The Skin That We Speak - by Lisa Delpit & Joanne Kilgour Dowdy (Paperback)

About the Book

The author of "Other People's Children" delivers a commemorative edition of this groundbreaking collection that examines the relationship between language and power in the classroom. Now with a new Introduction by Delpit.

Book Synopsis

In this powerful book, bestselling author and MacArthur "genius" Lisa Delpit joins with other education experts to unpack the complex relationship between language and power in the classroom

In what Black Issues Book Review calls "an essential text," leading education scholars illuminate the crucial role of language in the learning process, uncovering the biases and stereotypes associated with the varieties and dialects of English we speak. With diverse perspectives on topics such as the need for linguistically differentiated instruction, code switching, and the role of personal identity in the classroom, The Skin That We Speak is a vital look at crucial educational issues.

Edited by bestselling author and MacArthur fellow Lisa Delpit and education professor Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, the book includes an extended new piece by Delpit herself, as well as groundbreaking work by Herbert Kohl, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Victoria Purcell-Gates, and classic texts by Geneva Smitherman and Asa Hilliard.

When children are written off in our schools because they do not speak formal English, and when the class- and race-biased language used to describe those children determines their fate, everyone loses. The Skin That We Speak is a much-needed analysis of the ways that classrooms can accommodate everyone, to the benefit of students, educators, and society.

Review Quotes

"Although these lucid, accessible pieces speak most directly to teachers and would be teachers . . . the issues are broad enough to attract more general readers, especially parents."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Joanne Kilgour Dowdy is a professor of adolescent/adult literacy at Kent State University in the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies. A graduate of the Juilliard School in the theater division, Dr. Dowdy continues to use her drama training to prepare teachers for the literacy classroom and as a performer who facilitates writing development through interactive workshops. Her major research interests include documenting the experiences of black women involved in education from adult basic literacy to higher education. She has written or edited twelve books. Her book Ph.D. Stories: Conversations with My Sisters was awarded the 2009 American Educational Research Association Narrative and Research Special Interest Group's Outstanding Book Award. She lives in Ohio. MacArthur Award winner Lisa Delpit is the Felton G. Clark Professor of Education at Southern University. The author of the bestselling Other People's Children and "Multiplication Is for White People," co-editor (with Joanne Kilgour Dowdy) of The Skin That We Speak, and editor of Teaching When the World Is on Fire (all published by The New Press), she lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.