Customer Reviews
Cultural Awareness 
2008-08-25
Delpit clearly defines and details, in narrative form, the differences in teaching students of color, especially the differences between students who are either middle-class Whites or African-Americans. Delpit considers the ethnic identities and linguistics of ethnic children, the heritage behind these children's learning styles, body languages, ethics (some students will not write a review of other researcher's work because it in unethical, in their society, to speak for others), and how some students will not detail what they have accomplished, such as to outline their activities in a resume. Delpit includes many testimonials (qualitative inquiry) from other educators and students and builds a holistic view of differences in teaching students of color.
The holistic presentation in this book, with rich background information from Delpit's personal experiences, is exactly the presentation style that Delpit discusses as a way that African-American learners use to present their information, in a story building method with many details, which is quite different from Whites who typically present the main points in clear, yet concise, detail. Delpit also discusses how this difference in presentation style is problematic when others, usually non-ethnic evaluators, attempt to score presentations according to predetermined standards. Delpit also discusses issues with standardized testing and the need for educators to discern between ethnic students' deficits in knowledge and their inability (sometimes) to convey their knowledge on worksheets or other similar assessment mediums.
The book is rich with Delpit's personal experiences, is easy to read, and is quite hard to put down. I have now read this book twice and have gained a deeper understanding of ethnic differences the second time. As Delpit points out, many writings by African-Americans rely greatly on personal experiences whereas Whites cite empirical research to support their statements; this book is a prime example of this method. Although Delpit does cite many sources, many "profound" (perhaps I should say "firm") statements are stated without citations and the reader has no reference to empirical research to underpin these statements. Because of this, I have rated this book as 4 out of 5. This book contains excellent information.
Powerful and Challenging 
2008-07-10
If you work with students from dominated cultures, this is a must read. Delpit examines the culture of power and how we can begin to change the climate in our schools. It will challenge you to examine your assumptions.
readable and provocative 2008-04-23
We recently read this book as part of my MA in Secondary Ed, and I highly recommend it. Our diverse class of aspiring public school teachers found the author's opinionated and passionate essays to be a great discussion starter, with most of us having either strong positive or negative reactions to Delpit's perspective. In particular, we liked her explanation of the importance of direct language and making expectations of the school culture explicit for kids. In a critical sense, we found she tended to generalize too much.
Here are a few examples of things we found interesting:
White teachers ask "Where do you think the scissors go?" and black kids think, man, how did she get to be a teacher, she doesn't even know where the scissors go! Whereas, according to Delpit, a black teacher might say "Put the scissors back in the drawer and sit down."
White teachers at a school in Native Alaska complain about parents not making their kids go to school. Native Alaskan parents, whose culture values children's authority, respond that if their children don't want to got to school then the school must be a place where the children do not feel welcome.
Teachers are often compared to lawyers and doctors, when in fact a better comparison is with preachers, who need to respond to and inspire their congregations.
The Most RACIST Book I have Ever Read 
2008-04-06
I am going for my masters in secondary education and I was required to read this book in one of my graduate classes. All I can say is that this is by far the most racist book I have ever read. This book really should be renamed "Mein Kampf II", or at least "How to Handle the White Devil". As an example, written in her book, Adolf "Lisa Delpit" has "The only difference between black folks and white folks is that black folks know when they are lying." This is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other racist remarks that are in this book. Not only is she racist to white people, she also inadvertently seems to be racist to her own people. I some how got the feeling that see implies that black children should not be required to speak proper English is the classroom (I say proper but Adlof would say standard as if to say that it is arbitrary, and that there wasn't really a proper English. Just us evil white devils trying to say there is.) By the way her book is written in perfect "standard" English, I guess her editor felt otherwise.
It absolutely amazing to me how someone like this is praised, with the Quarterly Black Review calling her a godsend and a visionary, While Don Imus is fired for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team a "bunch of nappy headed ho's". While I feel that both are racist and wrong, Imus's comments were merely off handed remarks while Adolf's remarks were well thought out and subsequently published. I wonder what would happen if there was a Quarterly White Review, and it called Don Imus a visionary.
With this being said I guess there is a place for this book in the educational system, just as I feel there is a role for Mein Kampf. There are lessons to be learned from every book. For instance in Adolf's book I learned that even though someone went to Harvard University that doesn't mean that they are intelligent.
Don't Waste Your Time or Money 2007-07-17
This has got to be the biggest bunch of racist (i.e., anti-white) nonsense I've ever read. The following passage is a perfect example:
"Several black teachers have said to me recently that as much as they'd like to believe otherwise, they cannot help but conclude that many of the 'progressive' educational strategies imposed by liberals upon black and poor children could only be based on a desire to ensure that the liberals' children get sole access to the dwindling pool of American jobs. Some have added that the liberal educators believe themselves to be operating with good intentions, but these good intentions are only conscious delusions about their unconscious true motives."
Isn't this just a little paranoid?
If I could have given it zero stars, I would have. My only guess as to why such a high percentage of favorable reviews appear here is that Amazon refused to publish the higher number of negative reviews (probably because they were, rightfully so, pretty inflammatory in nature).
Thought provoking 2007-03-17
An updated edition of the classic revolutionary analysis of the role of race in the classroom.Winner of an American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Award and
Choice Magazine's Outstanding Academic book award, and voted one of
Teacher Magazine's "great books,"
Other People's Children has sold over 150,000 copies since its original hardcover publication. This anniversary edition features a new introduction by Delpit as well as new framing essays by Herbert Kohl and Charles Payne.
In a radical analysis of contemporary classrooms, MacArthur Award-winning author Lisa Delpit develops ideas about ways teachers can be better "cultural transmitters" in the classroom, where prejudice, stereotypes, and cultural assumptions breed ineffective education. Delpit suggests that many academic problems attributed to children of color are actually the result of miscommunication, as primarily white teachers and "other people's children" struggle with the imbalance of power and the dynamics plaguing our system.
A new classic among educators,
Other People's Children is a must-read for teachers, administrators, and parents striving to improve the quality of America's education system.
YES! 2007-02-12
I love this book! It has explained a lot of things I always hated about school. I majored in (Post)-Colonial English lit. for a lot of the reasons this book specifies. We all get sick of hearing the same language all the time. PCEL is almost all authors of different colors and cultures than the traditional dead white men. I really felt that Delpit reminded us why we travel and why we want to see other parts of existence and gave us a new way to do that without leaving home. I loved sharing this book with the other teachers in my house.
Good 2006-03-24
This book arrived in perfect condition, on time, and it was interesting as well!
Other People's Children was Transformative 2005-10-28
I am a teacher and a Ph.D. student in education, and of all of the hundreds of articles and books I've read about education, Other People's Children has been one of the most useful, both in terms of my intellectual development and also in practical, common-sense classroom strategies. If you are an educator who is ready to stop blaming your students' parents for everything your students do wrong and who is ready to start asking what YOU can do to help your students achieve more, this book is an excellent choice for where to start.
Of particular interest were sections describing how well-intentioned teachers (not "the enemy" as another reviewer grossly mischaracterized) often enact policies that end up handicapping students who come from different backgrounds. Delpit describes the policies and the good intentions that led to them but also what the unintended consequences were and suggestions for how to deal with those consequences. Other helpful topics include descriptions of cultural differences in communication styles that can lead to conflict and how to address those, how to value your students' home cultures and still prepare them to succeed in the majority culture, and how to talk with your students about the social and political realities of being a minority in a majority culture.
I can't state strongly enough how this book transformed my thinking about teaching. I am no longer content to pathologize my students' home cultures, throw my hands in the air in despair, and say that there's nothing I can do. This book won't give you fool-proof recipes for success, as none exist; it offers descriptions of what her suggestions look like in practice. In fact, this book may raise more questions for you than it answers. If you're an educator looking to move forward, however, the questions raised are definitely worth the effort.
The Problems Behind Teaching Black Children 2005-10-23
Delpit pulvarizes us with her brick-hard words about how teachers (both Black and White) must re-negotiate and re-align their paradigms regarding how to plan to teach minority children, especially those whose native tongue differs from English.
Please read this book carefully and do not allow her remarks (some of which may sound racist to Whites) get in the way of the main idea: all teachers of all colors need to understand how to improve literacy for minorities.
