A Dialectic Education

In Unearthing Hidden Literacy the author Lillie Gayle Smith discusses how through taking her “Black Woman's Literacy” class she was able to better appreciate her past experience with picking cotton. However, her story of picking cotton was not the only thing that stood out to me. The classroom setting in which she participated is what allowed her to talk about her past and realize that it was nothing to be ashamed of and in fact something to take pride in. 

 In my ADW class we recently discussed the different types of teaching styles that can be experienced in a classroom. The main one we discussed was dialectic. Which is open communication between the students and the teacher. Through dialectic teaching the teacher listens to what the students have to say and embraces their ideas and point of view. This allows for students to express themselves and draw connections between themselves and what they’re learning. And that’s exactly what Lillie Smith experienced.

If it wasn’t for Lillie Smith’s teacher allowing her students to talk and share their stories Smith would have never been able to reach her revelation. She says, “..I would not have disturbed my comfort with memories of repetitive, back-breaking work, which means that I would have ultimately denied myself the awakening that comes only from more fully understanding significant life experiences” (Smith 38). Not only did she help herself, but she was able to bless everyone else in her class as well. 

Here at Spelman College we too participate in a dialectic education which allows us to share our knowledge with one another. Not only do we learn from the teacher, but we also are fortunate enough to learn from our peers. If this was practiced in all classroom settings I believe more people would be able to have experiences similar to Lillie Smith’s.