As a white person from upper-class background who has been trying to "make a difference," and has been bewildered when my best efforts still seem to fail to reach some kids, I felt that this book was the answer I have been seeking for years.

If you think you already know everything you need to know, don't bother reading this review or the book. But if you keep questioning why African-American kids fail in such dramatic numbers, and if you refuse to accept that it is someone else's fault or problem, but instead continue to ask how educators can do better--then skip the review and get this book.

I have been working with children of all backgrounds for more than fourteen years and have been trying to understand the riddle of why African-American kids have a hard time in school. I had come to two essential understandings but lacked a third that this book provided.

First, I used to blame Af-Am children's school problems on their parents and communities, but then I came to understand that their parents are as likely to be loving and supportive as anyone else's, and that their community's cultural values dictate that education is essential to success.

Second, I learned more that made me see how schools unintentionally contributed to the problem of academic failure, but I still didn't understand the root. Specifically, I learned that many African-American kids get dumped into special education because they have "behavior problems" (often consisting of things that could be handled just fine if their teachers didn't have 40+ students in class!). This means that children of sometimes high intelligence are stuck in classes designed for IQ's under 70, getting "credits" that won't get them into college. In that discouraging situation, it is hardly surprising that behavior and truancy worsen.

So I came to understand these two pieces of the puzzle, but was still missing a crucial third piece: why *do* African-American kids have more "behavior problems" than others in the first place? Some people told me "it's a cultural thing," but I didn't understand what that could mean. When they would explain, the "blame-the-parents" hints would creep back in. I have spent enough time "round the way" to see that many children who are out-of-control in school are perfectly well able to be polite and respectful to their elders in their own communities. So--why did these children not think that this same behavior was called for in school? I didn't understand.

At the same time, on a personal level I was also starting to "feel" that elusive "cultural difference." Somehow, some of my African-American students didn't "see" me the way that the white kids "saw" me, but why? They seemed to like me, were friendly and personable, but oddly enough, they seemed not to understand what my role was and why I was there--and they continued to learn more slowly than others, even though I could see they were often bright. It was becoming clear to me that somehow, on some level, I was not communicating well with the children. But why?????

The very first part of this book, the "Controversies Revisited," is the part that answered these questions and really blew my mind. I was so excited after reading it that I wrote the author with pen and paper (couldn't wait for my computer to warm up) to thank her. In fact I haven't even finished the book because I couldn't wait to tell more people about it.

Delpit told me exactly what it is about the way I express myself that "doesn't compute" for my African-American students, which finally explains why they do not respond as I wish or expect. I did not take this as blame or "anti-white bias" because I know--I really do the things that she describes, and I know that other white educators do too. I didn't feel that Delpit was blaming us--rather, I felt that she understood that we were trying to nurture and support in ways that are appropriate to our culture, and that we are so bewildered when kids continue to fail.

Delpit is teaching us how to do better across cultures, and it will help us immensely if we can suppress our pride and listen to her, understanding perhaps for the first time that what we are faced with truly is "cultural difference" just as if we were in another country. Just as in another country, we need to withhold our value judgments and seek ways to be effective communicators, so that African-American students can understand our expectations and meet them.

Although I will get "unhelpful" votes, I will make no attempt to summarize the findings of the book here. I don't think that the other reviewers have done justice to the content, and I urge you to read the book for yourself. One really needs to read the book to gain a larger understanding--there is far too much to put into these paragraphs, and any excerpted ideas will sound simplistic and misguided without their explanatory context. Everything she says is well-supported by research and experience, and it fits perfectly with my own observations. This book should be required reading for persons of all backgrounds in the field of education.

77 of 82 found the following review helpful:


Eye-Opening, Alarming...  May 30, 2001 By Mike MacFerrin
Currently a recent college graduate from a predominantly-white Midwestern background, this book got me on a serious soul-searching thought process. This fall, I will teach high school students from a culture considerably different from my own... a Public School in the primarily Cajun and Creole areas of Southern Louisiana (where Lisa Delpit was raised!). I'd always thought I could rely on my own memories of great teachers from my childhood to guide me in my own techniques. This book opened my eyes to the fact that my own assumptions are based in my own culture. Effective methods of learning, communicating, and especially TEACHING children of other cultures can and probably will vary significantly from my own.

I think a previous reviewer seriously misjudged Ms. Delpit's intent by saying she implies "we need to separate our students by cultural backgrounds to teach them individually using different approaches." Far from that, Ms. Delpit simply explains that we need to question our own assumptions on all levels of the teaching profession, from the way we teach students to the way teachers are evaulated as "competent" on a national level.

Lisa does not present simple answers... difficult problems are seldom solved by such methods. Like any good teacher, she thoroughly presents us with a serious problem and leaves us to explore the answers within ourselves, while pointing us in the right direction. This isn't a "How to Fix Public Education" guideline as much as a "What Needs to be Fixed and What We Can Begin To Do About It" memorandum.

The language was honest, powerful and easy to read. I cannot stress enough how important books like this are to improving the quality of education (not just for minorities!) in our school systems nationwide.

42 of 43 found the following review helpful:


Other People's Children was Transformative  Oct 28, 2005 By J. Mills
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.

37 of 39 found the following review helpful:


Enlightening reading- but questions remain.  Nov 09, 1999 By Carolyn J Huston (carhkc7@aol.com)
I am a young, white, female teacher raised in the midwest. I recently moved to Florida to teach in a school with a much higher racial mix than I am used to, so my mom bought be Lisa Deplit's book. When the students did not reply satisfactorily to a question, I assumed it was because they did not know the answer. Ms Delpit points out that the problem is not content, it is communication. I was shocked to discover that when I thought I was being accomidating and realistic, I was actually dumbing down the curriculum drastically. I finished the book determined to demand more- but what. Most of the book seems to be testimony from minority teachers whose natural, and more applicable, teaching styles were crushed by the establishment. But other than "teach skills before voice" and "To be seen as an authority, be authoritative," I know little more about how to reach students of a different learning culture than before I began. Instead, I am left frustrated, because now I see my errors but do not know how to correct them.

22 of 24 found the following review helpful:


An invaluable resource for educators  Sep 30, 2005 By A.T Stonehill "antman boston"
"Other People's Children" offers a shocking view of the desperate cultural ignorance that is increasingly impacting our schools. Lisa Delpit, an African American woman forced out of her segregated southern community as a teenager, and into a newly integrated high school in the 1960's, expresses powerful feelings of neglect, racism, and misunderstanding of culture, both as a student and an educator. In an incredibly successful and for the most part unbiased effort, she produces a uniquely structured framework in which to build necessary educational reforms. The book is split into three separate sections, each relating to an idealistic, but certainly achievable plan of creating a culturally sound community of students, educators and administrators. Additionally, Delpit offers valuable tools to educators looking for a non-traditional approach to teaching. Although many of the processes discussed in the book are primarily developed for aiding students of color, several of the techniques can easily be worked into positive models of success for all students.
Delpit begins by introducing her "progressive" approach to learning literacy. "Skills and Other Dilemmas of a Progressive Black Educator," discusses the benefits and controversies surrounding the whole language "progressive" approach. Delpit brings these ideas to life through drawing on her own personal experiences. She mentions the fact that as a child, her mother, grandmother, and pre-integration teachers constantly corrected poor grammar and speech in an attempt to curb her away from "Black English" and toward "Standard English." The whole language approach to reading and writing, combined with basic skills, gradually became a main component of Delpit's own classroom repertoire as she discovered the benefits of utilizing a more nontraditional approach. By insisting her students write freely, focusing their energy on fluency rather than correctness, Delpit shows her knack for new and innovative ideas and the positive effect they have on children who had been declared by some colleagues as "unreachable." The whole language approach involved such skills as "fast writes," "golden lines," and writing through a group process approach, all of which I felt were invaluable tools. As an inner city fourth grade teacher, I utilized many of these techniques and saw firsthand the astounding results of which Delpit writes. Many of my students' writing abilities changed drastically. The whole language approach not only allows for more freedom and creativity in the writing process, but also provides an escape from more traditional methods.
Among the countless ideas discussed in this book, none is as compelling as the stories within "Lessons from Home and Abroad: Other Cultures and Communities." These essays further explore the importance of cultural acceptance and education as a path toward successful teaching. Education is most successful when the community, culture and customs of the people are integrated into the learning process. For example, the people of Papua New Guinea, a small country of three million citizens who speak a world record 700 different indigenous languages, were faced with the huge task of educating their inhabitants in "Standard English," without a loss of culture. After many failed attempts at forming a successful literacy campaign in the country, a new reform called "Vilis Tokples Pri-Skul" was developed which allowed students an opportunity to first learn by way of speaking their native tongue until approximately age 10, and then begin a slow and steady introduction to complete English immersion by age 15 (Delpit, 87). It was this reform that allowed English language acquisition without the sacrifice of native customs. A second essay speaks of the value of family as a central component of Native Alaskan culture. Some teachers use this knowledge to their advantage, while others, who do not yet understand the importance, struggle to make connections with their students. "Hello Grandfather," an article on the educational methods used to teach Native Alaskans, points out the importance of intonation, body language, and the speaker. When "Grandfather" speaks, everyone listens intently, this is due to a deeply rooted cultural belief the people hold for their elders. The essay explains in further detail, the depth of cultural knowledge teachers must discover in order to properly educate the village children. Through this and other stories, Delpit has proven the combination of language and culture to be a successful component of the learning process not only in the United States, but also in other countries around the world.
The last section of the book deals strictly with Delpit's education reform ideas, and the goals she believes need to be accomplished to provide an equal opportunity for all children, specifically those from diverse cultures. In prefacing the suggested reforms, Delpit examines everything from traditional teaching standards, to the controversy surrounding teacher assessment tests. Increasingly, teachers are being inundated with tests to prove their competency in the classroom, and unfortunately tests do not always determine the success of the educator. In addition, these tests have been considered by many, including Delpit, to be responsible for teacher attrition as well as the decline of new professionals entering the field; this is especially true where minorities are concerned.
After successfully proving her points time and again, Delpit presents her recommendations. The reforms come in a three step program centered on the improvement of the national teacher training program. First, she says teachers must connect with families both inside and outside of school, allowing for a better understanding of their students. Second, she recommends increased efforts in creating a more diverse teaching force. Teachers who have a clear understanding of who their students are will more easily connect with them. The last reform, and long past due, is the removal of the Eurocentric curriculum. It is high time to move on and discover the roots of all people, to learn about different cultures, and to gain a more positive understanding of who we are and how exactly we fit together.
Delpit does an amazing job at successfully convincing her readers about the dire situation some of our children face each day as they step off the bus and into the classroom. Although sometimes shocking in her discourse, it is crucial in understanding her position. The most interesting and enjoyable aspect of reading "Other People's Children," was that it truly allowed for a genuine connection to the people Delpit writes about. Stories and interviews are used as beautiful instruments that wholeheartedly convey feelings and attitudes to the reader, allowing for an overall intensive learning experience.
In a world where estimates suggest that black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American children presently comprise more than 40 percent of the school age population, and "minority" students represent a majority in all but two of our twenty-five largest cities, it is critically important that the proper care and dedication be given to these students in order to grant a successful future without the loss of culture, language, or tradition. A Native Alaskan elder best described this effort when he said, "In order to teach you, I must know you" (Delpit, 183).



See all 54 customer reviews on Amazon.com