Teach Out Proposal

 CHOOSE A TEXT:

The reading that stayed with me the most was The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit. It highlights an important conversation about how power, culture, and expectations shape classroom dynamics between educators and students. Delpit’s discussion about the “codes of power” and the importance of explicitly teaching the rules of academic spaces stood out to me. I am interested in exploring how different lived experiences influence how students understand and navigate those unspoken expectations in school.

WHO DO YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH?
I would like to share this topic with both youth and adults who work in education. Hearing directly from students about how they experience expectations in school could provide valuable insight into whether these “unwritten rules” are clear to them. I am also interested in hearing from educators about how they approach teaching expectations and whether they believe those expectations should be taught more explicitly. Comparing these perspectives could reveal interesting differences in how power and communication are experienced in classrooms.

WHAT FORMAT MIGHT WORK FOR YOU?
For educators, I think individual interviews would be the most beneficial because they would allow for deeper reflection on their experiences and teaching practices. With students, I believe small group discussions would work better, as they may feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts in a collaborative setting with peers. This format could also encourage students to build off each other’s ideas and experiences. Together, these conversations could provide a fuller picture of how Delpit’s ideas show up in real educational spaces.

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