M9U4A2 Synthesis

By: Emily Cushing

I really enjoyed reading the article, Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological
Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education, by Ogbu. It gave me some great
insight and first-hand experience on how minorities feel and where those feelings come from. According
to Ogbu, immigrant groups are classified into 3 groups, Autonomous, Voluntary (Immigrant) minorities
and involuntary (non-immigrant) minorities. An autonomous minority group is just as it seems, groups
who are small in numbers and fairly irrelevant in Ogbu’s paper. Voluntary minorities make up a large
portion of America today. They are people who, more or less, chose to come to America for some kind of
better opportunity (whether that mean work, schooling, etc.). Involuntary minorities are a different
class because this includes people who have been conquered, colonized or enslaved. The two
classifications’ reasons for coming to America evidentially make up their differences.

To begin with, voluntary minorities tend to be more optimistic than involuntary because they
made the choice to come to America. Typically this group finds life in America (no matter how
discriminated and taken advantage of) is better than before. Therefore, they have a different frame of
reference from those that came to America involuntarily. A frame of reference is, “the way a person (or a
group) looks at a situation” (Ogbu). Since voluntary immigrants see an education in America as a
blessing, they tend to ignore discrimination and have a strong sense of hard work will pay off. They also
struggle for small periods of time and are happy to conform to the norms. Non-immigrant minorities
have a much different frame of reference. For example, they believe that in order to work hard in school,
they must conform to “white ways” and lose their own culture. They also agree that working hard is the
only way to find success. Considering these are quite contradictory viewpoints, I can imagine that it is
quite difficult for their children to learn (they are expected to do well but will also be reprimanded for
doing such). After Ogbu pointed out the way these minorities view the world and how it related to their
history completely makes sense. Why should involuntary minorities trust the school system and the
white majority in America?

I would like to bring up that Ogbu does make suggestions on how teachers can help these
students. First, it is very important for a teacher to build trust with all students, including minorities.
When that trust is made, they can learn and teach about their culture and language to reassure them
that the intention is not to take it away. Next, teachers should be a role model to their students to
hopefully spark a love for learning. Lastly, one of the most important things a teacher can do is to be
involved with parents and the community. That is the best way to truly learn and understand someone’s
culture. Also with this, the parents tend to hate the system more than their children so this may be a way
to build trust with parents as well. I do not believe America is doomed to mistreat minorities forever,
however I do believe that there is still a long ways to go and understanding the reasoning and thoughts
behind minority drive and success is a step in the right direction.
 Continued

I live in the USA and I am proud to report that the Federal law, according to the US Department of
Education, is that all states must provide free education for all youth. I absolutely love this since I
tend to have more liberal viewpoints and am a teacher. I value education and think that everyone
should have a chance at it. With that being said, as mentioned in the article by Ogbu, schools tend to
be controlled by a dominant group and often are discriminatory towards minorities, even though
there is a Federal Civil Rights Law to ensure that schools do not discriminate on race, color, national
origin, sex, or disability. So, America is not yet perfect, but which country is? Another law that is
stated on the US Department of Education is, “A school district may not bar a student from enrolling
in its schools because he or she lacks a birth certificate or has records that indicate a foreign place of
birth, such as a foreign birth certificate”. This is allows undocumented youth to have a chance at
education, which is often a reason for the family migration in the first place. However, the downside
is that these youth are not able to receive any type of financial aid and often do not continue their
education after high school.

10 of the top tips that will guide me as a teacher

1. Create a welcoming environment to my students by embracing and valuing diversity and

backgrounds of all students and teaching it to the whole class. This allows a foreign student
to not only feel more comfortable with me, but with his/her classmates.
2. Avoid stereotypes and biases about immigration status and cultural views. I will make sure
that my classroom décor supports many types of people and cultures. I will also be sure to
censor any sensitive content or change my teaching instruction (differentiation) for a
student.
3. Be sure to engage immigrant parents, guardians and family by being inviting and empathetic.
I will attempt to build positive relationships with all of my parents/families and encourage
them to get involved with their child’s education. I also must ensure that I am able to
effectively communicate with them, even if that means using a translator in person or a
translation website through email.
4. Using effective instructional strategies and addressing socioemotional needs is important to
all children. I would like to offer a whole-child approach to my teaching and be completely
student driven. This includes supplying support and differentiating instruction.
5. I will encourage extracurricular activities with my students as that tends to make them feel
like they belong and gives them motivation. If a student does not seem to have a passion, it
will be my goal to find one that will drive them or make them happy.
6. Utilizing ELL resources. In my current position at my elementary school, I provide ELL
services to 6 English learning students. I would like to continue this support for any ELL
students I have in my future classroom.
7. I would like to dedicate some time to lifelong learning and continue my learning in this area
subject. How I plan to do so is by utilizing Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services
publications, trainings and webinars. Maybe in time, I will be able to share my knowledge
with the staff at my school and encourage these implementations.
8. Another way to support, not only my foreign students, but all of my students, is to bring
awareness to bullying. My classroom will feel like a family and I will not tolerate any source
of bullying.
9. I want to be a role model. As Ogbu talked about in his article, some foreign children need
someone to look up to in order to succeed. I want to be someone that students are inspired
by and can come to for anything.
10. Gain my students’ trust by having their best interests at heart and protect them in all ways.