Lisa Delpit's Theory Of Social Reproduction

Education was designed to take people and transform them and teach them how to live a better life by whatever standards. Despite this overall goal, socially, people have been continued to replicate the lives of their parents or upbringing, becoming a problem for lower income families. This constant duplicating of lifestyles among people in lower social classes is called Social Reproduction. Lisa Delpit introduced a theory as to why this reproduction of social classes happens involving a “culture of power”. This involves a clear power divide between the students and administration including “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

The last party of her theory involves the “ruler of the culture of power [being] a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power” (Delpit 3) and “those with power [being] frequently least aware of - or least willing to acknowledge - its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence” (Delpit 4). All of this creates a challenge for those who are not helped by the culture of power which creates the reality of social reproduction being a large problem within the lower social classes. Despite underserved youth having a real problem that appears to lack a solution, this can be broken by increased effort into teaching and involvement in students

The problems currently arising are “not really in the debate over instructional methodology, but rather in communicating across cultures and in addressing the more fundamental issue of power, of whose voice gets to be heard in determining what is best for poor children and children of color” (Delpit 19). Administration must be able to respectfully gather information about a student in and out of school to help understand where they need the most structure and guidance and when to let them work independely. The current educational system in place has a mold that students need to fit, and for students of lower income familys, that mold is often expects less of them so naturally, the type of schooling provided for racial minorities is [they] one that prepares them for their respective place in the job market.” (Ogbu 83). Social reproducation is not a reality that society must accept and best try to break without a complete solution, but instead one that can be broken by a refocusing and recommittment to the students that often need the most guideance and resources for them to succeed and break social