"Teachers seldom know much about the children's lives and communities outside of the classroom and either don't know how to or aren't willing to connect instruction to issues that matter to students, their families, and their community. Nowhere is a student's very personhood acknowledged or celebrated" (Delpit, 2002, p. 41).
As an educator, I will be sure to acknowledge and celebrate my students' backgrounds and cultures. They will be asked to introduce aspects of their culture into the classroom, and to share personal experiences. If students are going to learn, they will learn best when the material is relevant to their lives.
Delpit, Lisa D., and Joanne Kilgour. Dowdy. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom. New York: New, 2002. Print.