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Chapter nine gave me much to think about. First the title of the chapter “Topsy – Turvies” Teacher Talk and Student Talk” gives you an idea that the author believes in shaking things up a bit or look at something from a new perspective. Sometimes this needs to be done, but when and how is sometimes difficult to determine. Teaching is one of the most difficult professions you can find. K-12 teachers have so much to think about all the time. It truly is an art and a philosophy in finding a path that will reach each student. I remember my days when I first taught high school and some of the African–American kids threw the word racist around too much. On more than one occasion I was told I was a racist for trying to do my job. Most of the time I ignored the comment because I knew the student was trying to get a rise out me, but I was young and inexperienced. I know I could have handled many situations better.

Later in the chapter Herbert Kohl conveys that, “Teaching requires listening, not merely to your students but to yourself being listened to.” This idea has been presented to me in the past, but never this distinctly. It is something that constantly needs to be addressed. It is an art that must be practiced and refined. I am vowing to myself that when I begin teaching this fall, I am going to listen to myself and try to be more thoughtful of how I say things. I also want to incorporate many of the ideas from the previous chapters. The ideas presented in this book are so thought provoking. I am spending a great deal of time digesting and thinking about what I am learning.

One of the issues presented in chapter ten is respecting students’ home language or the mother tongue. It further states that if people are fully educated in their mother tongue, then it will be easier and students will be more motivated to learn Standard English. Our goal should not be to teach Standard English. The goal should be to respect all languages. Students learning Standard English will be a natural result. Unfortunately, it seems this country is turning in the opposite direction. I agree with Geneva Smitherman that it will take a national campaign to change the course of the country is heading in. If research and plain common sense support validating the home language, and even in many situations educating the student in it, then where is the push in educational settings to make sure this will occur? At very least the increased visibility of the issue would allow the general population to understand the importance of learning and valuing other languages. Are these issues presented in teacher education programs in a way that pre-service teachers feel the passion and compassion to validate and teach other languages? Do teacher training programs demand that teachers have a command of another language? This chapter raised many questions. The attitude of this country definitely needs to change.

Joan Wynne in chapter twelve states, “By neglecting to teach the beauty and richness of the language of Black America, we also damage White children.” I believe this is true, but my question is how do you do this in areas of the country where there is little diversity? It seems that teachers are so worried about test scores and curriculum (with good reason) that the most important issues are left behind. It seems the only way to truly address this issue is to make it important from the top down. I go back again to our political leaders and those who create curriculum. It is true in this country we have many areas that have diverse populations, but we have many more areas like rural North Carolina where you have search to find diversity.

On page 211 Joan Wynne asks the question I would like someone to answer. Her question states’ “I wonder why, when language is the major medium of instruction, would we in schools of education give so little time, effort, and attention to teaching our pre-service teachers about the basic assumptions of the realities of language diversity?” It seems this question has no political clout. Is this because for the most part political leaders mirror our lack of attention to diversity as a whole? I wonder how many of our political leaders speak another language, or have visited a Third World Country with an open mind and open heart to understand instead of judge?

Something else came to my mind as I read this sentence on page 212, “If any of us refuse to respect the other’s language, it becomes too easy, consciously or unconsciously, to then disrespect the person.” When I think about this statement, it reminds me of how this country was founded, and we have a long history of not respecting other cultures. Look at how the Native American’s were treated. Again until we can change politically it is going to be difficult to make real attitude changes, but I do agree with the author that one place to begin is in our teacher training programs. One final question, how do we change teacher training programs?