Delpit,+Lisa.+The+Politics+of+Teaching+Literate+Discourse

Delpit, Lisa. "The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse." //Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook//. Ed. Ellen Cushman et al. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 545-554.

Delpit responds to Gee's "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction" with a few trepidations. While she agrees with many of his assertions, she is concerned on two accounts: his insistence that literacy cannot be taught overtly, but only acquired, and his suggestion that moving into another discourse may cause "major conflicts" in values. These aspects of Gee's theory create serious concerns for Delpit, who worries that they may be used to avoid teaching the discourse of power to students of color. Future teachers may interpret Gee's claims by assuming that students of color //cannot// be taught the discourse of power, but can only acquire it through interaction (and therefore will not attempt to teach it), and that teaching the discourse of power to students not born into that discourse will cause a conflict of values that will be detrimental to the student (thus allowing "progressive" teachers to avoid taking responsibility for teaching students).