Multiplication is for White People

I actually finished this book (and 36 Children) on-time in terms of my resolution schedule. I just didn't compose a blog post on either (yet) because both books require a 5+ page review for my grad classes. Mutliplication was a required reading for my Methods of Teaching Math & Science course, as it provided a constructivist approaches to instruction and called for some educational reform (against conservative policies and the Common Core). Delpit also wrote Other People's Children before this book, so I may need to pick that one up as well if I want to consider myself competent in education.
Again, this post contains excerpts from my book review.

"Multiplication is for White People": Raising Expectations for Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit

Genre: Non-fiction, Education, Race issues

Publication Date: 2012
Setting: N/A, commentary on education

About the author: Lisa Delpit received her Masters and doctoral degrees from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Lisa Delpit makes the case that America’s educational system is not as balanced as it should be. Although we live in a democratic civilization, our educational policy tends to be antidemocratic, full of corporate contributions, unequal distribution of resources, market model schools, and a emphasis on standardized tests that fail to accurately assess minority students’ performance. Delpit organizes her book by addressing issues that arise at different levels of schooling, incorporating societal ills students encounter in elementary school, high school, and college. She details the problems that different students face and supplements by making recommendations on how educators and policymakers may correct the described imbalances. This book can be read as a guide to teaching black children, but it also enlightens the unintentionally ignorant of social issues embedded in our culture.

A minor problem I have with Delpit’s work is her focus on black students and forgoing of other underserved groups. Delpit fails to discuss Hispanics, English Language Learners, Asian minorities, immigrants, and Muslim students. Delpit only briefly speaks of students with special needs, but she does so in reference to her own daughter. She also addresses students of low socioeconomic status, but it appeared that the students being referenced to were poor and black instead of covering all impoverished students of various races. For the sake of time and space, I understand why she focused predominantly on black students, I am just curious about how issues she mentioned (stereotype threat, microaggressions, etc.) might affect students of other backgrounds.

Delpit’s work is meant as a guide for teaching black students,  but also draws on the importance of a student-centered and constructivist classroom as the most effective methods of instruction. I disagree with some of her assertions, such as teacher quality being the ultimate factor in student performance, but consent that a low quality teacher does more harm to students than a high quality teacher does good. I also believe Delpit took a one-sided assault on Teach for America and I remain apprehensive of the true consequences of the program. I accept that students of color likely benefit from having a teacher of color and that, in general, students learn more effectively when they respect and/or relate to their instructor. Arguments aside, Delpit draws attention to unconscious racism present throughout our culture: racial smog in our language, low expectations of students, poor instructional techniques, novice and homogeneous teachers, stereotypes, lack role models, and dismissal of diversity and particular needs. By being aware of such hidden and insidious racism, the reader can confront the issues individually, politically, academically, and socially. One good teacher may not be enough to change an at-risk student’s life, but a wealth of purposeful and impactful individuals may collectively change our society.

DD's rating: C+
Had I not had to write a critical book review, my rating would likely be higher. However, through my analysis, I had to second guess some of her assertions and pick apart her works cited. I also don't expect to be teaching in an urban school, so this book wasn't as influential as it could be. However I believe it has helped me develop some racial competence.

Next read: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

36 Children

As mentioned in the previous post, I finished this book on-time! But I was preoccupied with completing my book analysis for a different subject (Education for English Language Learners). A book analysis was required, but we were able to select our text. I selected 36 Children because of the author, Herbert Kohl. During my Multiculturalism class last semester, I read some of his work I Won't Learn From You, which I enjoyed and found interesting, and so I selected a Kohl text.

The post includes excerpts from my book review (complete with APA in-text citations).

36 Children by Herbert Kohl

Genre: Non-fiction, Education

Publication Date: 1967
Setting: Harlem public elementary school, 1963-1966

About the Author: Undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Harvard University, Masters degree in Teaching from Columbia University Teachers College. 

The title is in reference to the thirty-six children that occupy Kohl's sixth grade class in Harlem, NY, his first teaching position. Kohl’s first full school year begins when he receives his roll book with all of his students’ record cards and the decision to look at their names and nothing else, for he believed that, “the dullest child can be transformed into the keenest and the brightest into the most ordinary when the prefabricated judgments of other teachers are forgotten” (p. 13). Once Kohl became comfortable and confident in his classroom, he could take student interests and apply them into lessons. He used student conversations to create a lesson on etymology and the changing of languages, referring to the lesson as vocabulary and enrichment activity.

Kohl brought his own books into class for the students to read and explore and also created a classroom of authors. The students were permitted (and encouraged) to write during classes, pursuing any storyline they fancied – including autobiography, historical fiction, fantasy, suspense, or a blending of genres. Previously silent students could speak openly and deeply through their writing. The students also collaborated by looking for peer feedback and critical ideas before formally submitting to Kohl. Students inadvertently and individually learned language arts by developing their own stories, characters, plots, and figures of speech. Eventually, the students create their own classroom magazine and take on the responsibility of writing, editing, publishing, and distributing the magazine in and out of school.

After his second year at the Harlem school, Kohl took a hiatus and traveled to Spain for a year, which I interpreted as him quitting – he writes, “I was tired and lacked perspective” (p. 192). Delpit (2012) writes, “first-year teachers are least able to produce positive growth in their students and that teaching quality increases dramatically for the first three years” (p. 114). Kohl taught at the Harlem school for two years, and then left. For those two years, he was honing his teaching skills, but he did a disservice to the school by taking a leave of absence and not teaching during a time when his performance and skill is increasing. In essence, he taught at the Harlem school when he was at his lowest level of quality teaching.

I do agree with Kohl that, “one good year isn’t enough” (p. 205). For teachers and for students, one year is not enough time to make a difference in education. For true change to occur, reform needs to be widespread – all the teachers, administration, policy makers, the community, and society as a whole needs to be informed about the current conditions and the measures that need to be made to correct these disorders. Teachers shouldn’t label students as failures because the student internalizes that brand. All students should be encouraged and believed in. All students should be challenged to meet their utmost potential. Change can’t happen in isolation or at a singular point in time, reform must be persistent. Teachers and students should strive to persevere in the face of hardship and unfortunate circumstances, and have the strength to “fight, falter, and rise again and again” (p.224). 

DD's rating: B
I wouldn't have read this if it wasn't for school, but it was entertaining and easy to read. The book also reinforces a constructivist and student-centered classroom.