Abstract
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 deter the school adjustment and academic performance of minority children to the problem of cultural hegemony and representation in school curriculum and other domains of education. In my two-part essay I argue for a reconsideration of the earlier question about how culture affects minority school adjustment and academic performance. In the first part of this essay l (1) argued that there are real cultural differences which confront minority children in school and (2) proposed thecultural frame of reference as a conceptual tool to understand minorities' interpretations of and responses to the cultural problems they encounter. More specifically, I suggested that voluntary minorities who interpret the cultural differences as barriers to be overcome are more successful in crossing cultural boundaries. Involuntary minorities with an oppositional cultural frame of reference are ambivalent in their interpretation of cultural differences as barriers and markers of group identity. They are less successful-in crossing cultural boundaries. In this second part, I will demonstrate my explanations with two case studies: blacks, an involuntary minority group and Chinese Americans, a voluntary minority group.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, H. H. (1990). African and African-American contributions to science and technology. In Portland Public Schools,African-American Baseline Essays. (S-1-S-91). Portland, OR: Multinomah School District 1J.
ARC Associates. (1982).Bilingual Education in a Chinese Community: Final Research Report. Contract No. 400-80-0013, National Institute of Education, Washington, DC.
Baratz, J., and Baratz, S. (1970). Early childhood intervention: the social science base of institutional racism.Harvard Educational Review 40: 29–50.
Becknell, C. E. (1987).Blacks in the Workforce: A Black Manager's Perspective. Albuquerque, NM: Horizon Communications
Bond, H. M. (1966).The Education of the Negro in the American Social Order. New York: Octagon Press.
Boykin, W. A. (1986). The triple quandary and the schooling of Afro-American children. In U. Neisser (ed.),The School Achievement of Minority Children: New Perspectives (pp. 57–92). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Brown, H. A., and Ford, D. L. (1975). Blacks in the management profession: The recent MBA graduates.Contact 7: 12–19.
Bullock, H. A. (1970).A History of Negro Education in the South: From 1619 to the Present. New York: Praeger.
California State Department of Education. (1984).A Handbook for Teaching Cantonese-Speaking Students. Sacramento: Office of Bilingual Education, California State Department of Education.
Campbell, F. (1982). Black executive and corporate stress.The New York Times Magazine, Dec. 12, pp. 1–42.
Cheek, D. K. (1976).Assertive Black... Puzzled White. San Luis Obispo: Impact.
Chung, J. Pei-Lin (1992).The Out-Of-Class Language and Social Experience of a Clique of Chinese Immigrant Students—An Ethnography of a Process of Social Identity Formation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Educational Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo.
Clark, E. M. (1971).A Syllabus for an Interdisciplinary Curriculum in African-American Studies. Oakland, CA: Merritt College and Berkeley Unified School District. Mimeo.
De Vos, G. A. (1980). Ethnic adaptation and minority status.Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 11(1): 101–124.
Dill, K. (1992).“Getting a Good Skills”: Racism and the Employment of African-American Hospital Workers. A paper presented at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Dec. 2–6. Unpublished manuscript.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (ed.). (1920–1921).The Brownies' Book Magazine. Published by NAACP, January 1920–December 1921.
Folb, E. A. (1980).Runnin' Down Some Lines: The Language and Culture of Black Teenagers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Fordham, S. (1988). Racelessness as a factor in black students' school success: Pragmatic strategy or Pyrrhic victory.Harvard Educational Review 58(1): 54–84.
Fordham, S., and Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the “Burden of ‘Acting White’“.The Urban Review 18(3): 176–204.
Gibson, M. A. (1988).Accommodation Without Assimilation: Sikh Immigrants in an American High School. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Gonzalez, R. (ed.). (1992).Without Discovery: A Native Response to Columbus. Seattle: Broken Moon Press.
Grier, W. H., and Cobbs, P. M. (1968).Black Rage. New York: Basic Books.
Guthrie, G. P. (1984).An Ethnography of Bilingual Education in a Chinese Community. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hale-Benson, J. E. (1986).Black Children: Their Roots, Culture, and Learning Styles (rev. ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Haynes, R. (1985).Black American Concept of Success. Special Project, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Unpublished manuscript.
Hilliard, A. G. (1992). Why we must pluralize the curriculum.Educational Leadership (December-January): 12–16.
Hilliard, A. G., Payton-Stewart, L., and Williams, L. O. (1990).Infusion of African and African American Content in the School Curriculum: Proceedings of the First National Conference, October 1989. Morristown, NJ: Aaron Press.
Hymes, D. (1971). On linguistic theory, communicative competence, and the education of the disadvantaged. In M. L. Wax, S. Diamond, and F. O. Gearing (eds.),Anthropological Perspectives on Education (pp. 51–66). New York: Basic Books.
Kochman, T. (1982).Black and White Styles in Conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kush, I. K. (1983).What They Never Told You in History Class. Bronx, NY: Luxorr.
Labov, W. (1972). Rule for ritual insult. In T. Kochman (ed.),Rappin' and Stylin' Out: Communication in Urban Black America (pp. 265–314). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Loewen, J. W. (1992).The Truth about Columbus: A subversively True Poster Book for a Dubiously Celebratory Occasion. New York: New Press.
Lumpkin, B. (1990). African and African-American contributions To mathematics. In Portland Public Schools,African-American Baseline Essays. (M-1-M-64). Portland, OR: Multinomah School District 1J.
Luster, L. (1992).Schooling, Survival, and Struggle: Black Women and the GED. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Education, Stanford University.
Matusow, B. (1989). Alone together: What do you do when the dream hasn't come true, when you're black and middle-class and still shut out of white Washington, [when it seems to quit trying].The Washingtonian November, pp. 153–159, 282–290.
Minority Education Project. (1989–1991).Transcripts of Ethnographic Interviews. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Unpublished manuscript.
Minority Education Project. (1994).Preliminary Report. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Unpublished manuscript.
Morris, K. (ed.) (1992).500 Years of Resistance. Oakland, CA: South and Meso American Indian Information Center.
Myrdal, G. (1944).An American Dilemma, 2 vols. New York: Harper Torchbooks.
Ng, K. M-C., and Tsang, S-L. (1980).Mathematical Cognitive Structures of Chinese-American, Euro-American, and Hong Kong Chinese Students. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Annual Conference, Boston, April 11, 1980.
Nobles, W. W. (1990). The infusion of African and African-American content: A question of content and intent. In A. G. Hilliard, 111, L. Payton-Stewart, and L. O. Williams (eds.),Infusion of African and African American Content in the School Curriculum: Proceedings of the First National Conference, October 1989 (pp. 4–26). Morristown, NJ: Aaron Press.
Ogbu, J. U. (in press). Mentoring minority youth: A framework”. In C. Harrington (ed.),The Social and Cultural Context of Mentoring. New York: Teachers College Press.
Ogbu, J. U. (1994). Minority status, cultural frame of reference and literacy. In D. Keller-Cohen (ed.),Literacy: Interdisciplinary Conversations (pp. 361–384). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Ogbu, J. U. (1992). Understanding cultural diversity and learning.Educational Researcher 21(8): 5–14.
Ogbu, J. U. (1988). Diversity and equity in public education: Community forces and minority school adjustment and performance. In R. Haskins and D. McRae (eds.),Policies for America's Public Schools: Teachers, Equity, and Indicators (pp. 127–170). Norwood, NJ: ABLEX.
Ogbu, J. U. (1984).Understanding Community Forces Affecting Minority Students' Academic Effort. Oakland, CA: Achievement Council. Unpublished manuscript.
Ogbu, J. U. (1983). Minority status and schooling in plural society.Comparative Education Review 27: 168–390.
Ogbu, J. U. (1982). Societal forces as a context of ghetto children's school failure. In L. Feagans and D. C. Farran (eds.),The Language of Children Reared in Poverty: Implications for Evaluation and Intervention (pp. 117–138). New York: Academic Press.
Ogbu, J. U. (1982). Cultural discontinuities and schooling.Anthropology and Education Quarterly 13(4): 290–307.
Ogbu, J. U. (1978).Minority Education and Caste: The American System in Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York: Academic Press.
Ogbu, J. U. (1974).The Next Generation: An Ethnography of Education in an Urban Neighborhood. New York: Academic Press.
Ogbu, J. U. and Margold. (1987).Identity and Cultural Frame of Reference: A Literature Review. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Unpublished manuscript.
Ong, C. (1973).The Educational Attainment of the Chinese in America. Special Project, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Unpublished manuscript.
Orr, E. W. (1987).Twice As Less: Does Black English Stand Between Black Students and Success in Math and Science? New York: Norton.
Petroni, F. (1970). “Uncle Toms”: White stereotypes in the black movement.Human Organization 29(4): 260–266.
Portland Public Schools. (1990).African-American Baseline Essays. Portland, OR: Multinomah School District 1J.
Rethinking School special issue. (1991). Rethinking Columbus: Teaching about the 500th Anniversary of Columbus's arrival in America.
Ross, H. L., and Glasser, E. (1973). Making it out of the ghetto.Professional Psychology 4: 347–356.
San Antonio Workshop. (1991).Teachers Discussion of Their Perceptions of and Experiences with African-American, Asian and Mexican American Students.
Sexton, D. (1992).Natural Heroes, Role Models and Mentors of Inner City Black Youth. Senior honors thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA. Unpublished manuscript.
Shade, B. J. (1982).Afro-American Patterns of Cognition. Unpublished manuscript. Center for Educational Research, Madison, Wisconsin.
Steele, C. (1992). Race and the schooling of black Americans.The Atlantic Monthly (April), pp. 68–75.
St. Lawrence, T. J. (1977).Kids' Culture in an Urban School: The Role of Culture Conflict in the Maintenance of Social Inequality. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate Faculty, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
Suskind, R. (1994). Against all odds: In rough city school, top students struggle to learn—and escape.Wall Street Journal (May 26), pp. A1, A8.
Taylor, S. (1973). Some funny things happen on the way up.Contact 5(1): 12–17.
Trueba, H. T., Cheng, L. R. L., and Ima, K. (1993).Myth or Reality: Adaptive Strategies of Asian Americans in California. New York: Falmer Press.
Weis, L. (1985).Between Two Worlds: Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
West, B. E. (1983). The new arrivals from Southeast Asia: Getting to know them.Childhood Education (November-December), pp. 84–89.
Woodson, C. G. (1969).Mis-Education of the Negro. Washington, DC: Associated Publishers. (Originally published 1933.)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Part One of this paper appeared in Volume 27, Number 3, September 1995.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ogbu, J.U. Cultural problems in minority education: Their interpretations and consequences—Part two: Case studies. Urban Rev 27, 271–297 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354409
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354409