Stereotypes and assumptions about which children can and cannot achieve are like a smog enveloping teachers, students, and parents alike, said Lisa Delpit, author of Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom (New York: New Press, 1995). Because of their lack of cultural awareness, teachers often presume that poor or African American children cannot learn, she said.
Delpit identified three main things teachers must do to provide excellent education for all students:
- "Know, respect, appreciate, and find something to love in the children, their culture, and their families." Middle-class children often begin school able to name letters, recognize numerals or colors, count, and so on, Delpit noted. Children from poor families may not have learned these things yet, but they often have other strengths. For example, some are accustomed to being independent and solving real-life problems. "Different kids bring different skills," Delpit said.
- "Use the knowledge gained from learning about the children, their culture, and their families to develop teaching strategies to promote excellent education." Excellent teachers of diverse students "use familiar knowledge and metaphors to connect the children's experiences to school learning," said Delpit. For example, one teacher, noting that many adolescents become obsessed with their hair, turned this interest into a set of activities around hair and cosmetology that integrated science, math, and other content areas. Another teacher asked students to teach her how to write a rap song. To do this, the students needed to think carefully about the elements of the genre. The teacher then used this knowledge to prepare the students to study Shakespearean sonnets and plays.
- "Understand ourselves, our place in the world, and our place in students' worlds." Educators must be sensitive to the different "worlds" students and their parents might live in. These contexts, Delpit noted, may be marked by students' and parents' own low expectations for school success.
Educators need to find out about and build on the "intellectual legacy of the children we teach," said Delpit. Noted teacher Jaime Escalante, for example, never gave up when his Hispanic students first rejected mathematics. He told them: "You have to learn math. The Mayans discovered zero. Math is in your blood." All teachers need to find ways to make these kinds of links to the curriculum, she said.
"In short, we can't be blindly bound to instructional strategies because they fit our own needs," Delpit concluded. "We have to look at what children need when they come to us and make sure they learn it."