Amazing Grace - Kozol

Reflection:

    The chapter from Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol was an a challenging but eye opening read. When I first started reading the text, I was expecting it to be focused on the children and what they endured while living in these neighborhoods (and expected it to tie into their education somehow) but was instead given a whole new perspective on something I had little prior knowledge about. Obviously I knew about poverty, but I was never shown/exposed to first hand accounts of it. It is something that is seldom talked about in schools, especially those in higher-class areas. I am very lucky and privileged to have grown up where I did and with what I had, and I can identify that a lot of that had to do with my race. We were by no means the wealthiest family (lower-middle class family that went through the 2008 recession and ended up with divorced parents) but I had secure shelter in a safe neighborhood. My parents didn't have to worry about me being exposed to drugs or prostitutes when I wanted to go play with the neighbors. I didn't have to worry about being exposed to harsh weather. 

The quote "'If poor people behaved rationally... they would seldom be poor for long in the first place'" (21) made me reflect on my younger self. There were definitely times where I had similar thoughts, or something along the lines of "oh there are plenty of jobs!" which is such a shallow, privileged way of thinking. I can recognize that now. This chapter gave me a new perspective on what I knew to be true; people in poverty are not always in poverty because they "gave up" or simply don't care. There are SO many outside factors that affect people everyday that can cause poverty, with one of the top reasons being inequality, as evident in the reading and all around the country. 

The Silenced Dialogue and Overview

 Argument

Lisa Delpit argues that every child learns different and has a right to an education that fits their needs. A teacher is responsible for teaching their students how to thrive in the "real world". Delpit is encouraging teachers to expand their views on almost what the rights and wrongs of teaching are. You are allowed to suggest to a student how they can improve on their work to fit a social standard, but you should do so in a way that does not diminish their true voice. Towards the middle of the article, Delpit even directly states, "...I believe in a diversity of style, and I believe the world will be diminished if cultural diversity is ever obliterated" (39). The best way to prepare your students to flourish in society is by teaching them the lay of the land so to speak. Suggest ways for them to improve their communication, but be sure to remind them that it is due to the social power levels and that they are not doing anything wrong when they speak/ act in a way that is culturally correct to them and their families. We live in a society that preaches pretend diversity, yet there are rarely any acceptance for diversity in education. In the beginning of the article, Delpit informs us of a reading program called Distar and compared it to a progressive program approach. After comparing the two Delpit writes "It would be... tragic to operate as if these children were incapable of critical and higher-order thinking and reasoning... provide these children the content that other families from a different cultural orientation provide at home" (30). You cannot go into a lesson assuming parents are working with their children at home on phonics and letters, or even that they have any prior knowledge on the topic. The same applies for how you can teach something. You have to be able to adapt and shift your lesson delivery to best fit all students and how they are going to be able to understand it.