Reflection On The Silenced Dialogue By Lisa Delpit

In "The Silenced Dialogue," Lisa Delpit talks about how the "culture of power" affects today's education. She highlights the unequal power distribution in society, showing that it also hurts minority students in the education system. Delpit urges educators to get to know their students, listen to them and their parents, and think carefully about how to best connect with and help them. Delpit's careful look at the "culture of power" makes me realize the great impact that education has on minority students. The idea of power keeps coming up, showing how unfair our society can be. It's clear that these unfair power differences also affect what happens in our classrooms. Delpit argues strongly that minority students suffer the most because of this unequal system.

Inclusivity In The classroom

"the students I have spoken of seem to be saying that the teacher has denied them access to herself as the source of knowledge necessary to learn the form they need to succeed" (Delpit 32). This quote stood out to me because as I pursue a career in education my goal is to make children feel educated, not leave them feeling like I am inaccessible to them when they have questions or concerns about something that has to do with their education or even ability to learn. The responsibility that falls on a teacher is not one to be taken lightly, it is our job to effectively and efficiently educate students not only with equal information and effort, but the necessary amount to help each of them get to the same understanding on things. 

Reflection On Privilege Power And Difference By Alan Johnson

After reading three chapters from this book, here are a few quotes that stood out to me and why...

                                                                Chapter 1

"We are not prisoners to some natural order that pits us hopelessly and endlessly against one another. We are prisoners to something, but it's closer to our own making than we realize. And we, therefore, are far from helpless to change it and ourselves." (Johnson, 4)

This quote to me means that there is power in words. This thing that is said to have taken people as prisoners is something that was taught and learned and it has been a continual choice of people to keep quiet when it comes to change and to not want the change. But if both sides, good and bad, were to be vocal, bold, and honest about what is going on then there could be chance for a more change. 

                                                                        Chapter 2

"Privilege is always at someone else's expense and always exacts a cost. Everything that's done to receive or maintain it- however passive and unconscious- results in suffering and deprivation for someone (Johnson, 10) 

 The thing about this is that people at the top keep making things more and more difficult for anyone of lower class or whatever it may be has no shot of getting where they are. And it is true, it might be something that they don't realize but that is because there is a selfish tunnel vision that does not allow for privileged people to see any situation other than their own and they don't realize how they are doing this at the cost of others.

                                                                        Chapter 3

Chapter 3: "Privilege is present when a particular group possesses something valuable that is withheld from others solely based on the groups to which they belong, rather than any actions they have taken or failed to take" (Johnson, 21)

When reading this, the word that came to mind was "system". I would like to believe that anyone who puts in the work required to get to where they want to will actually get there but that is simply not the case. There are other obstacles that certain groups of people face that cause a hindrance to their ability to prosper as someone privileged could. 

Heidi's Introduction Blog

 Hello everyone! My name is Heidi and I am a freshman at RIC. I am majoring in elementary education with a math concentration. Right now I have a part-time job working in retail at REI (shout out to all my retail workers, it is not easy haha). Aside from school and work, I love to spend time with family, friends, and my boyfriend, I also love being at church and serving with my friends in the youth ministry. To spend my time I love going to the beach or hanging out at a coffee shop with friends just to catch up. I also love working out, playing lacrosse, and kayaking in the summer
. Here are some pictures of my amazing friends, family, and boyfriend :)