the culture of power to Finn's article.   As a school community, I believe it will open the doors to future conversations and help us to begin to discuss what type of education our school is providing for our students.  

Literacy With An Attitude

Literacy With An 
Attitude 

Educating Working-Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest

Patrick J. Finn

"I'd like to hope that a child's expectations are not determined on the day she or he enters kindergarten." 

-Patrick Finn

Argument Statement

Patrick Finn argues that there are distinct differences between the literacy education that students receive depending on the type of school they attend.  If a child attends an elite school then they receive an empowering literacy education; one in which trains them for a life in power.  If a child attends a working or middle class school, then they receive a domesticating education; one in which prepares them for a life in domestic or mechanical jobs.  Finn argues that when students begin school in such drastic different systems, the odds are set for them.  

Three Talking Points

1. Empowering education leads to powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority. (preface, 5)

2.Domesticating Education leads to functional literacy, literacy that makes someone productive and dependable.  (preface, 5/6)

3.  Distinct differences between the education of students in  working, middle, affluent and executive elite schools.

Working Class Schools

-Dominant theme was resistance,

-"Students resisted teachers' efforts to teach and vandalized school property. Children are developing a relationship to the economy, authority, and work that is appropriate preparation for wage labor-labor that is mechanical and routine."(pg.12)

Middle Class Schools

-Dominant theme was possibility.  

-"There is an understanding of the economy, authority, and work that is appropriate for White-collar working class and middle class jobs." (pg 14) 

Affluent Class Schools

-Dominant theme was individualism and humanitarianism.

-"Children develop a relationship to the economy, authority, and work that is appropriate for artists, intellectuals, legal, and scientific experts and other professionals whose work is creative, intrinsically satisfying for most people and rewarded with social power and high salaries."(pg 18)

Executive Elite Schools

-Dominant theme was excellence, top-quality performance.

-"Children develop a relationship to the economy, authority, and work that is different from all other schools.  The point of school work is to achieve, to excel, to prepare for life at the top."(pg 20)

From Colorblindness to Color Insight: How to acknowledge race and challenge social norms.

  

“Colorblindness is the New Racism”:

 Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight

Written by: Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman

 Armstrong and Wildman argue that we as a society must identify and understand whiteness and its direct impact on education in the United States.  Armstrong and Wildman state that, “discrimination cannot end absent an understanding of the privilege dynamic that enables discrimination to continue.” (Armstrong and Wildman, 65)  The type of discrimination they are referring to is that of color blindness which has become the new norm and has made it increasingly more difficult to discuss race and discrimination within the classroom.  Armstrong and Wildman suggest that one solution to this is to shift one's mindset and gain a color insight which, “provides an appropriate antidote to colorblindness, one that remedies the omission of context in racial discourse.” (Armstrong and Wildman, 65)  This is the opposite of colorblindness because it provides people with the vocabulary necessary to discuss race and the power/privilege that is attached to it within education and the law. 

    Armstrong and Wildman state the whiteness is not often thought of as a race and therefore white privilege is often not acknowledged either.  White people avoid thinking about themselves as having a race because it is their race which defines the social norm.  This lack of acknowledgement brings about a type of discrimination referred to as color blindness.  They suggest that one way educators can begin this discussion with students and colleagues is to examine the role of colorblindness and develop color insight around power, privilege, and race. The privilege wheel is one way for professionals, students, and colleagues can identify their identity and see where they would fit on the privilege power line.

Figure 1: Privilege Wheel

    Traci Ellis speaks to this in her Ted talk titled, "The Exceptional Negro Living in a Colorblind World."  She speaks of how she has had fundamentally different experiences in the United States than that of white people.  She describes herself as a well educated and articulate "black woman and therefore she is seen as an exceptional Negros."  She describes exceptional Negros as African Americans who are well educated, articulate, well cultured, and seem to move effortlessly through white culture.  These African Americans also know how to behave in public and "don't fit into the stereo-types that are usually associated with black folks."  She states that, "We are safe and deemed exceptional" and are not a threat to the culture of power.  She, like Armstrong and Wildman , believes that white people say they do not see color as a means to not acknowledge race.  Similar to  Armstrong and Wildman she also states that, "failure to see color obscures racism and therefore perpetuates it".   Click the link below to listen to her thoughts and lived experiences of being an African american lawyer living in a world that admits to not seeing her color. 

                                                                          Traci Ellis

         Armstrong and Wildman state that, “Until educators teach about the importance of analyzing how privilege operates, students will graduate ill-equipped to work effectively in a diverse environment.”(Armstrong and Wildman, 66)  It is important for students to be taught about their identities and where it places them on the power line of privilege.  In doing so, we are able to explicitly teach the rules and norms of the culture of power. Lisa Delpit discusses five aspects that make up the culture of power.  The second aspect states that, “there are codes or rules for participating in power, that is, there is a “culture of power“ (Delpit, 25) The codes and rules she is referring to are the ways we talk, write, dress, and interact with one another.  Like Armstrong and Wildman, she believes that, “we must take the responsibility to teach, to provide for students who do not already possess them, the additional codes of power.”(Delpit, 40)  Similar to Armstrong and Wildman, Delpit shares similar beliefs that we as educators have an obligation to provide students with ALL of the necessary information so that they may have a chance to join into the culture of power.  

       Educators also need to speak openly and honestly to their students about race and racial justice within the United States.  The black lives matter movement is one way individuals have begun to draw attention to racial injustices that have impacted black culture and the African American community.  German Lopez, author of the article, Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,” explained in 9 different ways, draws attention to the name of the movement and the criticism it has received.  The name, “Black Lives Matters” calls attention to the idea that in the United States, black lives are undervalued and more likely ended by other people more than any other race.  They are choosing to speak the truth about the discrimination that their race has seen.  To quote Armstrong and Wildman, “Failure to speak the truth about race makes it difficult to dismantle racial inequality.”(Armstrong and Wildman, 66) Similar to Traci Ellis, "failure to see color obscures racism and therefore perpetuates it."  One can understand why the Black Lives Matters Organization received so much criticism, from many white Americans.  Their response was to say,“all lives matter” and not acknowledge the systematic racism that the movement is trying to bring to societies attention.  As educators we need to remember that, “Race remains a formative identity category that impacts the lives of both whites and people of color, albeit in different ways.”(Armstrong and Wildman, 67) 

So, then what is next?  How do we help the dominant culture to let go of  ego and open up to hearing others lived experiences without judgement or blame?   Armstrong and Wildman discuss the concept of color insight and it may be the first step.  Color insight is the opposite of colorblindness.  It calls to light the idea that as educators we need to begin the conversation about the implications of being colorblind.  They state that, “Color insight provides a vocabulary for teaching across racial lines….color insight contrasts with colorblindness by offering an alternative that better serves the purported goals of colorblindness: racial equality and justice.”(Armstrong and Wildman, 68)  Color insight identifies that there is a racial status quo that exists and it is because of this status quo that society identifies a race to each member of society.  Color insight encourages us to notice and name the races of others around you and that privilege and racism does in fact still impact peoples’ lives.  Allan Johnson, Author of Privilege, Power, and Difference stated that, “you can’t deal with a problem if you don’t name it; once you name it, you can think, talk, and write about it.  You can make sense of it by seeing how it’s connected to other things that explain it and point toward solutions.``(Johnson, 11)  Color insight brings awareness, promotes equality,  and nondiscrimination among races.  Color insight  names the problem and gives a solution so that we may begin to have the necessary conversations.  As educators we must move from endorsing colorblindness to supporting color insight. Color insight allows us to acknowledge and name race and how the implications of one's race has an impact on that individual's privilege power line.  

Identity, race, power, and privilege need to be named and discussed, .  They make up the structure, system, and the machine that keeps the power in place.  Naming the “why” will begin to break the cycle of power. It will begin to build bridges between individuals across identities and races. We want to eventually be at a place where all races have equality and access to privilege simply because they are human and not because they are a part of the dominant social category.  

Sources

Armstrong, Margalynne and Wildman, Stephanie.  Deconstructing Privilege: Colorblindness Is The New Racism: Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight.  Routledge, 2013                            ISBN:  9780415641463

Delpit, Lisa.  The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children.  The New Press, New York.  1995/2006

Johnson, Allan G.  Privilege, Power, and Difference.  Mayfield Publishing Company, California. 2001

Lopez, German. Why You Should Stop Saying, “All Lives Mattered” Explained in 9 Different Ways.  Retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/2016/7/11/12136140/black-all-lives-matter on May 22, 2023

Traci Ellis TEDx Talk: The Exceptional Negro: Fighting to be seen in a Colorblind Word. 

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqvZRO2LPmw&t=222s

Culture Conflict

 Other People’s Children

Cultural Conflict in the Classroom

By: Lisa Delpit

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

Argument Statement:

Delpit argues that there is a “culture of power” and that educators must teach students the rules and codes of the dominant culture.  She also argues that educators must encourage students to see the value in their cultures, language, style, speech, values and expectations while being educated on how to use formal English within a system where success is directly linked to entering into the “culture of power.

 

Key Points

1. The “culture of power” refers to five aspects of power.  These powers are enacted in the classroom and being told explicitly the rules of the culture in power makes acquiring power easier.  Schooling prepares people for jobs.  Therefore, a person's schooling directly impacts your future economic status, which equates to being eligible and/or not eligible to join into the “culture of power”

2.  Literacy instruction is connected to the “culture of power.”  Schools must provide all students with a curriculum that requires higher-order thinking and reasoning.  Students are judged on their product regardless of the process they used to get to the final product.  Teachers have an obligation to explicitly teach students how to produce work that meets the codes of society.   Therefore, literacy and writing instruction must contain direct instruction and opportunities to write for real audiences and for a real purpose. 

3. To effect social change, the people at the top must be pushed and agitated.  Until that happens, educators need to encourage students to understand the value of their cultural codes that they already have as well as learn the power realities that exist within our country.   

Click the link below to listen to Jamila Lyiscott.  Her articulation of what it is like to switch between her culturally accepted language practices to that of the dominant society's language practices is breathtaking.

 

Jamila Lyiscott: 3 Ways to Speak English

Johnson Discussion Points

Privilege, Power and Difference

By: Allan G. Johnson

Argument Statement:

The author Johnson argues that for us to be a part of the solution to fix the trouble we are in with privilege, power, and difference than we must first be willing to admit that privileges benefit some groups at the expense of others and continues to divide society in terms of income, wealth, dignity, safety, health, quality of life and education. Furthermore, this divide promotes fear, suspicion, discrimination, harassment, and violence within the social categories that are oppressed.

Talking Points

1. Johnson states that, “How we as individuals are connected to ‘it’” ( the problem) often triggers people to feel as if they have done something wrong, especially if they identify as white, male, or heterosexual or a part of the privileged class. Johnson states that, “if “we '' don't use words like white privilege, racism, white racism etc then it will be impossible for us to discuss what is going on, see the problems that are evident, and then we can not make ourselves part of the solution. Prior to my learning, I often found myself feeling such feelings. I have always loved history. I enjoy learning what has happened prior to us being on this earth and I am often reading from a reflective lens: asking myself what can I learn from our ancestors' mistakes? I believe that the more we learn about how we got to where we are at and the more we are open to listening to everyone's lived experiences we will begin to build bridges, understanding, and empathy for those who are often oppressed. Over the past couple years,. I have heard, “you’re just another white female teacher teaching children who you can’t identify with.” Although that may be true to an extent, I can learn about their lived experiences, their family cultures, and dedicate building a relationship with my families. 2.Another interesting idea is this one of human nature: people can’t help but fear the unfamiliar. Johnson goes on to explain that this is a myth. In fact, humans are curious by nature. For me, the unfamiliar excites me and makes me want to learn more. 3.Issues of race and gender shape our lives in dramatically different ways depending on what we are born as. On page 8, Johnson is describing his experiences vs. those of a colleague whom he is preparing to teach a class on gender and race and he describes how different the legacy of racism and sexism shaped their lives in different ways. He describes how she can’t go for a walk alone at night without thinking about her safety a lot more. I can relate to this so often. Walking out from class late at night, going for a walk on my lunch down Promenade street near valley, looking over my shoulder just to make sure that, going out for a run and making sure I have my pepper spray in hand. I wish I felt safe enough to go out into nature without my phone. I simply do not. He continues to talk about, “Her misfortune is connected to my fortune: the reality of her having to deal with racism and sexism everyday is connected to the reality that I don’t. I didn’t have to do anything wrong for this to be true and neither did she. But there it is just the same.” Why is it like this? How do we break this cycle without putting blame on one particular group? How do we move forward using an education lens and shift mindsets? How can we help others to see this connection without blaming others for the mistakes of our predecessors? 4.Live in a society that attaches privilege to being white, male, heterosexual regardless of social class. Need the privileged group to be a part of the solution because without them the other groups don’t have the power to change the entrenched systems of privilege by themselves. Words like sexisim and privilege point to something difficult and painful in our history that continues in everyday life in our society. It is because of this that when training has to be held within work settings, focus is on tolerance and appreciating differences. These are totally different than talking about racism, sexisim, and privilege. Due to the uncomfortable nature of the words and don’t cover the true issues within the -isms because they want to avoid making anyone in power feel uncomfortable or defensive. We need to reclaim the words to that people are more comfortable with naming and owning them. 5. Diversity: Trouble isn’t that we are different from one another. On page 19, Johnson states that, “The trouble stems from a world that is organized in ways that encourage people to use “difference to include or exclude, reward or punish, credit or discredit, elevate or oppress, value or devalue, leave alone or harass.” The characteristics in the center of the diversity wheel are impossible to change and are some of the most significant forms of diversity and oppression. 6. On page 22, Johnson discusses the “Social Construction of Reality: Baldwin tells us that races and all of the categories within it have no significance outside of systems of privilege and oppression. These systems that create them.” The definition of different races has changed historically: Ex. Irish, Italians, jews were considered part of the “non-white” group by the anglo-saxon protestants of England and the U.S. 7. Individuals experience privilege, but the individual isn’t what is actually privileged. Privilege is the relation to a group or social category. You can lose privilege if people believe you do not belong in a particular group. Therefore, the consequences of this paradox is as follows: privilege is rooted in society and organizations as much as it is rooted in one's personality; privileged without feeling privileged; Only people can be the recipients of oppression because it is the result of the relationships between social categories. It is not possible to be oppressed by society because it doesn’t arise from being on the losing end in a system of privilege.

Things and People who are close to my heart