Jessica
Lehmann
Review
Essay
–
Lisa
Delpit
“The
Silenced
Dialogue.”
Do some people sound “smarter” and more “powerful” than others? What should
teachers know about this divide between more powerful and less powerful language, and
consequently how they should adjust their methods? Lisa Delpit takes on these questions
in her article The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s
Children. By studying students, parents, teachers, and administrators from different
socio-economic classes, Delpit defines the “culture of power” and explains the role it
plays in our schools.
Delpit makes one bold argument throughout her entire article that a link exists
(along with socio-economic status) between the culture of power and race. She claims
that teachers of color have been characterized as teaching more “skills-oriented” styles of
writing while white teachers have taught with more of a “process-oriented” style.
Eventually, Delpit identifies the “process-oriented” style as catering to a more “powerful”
style of language and therefore powerful in society. Ultimately this discriminaties
against black, working class students. Although she consciously does not go into
instructional methodology, Delpit concludes that all students should learn more about the
culture of power in order to create an even playing field in society.
Some may argue that Delpit’s individual case studies as her research overgeneralize the culture of power, and neglect to provide a realistic view of this issue. In
other words, a few stories from a small number of people do not speak for the majority.
On the contrary, these individual case studies give voice to a silenced population, which
is one of the purposes of this article. Qualitative research would not have the same
effective tone that is provided by Delpit’s individual case studies. The personal accounts
about the culture of power help to explain the five rules Delpit outlines in her article,
Jessica
Lehmann
Review
Essay
–
Lisa
Delpit
“The
Silenced
Dialogue.”
particularly a portion of the fifth rule: “Those with less power are often most aware of its
existence” (282). By showing the emotions expressed from the case studies, especially
anger and frustration, the reader can visualize and understand the workings of “culture of
power” and how it is creating disputes about educational methodology in our schools.
As mentioned earlier, Delpit concludes that educators need to explain the culture
of power to their students, including the explicit and implicit rules, in order for students
to have a shot at success in society. She also explains how non-white students from
working-class backgrounds pick up speech habits from kin members. One problem about
Delpit’s educational suggestion arises under the assumption that there is a correct, or
even better, style of speech. Teaching a student to abandon their natural style of speech
with the intent of learning the “correct” way to speak could be interfering with an
individual’s culture and heritage. Delpit assumes that ALL children want to go to college
and have a successful position in life. What about those students who don’t aspire to
higher education, and a career that requires one to speak by the rules of “the culture of
power.” Teaching students to speak differently from friends and family might be
damaging to that students perception of their culture and identity, especially if we label
this different speech style as “better” or “more powerful.”
I personally do not understand why race was such an important connection to the
culture of power. Delpit, in a round about way, seems to be saying that black people and
white people talk differently, and the way that white people talk is more socially
acceptable in society. If an individual is going to judge a person for sounding like they
are “talking black,” I believe that they will probably judge this person based on the color
of their skin before that person even opens his or her mouth. Delpit attempted to focus on
Jessica
Lehmann
Review
Essay
–
Lisa
Delpit
“The
Silenced
Dialogue.”
socio-economic class, but she also clearly indicated that race was a factor in the “culture
of power.” I wonder how this article would read if Delpit stuck only to socio-economic
status and left out race completely.