Reconsidering Anthropological Explanations of Ethnic School Failure

This article reviews the anthropological debate on why some ethnic minorities fail more frequently in schools. Although neither side presents overwhelming empirical evidence, John Ogbu's caste theory is clearly a more comprehensive, systematic explanation than the “cultural difference” explanation. In addition, Ogbu's “multilevel” or macro style of school ethnography has important methodological advantages over the less historical, more decontextualized micro ethnographies of classrooms. Nevertheless, as various micro ethnographers have pointed out, caste theory has difficulty accounting for in‐group variance and the school success of some oppressed ethnic minorities. Results from a field study in South Texas are used to illustrate that Ogbu's notion of an “oppositional culture” does underestimate both in‐group variation and the self‐valorizing potential of ethnic oppositional cultures. The school‐level description of students' “dramaturgical communicative competence” demonstrates why many middle‐class Mexicanos are not held back by their ethnic oppositional culture. The article ends by advocating a model of macro school ethnography that is based on a multiple dominance view of society and a phenomenological notion of ethnic culture rather than caste theory.