"Issues of power are enacted in classrooms" (24, Delpit). The first rule of "the culture of power" really stuck out to me, especially because it immediately reminded me of Wind-Wolf's situation. On page 24 of the Delpit reading, it also says, "These issues include: the power of the teacher over the students; the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented; the power of the state in enforcing compulsory schooling; and the power of an individual or group to determine another's intelligence or 'normalcy'" (24, Delpit). Wind-Wolf was labeled as a slow learner by his teacher because he didn't learn basic skills like the rest of his students. He still had the needed skills that a kindergartner should possess such as being able to count or begin basic mathematics. He possessed many other skills that would be impressive coming from any other kindergartner, but because he's from a different culture where they learn differently, he's labeled as weird and needing to conform to the school's educational system. While I can see this being difficult from the teacher's perspective, needing to teach everyone under the same curriculum, I think it's definitely possible to set up a learning plan for Wind-Wolf that includes him with the class while also expanding on the knowledge he already has. Instead of shutting down a child's current knowledge because of it being involved with a different culture than the one we know, we should nourish that knowledge and try to educate other students to learn from him too. Wind-Wolf really shouldn't be the only one having to "adjust" or be forced to conform to one way of thinking. It would be an interesting thing and a new way of learning I think to incorporate his culture into the classroom.
I think bringing up this last point into the class discussion could lead to great conversation; thinking of ways to incorporate other cultures into the classroom to ensure everyone feels included and not shut down from their way of thinking. It's really awesome to see what's unique about others and we shouldn't be shutting that down, especially at such a young age.
I think that
this article talks really well about how teachers should pay attention to their students as well as their academic abilities individually and not put them into stereotypical molds.
