Lisa discusses the ideas and methods in "Other People's Children"
Lisa discusses the ideas and methods that students become familiar with during their college education in the book Other People's Children. Lisa, in particular, adopts a strategy that prioritizes students' literacy. It becomes clear that how knowledge is taught to pupils affects how successful they are in the long run. The observations made by Lisa Delpit regarding the lives of the majority of black scholars are accurate since they require the employment of proper conventions by the teachers in order for them to succeed in the mainstream white culture (Delpit, 1995). Therefore, it is important to note that students to become successful, they need to listen to and offer feedback to the suggestions provided by their teachers to facilitate progressive learning.
The impact of "language diversity" on learning dynamics
One of the learning dynamics that personally affects my life is the "language diversity" which Lisa talks about in the book. It is important for the educators to identify and validate the linguistic ability of a student in a move to enable them to attain the required Standard of English. For this matter, Lisa describes the appropriate standard as the language associated with "economic success and has a close link to the power structure" (Delpit, 1995). Delipt proceeds to explain that one of the ways to appreciate diversity in the learning process is through engaging the students in different but shared activities. Subsequently, the learners will get to know that there is linguistic pluralism.
Restructuring teacher assessment
On the other hand, restructuring teacher assessment over time is one of the learning dynamics that affected my life. Delpit states that "it paves the way for alternative options when it comes to assessment" (Delpit, 1995). The primary concern related to assessment is whether standardization is part of the process. However, there is the need to allow for variations when it comes to different cultural settings. Therefore, there are high chances of cross-cultural confusions to arise among teachers as the approach adopted in assessment depends on their background. Despite the confusions, the teachers need to establish a good relationship with their students to enable them to understand the educational content posed before them.
Bringing A Difference in the Lives of Children
The support offered by educators is necessary to institute a difference in the lives of children when it comes to the learning process. For this reason, issuing these children with an additional code which they utilize in a real and non-threatening communicative environment will assist in boosting communicative learning. Moreover, the students will get an opportunity to form their bidialectal dictionaries that will contribute in coming up with their appropriate Standard English. Regarding linguistic pluralism, the difference in the student’s lives stems from the ability to offer them the much-needed exposure. Thus, they will manage to find a purpose as to why they are learning and subsequently find the experience enjoyable.
Identifying language strengths in diverse student populations
Another way of bringing a difference to the lives of students is through identifying the language strengths of the diverse student populations. Therefore, identifying the specialized linguistic capabilities of students will enable the teacher to assist them to grasp the verbal patterns they miss. Ultimately, the teacher will manage to better their proficiencies which will spread across the approach adopted in identifying the lacking patterns in other pupils. In particular, teachers only possess the ability to correct reading miscues which stem dialect related issues and not non-dialect related. Hence, they need to separate dialect intervention and reading instruction to facilitate progressive learning among students and avoid any confusion that is likely to arise.
Bringing a Difference in the Lives of Families
Regarding families, Delpit gives an explanation concerning the communities of Papua New Guinea. Despite the vast number of indigenous languages spoken in the country, their education system required teachers to adopt English in the learning process (Delpit, 1995). For some time, there was the disruption of social relations among the members of the different communities. Important to note is that there is the need to adopt a system that allows individuals to learn their native language and customs alongside the English language. Hence, it provides families with opportunities both in their local communities and in the other parts of the world. For this reason, there is the attainment of the progressive learning objective.
Conclusion
In the book, Other People's Children, Lisa talks about the concepts and techniques that students get conversant with during their college education. Therefore, both students and families need to listen to and offer feedback to the suggestions offered by their teachers to facilitate progressive learning. Regarding bringing a difference in the lives of children, teachers need to offer them the opportunity to form their bidialectal dictionaries that will contribute in coming up with appropriate Standard English. Hence, they will manage their proficiencies which will spread across the approach adopted in identifying the lacking patterns in other pupils. On the other hand, concerning the bettering of lives of families, there is the need to adopt a system that allows individuals to learn their native language and customs alongside the English language.
Reference
Delpit, L. (1995). Other People’s Children (1st ed.). New York: The New York Press.
