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Papers by John Ogbu

Both Mexican American and Anglo students in four Corpus Christi (Texas) high schools seek members... more Both Mexican American and Anglo students in four Corpus Christi (Texas) high schools seek membership in various subcultures according to which one recognizes them as being socially competent and respectable human beings. Data consist of life history interviews, observations, and questionnaire responses froi over 600 youth. Mexican American students have more difficulties conforming to the "official" norms of the school and society than Anglos, although they are no less likely to embrace those norms as i-deal. Also, Mexican American youth are more likely to be denied the respect and esteem of their peers and their teachers. Faced with the need to adapt to the reality of the school environment, members of both 'Mexican Aiterican and Anglo groups, however, tend to become identified with one of six subcultures: "preppies," college bound children of professionals; "kickers," cowboys with.little concern for school; "achievement motivated strivers,&qu...

... of the given culture are engaged in tend to stimulate the development and expression of those... more ... of the given culture are engaged in tend to stimulate the development and expression of those ... strive to participate in the cultural frame of reference of the dominant group without fear of losing ...collective identity of the minori-ties and protect and maintain their sense of self-worth. ...

Education Libraries, 2017

Paper presented to the Special Libraries Association, 83rd Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA.,... more Paper presented to the Special Libraries Association, 83rd Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA., on June 9 1992. Focuses on understanding cultural differences and school learning in minority groups from a comparative perspective. Looks at conventional explanations as to why some groups adapt better than others. Defines and emphasizes the need to recognize the different types of minorities, i.e. autonomous, immigrant or voluntary minorities and non-immigrant or involuntary minorities. Explores primary cultural differences existing before immigrants arrived in United States and secondary cultural differences arising after a group has become a minority. Concludes that, generally, immigrant minorities tend to be more successful in school than involuntary minorities but that both types of minorities can benefit from additional help in school to manage their different cultural problems. Recognizing these differences is the key to better school adjustment and performance.

This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. i M... more This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. i Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.

Environmental Effects on Cognitive Abilities 2001 Isbn 0 8058 3183 5 Pags 3 38, 2001

Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 1978

This article is a comment on the rest of the issue. The papers in this volume were originally Sym... more This article is a comment on the rest of the issue. The papers in this volume were originally Symposium Papers presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 30, 1977. They all have to do with the topic, Informal Social Organization in Desegregated Schools: Patterns and Processes of Adaptation and Realignment.

The Urban Review, 2004

After more than 15 years of comparative study of minority education, I concluded that I would hav... more After more than 15 years of comparative study of minority education, I concluded that I would have to study two additional factors, namely collective identity and cultural frame of reference to more fully explain the variability in minority school performance. In 1986, I published an article with Signithia Fordham on how ''oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference'' or oppositional culture contributed to Black students' school performance. Many critics have misinterpreted the joint article and even constructed a dierent thesis of oppositional culture than the one we proposed in the joint article. The thesis is that Black students do not aspire to or strive to get good grades because it is perceived as ''acting White.'' Furthermore, they have translated my cultural-ecological theory into an oppositional culture theory. I am writing this paper to correct the misinterpretations of the joint article in order to advance scholarship on the subject. I begin by explaining the meaning of collective identity and distinguishing it from other concepts of identity. Specifically, I summarize the evolution of oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture among Black Americans and discuss the Black experience with the ''burden of 'acting White''' in the contemporary United States. Finally, I suggest some continuity between Black historical and community experiences with the ''burden of 'acting White,''' as experienced by Black students.

The Urban Review, 1995

Culture has featured prominently in minority educational research, policies, and intervention sin... more Culture has featured prominently in minority educational research, policies, and intervention since the early 1960s. It is receiving even more attention today in minority education discourse due to the emergence of cultural diversity and multicultural education as popular national issues. A careful analysis of the new discourse suggests, however, that the issue has shifted from how cultural differences enhance or

Revue française de pédagogie, 1992

Cet article examine la question de l'éducation des jeunes enfants noirs auX États-Unis et, plus g... more Cet article examine la question de l'éducation des jeunes enfants noirs auX États-Unis et, plus généralement, des enfants issus de groupes minoritaires au sein de la société américaine. JI montre tout d'abord que les explications conventionnelles de l'échec scolaire de ces enfants (origine sociale, milieu culturel, etc.) ne parviennent pas à expliquer le paradoxe des aspirations élevées des familles pour l'éducation de leurs enfants et de l'échec que ces derniers subissent à l'école. L'auteur présente donc un cadre 10 Revue Française de Pédagogie. n°101, octobre-novembre-décembre 1992 « patrie» comme les immigrants (DeVos, 1984; Green, 1981).

Lecturas de antropología para educadores. El ámbito …, 1993

... El ámbito de la antropología de la educación y de la etnografía escolar / coord. por Angel Dí... more ... El ámbito de la antropología de la educación y de la etnografía escolar / coord. por Angel Díaz de Rada Brun, Honorio Manuel Velasco Maíllo Árbol académico , Francisco Javier García Castaño, 1993, ISBN 84-87699-81-2 , págs. 145-174. Fundación Dialnet. ...

Child Development, 1981

... As Connolly and Bruner (1974) put it, &quot;The general skills, cognitive and emotion... more ... As Connolly and Bruner (1974) put it, &quot;The general skills, cognitive and emotional, appear to depend on what has properly been called a &#x27;hidden curriculum in the home&#x27;&quot; (p. 5). The second assumption is that the nature of human competencies can be adequately studied by ...

Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 1984

Anthropology <html_ent glyph="@amp;" ascii="&"/> Education Quarterly, 1998

This article has three objectives. First, it describes Ogbu's classification of minorities: auton... more This article has three objectives. First, it describes Ogbu's classification of minorities: autonomous, voluntary or immigrant, and involuntary or nonimmigrant minorities. Second, it explains Ogbu's cultural-ecological theory of minority school performance. Finally, it suggests some implications of the theory for pedagogy. The authors regard the typology of minority groups as a heuristic device for analysis and interpretation of differences among minority groups in school experience.

Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 1981

Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 1987

Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 1982

... Gumperz (1979) point to yet another discontinuity inherent in schooling: the transition a chi... more ... Gumperz (1979) point to yet another discontinuity inherent in schooling: the transition a child ... Without question they disrupt the transmission of the traditional culture ... Secondary Cultural Discontinuities and Schooling In contrast to primary cultural discontinuities, secondary cultural ...

American Educational Research Journal, 1999

The discourse on the ebonics resolution passed in December 1996 by the Board of Education in Oakl... more The discourse on the ebonics resolution passed in December 1996 by the Board of Education in Oakland, CA, has increased national awareness of the language problems faced by African-American children in the public school. The discourse focused almost exclusively on dialect differences per se between the standard English of the public school and the children's home dialect or ebonics. This article has three objectives: (a) to contribute to sociolinguistic studies of speech communities; (b) to describe and explain sociolinguistic factors (beyond language/dialect) that affect Black children's performance on standard English; and (c) to show a connection between the children's dialect beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in school with those of their parents and community. This article is based on a 2-year ethnographic study of a Black speech community in Oakland, CA, characterized by bidialectalism and diglossia. However, the community and its children face a dilemma in learnin...

Africa, 1973

IntroductionIn 1961 Marvin Miracle attempted to demonstrate that reports of ‘seasonal hunger’ in ... more IntroductionIn 1961 Marvin Miracle attempted to demonstrate that reports of ‘seasonal hunger’ in tropical Africa were to be discounted and that in fact regular ‘hunger periods’ did not occur. He based his argument on a definition of seasonal hunger which took into account only the calories people consumed. By his definition, ‘seasonal hunger’ can exist only if people consume fewer calories than they need in certain months of each year even though their total calorie intake over the year is adequate (Miracle, 1961: 277–88). He denied that there was sufficient evidence of any such shortfall to justify the F.A.O. statement (1958) that ‘pre-harvest food shortage is still a problem in many of the drier parts (of tropical Africa)’.

Theory Into Practice, 1992

The perspective of this article is that of a comparative researcher rather than a practitioner. H... more The perspective of this article is that of a comparative researcher rather than a practitioner. However, what I have to say has implications for practice. Three factors have shaped my perspective since I began to study minority education more than 2 decades ago. One is my lack of background in the discipline of education; I have never taken an education course. Therefore I have generally approached my anthropological research on education as I do when I study economic transition, kinship, or religion. Second, my educational research began in a multi-ethnic community, Stockton, California, including African Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Mexican Americans, and "White Americans." The minorities lived together in some neighborhoods and attended the same schools. Using the ethnographic method, I studied their educational experiences and perspectives at school as well as in the community (Ogbu, 1974). My subsequent research was also comparative. One finding in the Stockton study was that in the same classrooms and in the same schools, some minorities did well while other minorities did not. In the second comparative study, I focused on the less successful minorities, both in the United States and elsewhere in Britain, India, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand (Ogbu, 1978). The third factor is the cross-cultural research of my colleagues and students.