if you need to respond to a blog this week here are the questions. Please respond by tomorrow night by 11:59 pm. thanks!
Q#1 Do you agree with Ogbu's argument regarding the classification of "minorities?" And do you find it a useful tool for discussing and closing the "achievement gap?"
Q#2 How have "model minority" mythologies affected you? And how does Lee connect to Ogbu's work?
Ogbus’ distinction between voluntary and involuntary minorities emphasizes the reasons people migrate to the United States as an important factor in determining how education will be perceived. This perception of education can either hinder or aid educational success. The distinction between voluntary immigrants, those whom come to the US seeking opportunity, and involuntary immigrants, those who were conquered, enslaved, or colonized, is their opposing views of assimilation. For the former assimilating is a goal. For the latter assimilation is seen as attempting to trade ones identity for a white identity. Ogbus attributes this to the “community forces” at play. I agree with Ogbus’ stance because it recognizes that there are different views coming from immigrants. He also makes a point that reminded me of Delpit’s article. Ogbus says, “..teachers need to encourage the use of code switching by showing them (immigrant children) that appropriateness to the situation determines language use” (181). That is, he’s not suggesting that either group trades their language for an American but rather that both discourses are taught. Having this seems to be a good attempt in closing the achievement gap because it is an inclusive approach that doesn’t make immigrants sever the ties with their native identity. Lee’s connection with Ogbu’s work lies in that Lee also emphasizes how perceptions in viewing education as an opportunity can be influential in shaping attitudes toward school. However, Lee has a narrower lens, as she describes how this works within minorities. The “model minority” mythologies Lee references have affected me because I wasn’t part of a “model minority,” but what my parents instilled in me was. The value of education as a means for social mobility and the pressure to do well were there. Because I grew up in a place where the majority of the students in my classes were Mexican, the “model” status was given to those who did well and not on the basis of race.
ReplyDeleteThe classification system that Ogbu has come up with to characterize various minority groups is based on "the beliefs and behaviors of different minorities, regardless of race or ethnicity, and how these beliefs and behaviors contribute to school success or failure." I can appreciate his method of categorization and agree with him that a group's history and manner in which it acquired a position of minority status are more relevant factors when discussing minority groups. Ogbu's classification style allows us to examine patterns of behavior that members of each minority category (voluntary minorities, involuntary minorities, autonomous minorities) are inclined to follow. He provides critical analysis of the different attitudes and behaviors of voluntary and involuntary minorities who use a different "frame of reference" to view a situation and react to it. By recognizing that there are underlying differences even between minority groups, it allows educators to understand that some of their students may have individual needs that cannot be reduced to simple problems that any other student may have. There is a greater chance of bridging the achievement gap in education if help given to the students are specifically tailored to coincide with their backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteModel minorities belong to Ogbu's classification of "voluntary minorities" because people of this group migrate to the States with the intention of finding a better life. Asian Americans are linked to the model minority stereotype, which assumes that "Asian Americans are successful in school because they work hard and come from cultures that believe in the value of education." Although there might be some basis of truth to this assumption, like many other stereotypes, it can be harmful to members of society to which it applies to. Being a Korean American, people tend to assume that my parents have always pressured me to do well in school and paid thousands of dollars for SAT prep courses. In reality, my parents were quite lenient about my relationship with school and expected me to only do my best, even if that didn't translate to being the best in my class.
Joyce Park
Ogbu’s classification of “minorities” depended on how minorities was not made up by numbers, but on power relations between different groups, and how it is broken into autonomous, voluntary and involuntary groups. At first, I was buying Ogbu’s argument, that being in a minority group was very much dependant on power balances. But then he started to differentiate the types of minority groups that was not divided by race (according to him) but by history and choice (or lack of choice) and was further held back as a minority group because of their attitude in response to what they experienced in their past (they being the respective minority group). Their attitude thus became a contributing factor to why some minority groups did not do as well as other groups in schools. And although Ogbu does make a good point about how it is important to address these attitudes and classifications in the education system, it is still very important to see social changes from the top, with federal and state policies that reach out to support these minority groups. His method is trying to work from the bottom up, but it is also as important to get help top down. Lee also recognizes Ogbu’s observation of minority groups coming into play at the school he observed for his research, but also shows that Ogbu’s work failed to recognize that there are different components that further break down his own categories made. Between the two articles, I agree more with Lee’s observations, and although his research failed to include my own ethnicity (funny enough, a lot of articles fail to include studies of South Asians on their studies of Asians) I was able to recognize some of the educational dilemmas that some of the Asians in his article were also experiencing, some of which I myself went through too. But I am left to wonder, now that I am noticing these attitudes, what does it mean to me? Is it really a bad thing to have this Asian attitude that pushes you to excel in school, in order to be “successful” in life?
ReplyDeleteOgbu’s article is about classifying people, theoretically, not by race, but rather by a group’s history. Yet at the same time he discusses the Latin Americans ability to mix races and thus provide better opportunities to their children, as compared to African Americans who cannot mix one generation and produce white looking offspring. While I like Ogbu’s classifications, it seems to me the most obvious thing is race. When you look in the mirror in the morning, you classify yourself based on your looks. While I may be Native American, I LOOK white. I classify and expect others to classify and treat me as “white “. He’s also ineffective in labeling guest workers, undocumented workers, and binationals; all of whom play a major role in today’s world. At the very end of the article he says how little influence teaching may have at altering the achievement gap because the cultural-ecological theory places great weight on non-school community forces (p. 617). He emphasizes that there are so many outside factors that deter success of minority groups that instructional strategies may make no difference alone. Rather it is increasingly necessary to have the support of the parents and community to create a bond of trust that has been absent in past generations.
ReplyDeleteLee: As a student who goes to Cal, I look around and see a sea of Asians. Sorry, but statistically speaking they dominate. What I have seen at Cal is amazing students from all backgrounds striving towards success. When I talk to some people, especially Asians, I wonder how I got into Cal. I hear about the struggles some have gone through, moving countries, learning a new language, but still overcoming, still succeeding. I didn’t have these obstacles or struggles. Perhaps it is these very struggles they must overcome that propel them forward. The article discusses how Koreans feel bad for their parents’ sacrifices and thus work hard. For some, there is so much on the line that they “put their head down and keep barreling through.”
She relates back to Ogbu, but places a bigger emphasis on diversity of Asian American experiences rather than ethnography and outlines differences between different Asian groups (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc). She does agree that perceptions toward opportunities and schools are connected.
Trinity Taylor
Obgu describes minorities as those who have faced discrimination or have been generally separated from the majority power structure. Obgu further divides minorities in to voluntary and involuntary minorities. Involuntary minorities are those who did not chose to come to the United States, or to be part of the US government. Voluntary minorities are those minorities who have personally chosen or whose parents have personally chosen to come to the United States. Additionally for an individual to truly be a voluntary minority they cannot be a member ethnically or racially of an involuntary minority. His definitions of the two groups do a great deal to give an individual teacher tools to help the involuntary minority students he/she encounters in their career, but this theory is less useful in helping involuntary minorities, and as Yolin points out does not address alterations at the top. That being said, his suggestions for combating the issues involuntary minorities face and altering their self-perceptions seem valuable in closing the achievement gap.
ReplyDeleteLee’s work primarily operates to refine Obgu’s ideas in my eyes. Obgu’s binary classifications over simplify the issue of minority status and gloss over many divisions and fissures within minority groups. However, Lee still finds that a students success is strongly connected to his or her relationship to teachers and their perceptions and understanding of the system.
Model Minority mythologies have caused me to make a similar mistake to Obgu and tar Asians with the same brush, I did not understand the socio-economic difference between Asians and I don’t think I fully appreciate the distinctions between Asian groups and their identities and cultures. I may know that my friends are Chinese or Korean, but I still see them primarily as Asian and don’t really appreciate the culture distinctions between the many groups.
-Luke Edwards