John U. Ogbu

Bio: John U. Ogbu is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cultural diversity & Academic achievement. The author has an hindex of 35, co-authored 53 publications receiving 16415 citations.

Black students' school success: Coping with the “burden of ‘acting white’”

Abstract: The authors review their previous explanation of black students' underachievement. They now suggest the importance of considering black people's expressive responses to their historical status and experience in America. “Fictive kinship” is proposed as a framework for understanding how a sense of collective identity enters into the process of schooling and affects academic achievement. The authors support their argument with ethnographic data from a high school in Washington, D.C., showing how the fear of being accused of “acting white” causes a social and psychological situation which diminishes black students' academic effort and thus leads to underachievement. Policy and programmatic implications are discussed.

Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural‐Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education

Abstract: 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.

Variability in Minority School Performance: A Problem in Search of an Explanation

Abstract: This article traces historically the different research approaches in educational anthropology. In doing so, the author presents a theoretical approach to minority school performance based on the important differences that arise from a minority community's experiences in the postschool opportunity structure and how minority community members' perceptions of dismal future opportunities influence their perceptions of and response to schooling. MINORITY EDUCATION, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, MICROETHNOGRAPHY

Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning

Abstract: Core curriculum and multicultural education are two major approaches advocated in the current school reform movement. This article argues that neither of these approaches adequately addresses the problem of those minority groups who have not traditionally done well in the public school. Core curriculum advocates falsely assume that as a result of instituting a core curriculum, demanding higher standards, and patching up supposed individual deficiencies, all students will perform as expected. Multicultural education advocates inadequately design their program to focus on cultural differences in content and form. This article contends that the crucial issue in cultural diversity and learning is the relationship between the minority cultures and the American mainstream culture. Minorities whose cultural frames of reference are oppositional to the cultural frame of reference of American mainstream culture have greater difficulty crossing cultural boundaries at school to learn. Core curriculum and multicultura...

School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence

Abstract: The concept of school engagement has attracted increasing attention as representing a possible antidote to declining academic motivation and achievement. Engagement is presumed to be malleable, responsive to contextual features, and amenable to environmental change. Researchers describe behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement and recommend studying engagement as a multifaceted construct. This article reviews definitions, measures, precursors, and outcomes of engagement; discusses limitations in the existing research; and suggests improvements. The authors conclude that, although much has been learned, the potential contribution of the concept of school engagement to research on student experience has yet to be realized. They call for richer characterizations of how students behave, feel, and think—research that could aid in the development of finely tuned interventions

Preventing reading difficulties in young children

Abstract: 1 Front Matter 2 Executive Summary 3 Part I: Introduction to Reading 4 1. Introduction 5 2. The Process of Learning to Read 6 Part II: Who Are We Talking About? 7 3. Who Has Reading Difficulties? 8 4. Predictors of Success and Failure in Reading 9 Part III: Prevention and Intervention 10 5. Preventing Reading Difficulties Before Kindergarten 11 6. Instructional Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 12 7. Organizational Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 13 8. Helping Children with Reading Difficulties in Grades 1 to 3 14 Part IV: Knowledge into Action 15 9. The Agents of Change 16 10. Recommendations for Practice and Research 17 References 18 Biographical Sketches 19 Index

Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Abstract: In the midst of discussions about improving education, teacher education, equity, and diversity, little has been done to make pedagogy a central area of investigation. This article attempts to challenge notions about the intersection of culture and teaching that rely solely on microanalytic or macroanalytic perspectives. Rather, the article attempts to build on the work done in both of these areas and proposes a culturally relevant theory of education. By raising questions about the location of the researcher in pedagogical research, the article attempts to explicate the theoretical framework of the author in the nexus of collaborative and reflexive research. The pedagogical practices of eight exemplary teachers of African-American students serve as the investigative “site.” Their practices and reflections on those practices provide a way to define and recognize culturally relevant pedagogy.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development

Abstract: How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Economics and Identity

Abstract: This paper considers how identity, a person's sense of self, affects economic outcomes. We incorporate the psychology and sociology of identity into an economic model of behavior. In the utility function we propose, identity is associated with different social categories and how people in these categories should behave. We then construct a simple game-theoretic model showing how identity can affect individual interactions. The paper adapts these models to gender discrimination in the workplace, the economics of poverty and social exclusion, and the household division of labor. In each case, the inclusion of identity substantively changes conclusions of previous economic analysis.