Appendix : Organizing methods for ethnographic fieldwork Part 1: Constructing the culture trap -- 1. Model and Failing Minorities? Divergent representations of black Caribbean achievement -- 2. Black Caribbean immigrants and the legacies of empire -- 3. Tracking structures and cultures: the role of academic "ability" grouping -- Part II: Negotiating the culture trap -- 4. Distinctiveness and the secret life of social class in representations of culture -- 5. Deference and the gendered rewards of "good" behavior -- 6. Defiance and Black students' resistance to cultural racism -- Conclusion : Dismantling the culture trap in schools -- Appendix : Organizing methods for ethnographic fieldwork
Summary:
"In The Culture Trap, Derron Wallace argues that the over reliance on culture to explain Black students' achievement and behavior in schools is a trap that undermines the historical factors and institutional processes that shape how Black students experience schooling. This trap is consequential for a host of racial and ethnic minority youth in schools, including Black Caribbean young people in London and New York City. Since the 1920s, Black Caribbeans in New York have been considered a high-achieving Black model minority. Conversely, since the 1950s, Black Caribbeans in London have been regarded as a chronically underachieving minority. In both contexts, however, it is often suggested that Caribbean culture informs their status, whether as a celebrated minority in the US or as a demoted minority in Britain. Drawing on rich ethnographic observations, as well as interview and archival data from two of the largest public schools in London and New York City, Wallace interrogates the fault lines of these claims, and highlights the influence of colonialism, class, and context in shaping Black Caribbeans' educational experiences. As racial and ethnic achievement gaps and discussions about what to do about them persist in the US and Britain, Wallace shows how culture is at times used as an alibi for racism in schools, and points out what educators, parents, and students can do to change it.-- Provided by publisher.
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