Black students' school success: Coping with the “burden of ‘acting white’”
01 Sep 1986-The Urban Review (Kluwer Academic Publishers-Human Sciences Press)-Vol. 18, Iss: 3, pp 176-206
TL;DR: In this paper, a framework for understanding how a sense of collective identity enters into the process of schooling and affects academic achievement is proposed, 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.
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.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a culturally relevant theory of education for African-American students in the context of collaborative and reflexive pedagogical research, and explore the intersection of culture and teaching that relies solely on microanalytic or macro-analytic perspectives.
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.
5,427 citations
Cites background from "Black students' school success: Cop..."
...Fordham and Ogbu (1986) identified a phenomenon entitled, "acting White" (p. 176) where African-American students who were academically successful were ostracized by their peers....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors map critical race theory (CRT) scholarship in education over the past decade and draw this map with respect to larger conceptual categories of the scholarship on CRT, primarily focusing on the ideas applied from CRT in legal studies.
Abstract: The goal of this chapter goal is to map critical race theory (CRT) scholarship in education over the past decade and draw this map with respect to larger conceptual categories of the scholarship on CRT, primarily focusing on the ideas applied from CRT in legal studies. The chapter focuses primarily on the past 10 years and creates "spatial" markers based on the view of significant features in the literature. Some of these markers are whiteness as property, counternarrative, and interest convergence. Others are newly-represented such as microaggressions, intersectionality, and research methods. From the perspective of far too many students of color in schools, we are STILL not saved. While the chapter outlines several recommendations for CRT scholarship to move forward, perhaps the most important recommendation is to collectively seek to ensure that CRT becomes more than an intellectual movement.
3,942 citations
TL;DR: The case for culturally relevant pedagogy is discussed in this article, where the authors present a case study of culturally relevant teaching in the context of teaching in a high-technology environment, and discuss its application in education.
Abstract: (1995). But that's just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 34, Culturally Relevant Teaching, pp. 159-165.
2,684 citations
Cites background from "Black students' school success: Cop..."
...In their widely cited article, Fordham and Ogbu (1986) point to a phenomenon called "acting White," where African American 160 Ladson-Billings But That's Just Good Teaching! students fear being ostracized by their peers for demonstrating interest in and succeeding in academic and other school…...
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TL;DR: The authors integrate and synthesize what is known about racial and ethnic socialization on the basis of current empirical research, examining studies concerning its nature and frequency; its child, parent, and ecological predictors; and its consequences for children's development, including ethnic identity, self-esteem, coping with discrimination, academic achievement, and psychosocial well-being.
Abstract: Recently, there has been an emergence of literature on the mechanisms through which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children, commonly referred to as racial or ethnic socialization. This literature has sought to document the nature of such socialization, its antecedents in parents' and children's characteristics and experiences, and its consequences for children's well-being and development. In this article, the authors integrate and synthesize what is known about racial and ethnic socialization on the basis of current empirical research, examining studies concerning its nature and frequency; its child, parent, and ecological predictors; and its consequences for children's development, including ethnic identity, self-esteem, coping with discrimination, academic achievement, and psychosocial well-being. The authors also discuss conceptual and methodological limitations of the literature and suggest directions for future research.
1,801 citations
Cites background from "Black students' school success: Cop..."
...In addition, ethnic–racial socialization can contain messages about opportunity, which in turn influence youths’ own perceptions of opportunity and their subsequent investment in the academic domain (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; see W. J. Cross, 2003, for a contrasting perspective)....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1966
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of equity and excellence in education in the context of the 1968 Equalization of EdUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY (EOW) campaign.
Abstract: (1968). EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. Equity & Excellence in Education: Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 19-28.
5,624 citations
Abstract: Arthur Jensen argues that the failure of recent compensatory education efforts to produce lasting effects on children's IQ and achievement suggests that the premises on which these efforts have been based should be reexamined.
2,776 citations
"Black students' school success: Cop..." refers background in this paper
...But in fairness to the theory, it should be pointed out that it was initially proposed as a response to earlier theories that attributed disproportionately high rates of black school failure to genetic factors ( Jensen, 1969 ) or to cultural deprivation (Bloom, Davis, and Hess, 1965)....
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01 Mar 1975
TL;DR: The Flats as discussed by the authors is a collection of urban poor stereotypes and stereotypes versus reality, including: "What Goes Round Come Round" and "Gimme a Little Sugar" from the '60s.
Abstract: * The Flats * Black Urban Poor Stereotypes Versus Reality * Swapping: "What Goes Round Comes Round" * Personal Kindreds: "All Our Kin" * Child-Keeping: "Gimme a Little Sugar" * Domestic Networks: "Those You Count On" * Women and Men: "I'm Not in Love with No Man Really" * Conclusion with John R. Lombardi
2,102 citations
1,683 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1978
1,102 citations