Dr. John Ogbu

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Dr. John Ogbu

• Nigerian-American Anthropologist
• Major figure in the application of
  anthropological theories and methods to problems
  related to minority education in the United
  States and abroad.
• Named one of four intellectual giants of the
  20th century by Eminent Educators Studies in
  Intellectual Influence

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Background and Schooling
Born in 1939 Umudomi, Nigeria Schooling Hope
Waddell Training Institute Methodist Teachers
Training College Princeton University
Theological Seminary University of California,
Berkeley Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology
(1965) Masters, Anthropology (1969) Doctorate of
Philosophy, Anthropology (1971) Professor from
1970 to his death
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Voluntary vs Involuntary Minorities

• Voluntary minorities groups of immigrants who
  chose to come to the United States, and their
  descendants
• Irish, German, Asian-Americans, etc.
• Involuntary minorities descendants of groups of
  persons who found themselves in the United
  States, or under United States jurisdiction,
  against their will
• African-Americans, Mexican-Americans
• Ogbu argued that, "involuntary minorities" often
  adopted an "oppositional identity" to the
  mainstream culture in response to a glass ceiling
  imposed or maintained by white society on the
  job-success of their parents and others in their
  communities. Therefore, he reasoned, some
  non-whites "failed to observe the link between
  educational achievement and access to jobs."

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Acting White

• 1986 study (with Signithia Fordham) which
  concluded that some African American students in
  a Washington, D.C., high school did not live up
  to their academic potential because of the fear
  of being accused of "acting white
• It was concluded that these students' cultural
  attitudes hindered their own academic achievement
  and that these attitudes are too often neglected
  by parents, educators and/or policymakers.

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African American Vernacular English

• Known by non-linguists as Ebonics
• In 1996, Ogbu played a prominent role in the
  debate about the utility of African American
  Vernacular English
• Ogbu encouraged teachers to become familiar with
  and to make use of this vernacular in helping
  African American students transition to
  traditional English

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The Next Generation An Ethnography of Education
in an Urban Neighborhood

• In 1968, he had begun his doctoral fieldwork in
  Stockton, California in a neighborhood called
  Burgherside trying to discover why some children,
  especially minority children, performed poorly in
  school.
• His dissertation was published in 1974 as "The
  Next Generation An Ethnography of Education in
  an Urban Neighborhood"

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The Next Generation

• explores education (schooling) in Burgherside, a
  low-income neighborhood in Stockton, California
• majority of residents are blacks and
  Mexican-Americans - they make up about 92 of the
  elementary school population.
• study explores the reasons for many children from
  the neighborhood failing in public schools.
• goal was to study how the people in Stockton,
  including Burghersiders, conceptualize their
  educational system and their place in it, and how
  these conceptualizations influence the way they
  behave within the institution.
• research covered the following groups in
  Stockton (a) Burghersiders (b) residents of
  adjoining neighborhoods attending the same junior
  and senior high schools with Burghersiders (c)
  organizations and leadership representing the
  interests of the subordinate minorities in the
  wider community (d) school personnel (e)
  taxpayers, principally the middle-class
  Stocktonians and the organizations they formed to
  assist with "problems" of Burghersiders and
  similar groups.

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Findings
Belief system of minorities
White institutional barriers, etc.
confirms
confirms
Low status occupations, low wages, etc.
High rate of school failure
justifies
Washington, T.A. (2008)
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Findings
Belief system of whites (dominate class)
Intellectual, cultural inferiority or
subordinate minorities
confirms
confirms
Low status occupations, low wages, etc.
High rate of school failure
justifies
Washington, T.A. (2008)
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Findings
Practice that ensues
School Failure adaptation as a coping mechanism
causes
causes
Mistreatment by dominant class because of
school failure
School failure
justifies
Washington, T.A. (2008)
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References

• Ogbu, John U.  (1974).  The next generation an
  ethnography of education in an urban neighborhood
  by John U. Ogbu  Academic Press New York.
• John Ogbu. (2009, May 26). In Wikipedia, The Free
  Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1230, May 26, 2009, from
  http//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?titleJohn_Ogb
  uoldid292426446
• Washington, Tracy Amanda. (2008). The next
  generation An ethnography of education in an
  urban neighborhood. Powerpoint Presentation.