Slide 1: Memoir, Memory, and Mastery Project Presented to you by Kassandra Frey using The

Skin That We Speak by Lisa Delpit and Joanna Kilgour Dowdy

Slide 2: To share an overview of this memoir, it truly acknowledged a person’s spoken

language. It described student’s experiences to help the readers understand how
discrimination, racism, biases, and stereotypes have impacted their educational lives. It went
deep into culture and how important it is to listen and communicate with those around you.
Delpit and Dowdy discussed the achievement gap and ways we can help close it. As well as the
importance of using our voice for change and positive outcomes, rather than violence.

Slide 3: This memoir aligned with my current employment. I work in a very diverse district with
low-income. Over 26% of the 130,000 residents are within poverty level. It relates to the
course goal of supporting the development of culturally responsive pedagogies in the
classroom. Regarding the course objectives, this correlates to developing a rational for
multicultural education, educating on how culture impacts learning and achievement for our
students, ethnic related learning guidelines, and demographical trends and societal structure.

Slide 4: We were asked to answer questions and use the reading to support our responses. The
first question was, “How does language reflect our cultural identity, power, and privilege? To
answer this question, language is gained from experience. It is taught through background and
prior exposure. Language is something that is practiced. The language that is spoken may be
used differently when conversing at home versus out in public. There is a difference between
speaking clearly and enunciating. When you “Speak clearly” you are putting your soul’s reality
out in the open (Delpit & Dowdy, 2002, p. 13). People may have a language difficulty, barrier,
or even a disorder. If a family is lacking access to speech pathologists, therapists or other
counselors, they are lacking the resources to improve that area. Without fluency, people may
even then lack in comprehension. Then are people really understanding what is being spoken?
Even though someone speaks English, it doesn’t mean that it is their first language.
Trilingualism was a term used to discuss a student’s “home” English or dialect which is the
language students used at home. Formal, which is the student’s academic language, used and
taught at school and professional English which is typically learned in college or at a job (Delpit
& Dowdy, 2002, p. 51-52)

Slide 5: The next question was based on how we can support our diverse students in order to
be successful. For starters, we need to be welcoming. Districts should have a diverse
curriculum offering multicultural experiences. “Multicultural education is a philosophical
concept built on the ideals of freedom, equality, equity, and human dignity” (National
Association for Multicultural Education, 2018, p.1). Students and teachers should share a
common language that rooted in. The language used with students should be sincere with
clear expectations. Teachers should reflect in order to gain knowledge on their practice and
how they are presenting themselves to their students. Students and teachers should be taught
how to appropriately communicate and express themselves to one another. By listening,
teachers can gain knowledge about their student’s needs and how to better support them. By
modeling this behavior, we can encourage students to listen to themselves being listened to.
They will learn that their voices are making an impact and advocating. Educators should avoid
stereotyping or profiling their students. Any student walking into our classroom should have an
equal opportunity to achieve their goals. We should work together towards closing the
achievement gap by being inclusive of culture, language, religion, and beliefs to allow for every
student to feel safe and involved in their learning.

Slide 6: Lastly, we were asked to answer, what does all of this mean for society? This means
that we will learn how to better support our students. We are educating ourselves and then
sharing it with the students involving the diverse world we live in. By gaining this
understanding, we can limit the hate and negativity that is around us. We can be inclusive of all
our students, resulting in a deeper level of understanding because they are involved and
engaged in their education. We are helping to create strong individuals in society by teaching
them how to advocate for their needs and by using their voice, instead of violence to “fight” for
what is right or wrong in the world. They are being provided with real-life experiences and
teachers are learning new tricks to implement within their current classroom pedagogical
beliefs.

Slide 7: In summary, reading and exploring this memoir has taught me about real-life situations
that people have experienced. I am learning new ways to better support my students by
understanding their needs by providing them with multicultural experiences through a diverse
curriculum. As a special education teacher, I am learning new ways to advocate for my
students outside of their IEP’s. I was taught about the importance of reflecting on my current
practice and how to improve to ensure that I am being inclusive. Lastly, I understand my role
and how I can help towards closing the achievement gap within my classroom and beyond.

Slide 8: After completing this memoir, I want to complete more research to support a deeper
level of understanding. I want to learn more about how I can implement these practices into my
preschool classroom. Seeing I have many students that are non-verbal, how can I support them
with multicultural education and educate all students to advocate for their needs verbally and
non-verbally. I want to understand what the high-needs areas are specifically for my district and
school. Finally, how can I create my own diverse curriculum for my classroom since I’m not
provided with one from the district?

Slide 9: Here are the sources used to complete this project. Thank you for listening!