A Call To Education- The Sacred Art of Teaching: The Delpit/Emdin Conversations

 The Sacred Art of Teaching: The Delpit/Emdin Conversations by Lisa Delpit and Christopher Emdin

The Sacred Art of Teaching book cover

Author and Educational Researcher Lisa Delpit

Author and Educational Researcher Christopher Emdin

Many thanks to The New Press and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of education theorists and leaders Lisa Delpit and Christopher Emdin’s new book The Sacred Art of Teaching: The Delpit/Emdin Conversations. This book was just what I needed to restore and reinvigorate me and my commitment to education. I’m not sure if the publisher and/or authors decided to have this book come out at the end of the school year, but it seems like a fitting idea as I found myself filled with gratitude and purpose after reading the conversations between two of the most influential and consequential thinkers and activists for critical teaching. I was excited to find this book since Lisa Delpit’s books were influential when I was teaching high school. Her call to recognize and elevate students’ voices in the classroom and to appreciate and leverage their cultures and communities is important for any educator, but especially those who work with students who come from different backgrounds. Delpit’s approach to teaching takes that constructivist framework, but also integrates culture, race, and language as integral elements to recognize in student learning, and those ideas shine through in these in-depth and detailed conversations she shares with fellow educator Christopher Emdin. I was also really excited to learn that Emdin was her co-conversationalist since his book For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too was recommended to me by a fellow teacher in a human development course I was teaching. Although it’s still on my TBR list, the title grabbed my attention and, like Delpit’s work, made me appreciate that there are educators out there who recognize the importance of leveraging students’ culture, language, and race in teaching, especially when there can be cultural incongruity in the classroom. Emdin also shares similar ideas and approaches to teaching, learning and leading with Delpit that not only provide useful tips and ideas for teachers and school leaders, but also really helped reaffirm my commitment to teaching and learning.

The book is somewhat different from more traditional educational texts in that this is a series of conversations that focus on certain topics related to teaching and learning in today’s classrooms. However, these conversations gradually meander and move around the subjects, tangentially talking about other important issues in education and society, and recognizing the power and influence that teachers can have on their students’ lives. While I was grateful to learn some ideas and strategies from these experts, I didn’t expect to feel such a sense of gratitude and appreciation for teaching and learning. In fact, the authors frame teaching as not only a responsibility, but as something akin to a tradition or rite, in which educators play a part in continuing a legacy of cultural transmission that will influence future generations to come. It’s a powerful and beautiful way of framing education that I hadn’t really considered, but that also provides a stronger sense of purpose and responsibility in our work.

I appreciated hearing from both of these renowned scholar educators, who share their experience, backgrounds, and ideas for the classroom and schools. They present some great ideas about teaching and are especially interested in making learning relevant by engaging students and recognizing the kinds of experiences and interests that students bring to the classroom. I love this approach, and I think that most teachers would agree that it is essential to meet students where they are, but also to use what they are familiar with and interested in to make the learning more relevant. I also found that there were important lessons about how ego and power can impact teaching, especially when teachers are placed in a position of power in their classrooms. Nevertheless, Delpit and Emdin provide reminders about how humbling and necessary teaching can be that help to reorient teachers to the mission and vision for teaching. This was an inspirational and engaging book that teachers can pick up throughout the year or turn to a specific chapter to find some insightful and inventive ideas for the classroom. Whether it’s a struggle with making the content relevant, engaging challenging students, or rethinking assessment, this book has so many great ideas and practices for the classroom. I would imagine that this would be a great book for professional development, PLC, or a kind of inquiry community within a school. Teachers and schools would gain a lot from reading and discussing this book throughout the year. I loved that I was able to read this at the end of the academic year, and I can imagine revisiting some of the chapters during the summer to gain some ideas for the upcoming year. This is a great book for teachers, especially in service teachers, but I think it would benefit preservice teachers to learn more about the challenges of teaching and how to confront and surmount them. Highly recommended!