Other People's Children Cultural Conflict in the Classroom- Lucas McElroy

 Other People's Children

Cultural Conflict in the Classroom

By: Lisa Delpit

        Extended Comments- While reading Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit I decided to look into some of my other peers blogs on this text. I decided to comment on Brian Crawford's post, which talked about the argument that Delpit made during the text. I completely agree with Brian's view of the argument, as Delpit broke down the cultural conflict into different ways that the classroom education is only good for certain people. Delpit discusses that teachers must be able to respect and teach about all the different cultures, as prejudice, stereotypes, and assumptions often breed ineffective education. The majority of the educators in America are from the middle class and are white, when 40% of the students in America today are black. The people who are in control of education today, who decide what is in the curriculum are also majority white and from middle to upper class. The curriculum in America has not changed to keep up with what is happening in America today. 

            Comments- When I was reading "Other's People Children the first thing that came to my mind was the curriculum in America. In school, students only learn about how the United States has been affected in the past. Students have to go out of their way to learn about other countries and their history. For example, in High School it is required to take a U.S. History class but students have to sign up to take a class like World History, where you learn how the United States has caused conflict in lots of other countries throughout history. Having a parent who is an educator, I also know that the curriculum in America very rarely changes, as it is hard to do so. Students should know what the current news, not just things that happened 300 years ago. In the United States, education has always been a state function, which means that it is not legal for the Department of Education to supervise or change the curriculum. This means that the in each state every educator would have to agree on what needs to be added into the education system. This speaks volumes on the values that American educators have. Changing the curriculum requires making hard choices, as many teachers are not willing to budge on their individual specializations. 

           Hyperlink- https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/why-schools-should-teach-the-curriculum-of-the-future-not-the-past/