Class Choreographies : Elite Schools and Globalization

Awarded Best Book prize by CIES Globalization and Education SIG Awarded 2nd Prize in the Society of Educational Studies Annual Book Prize Elite schools have always been social choreographers par excellence. The world over, they put together highly dexterous performances as they stage and restage changing relations of ruling. They are adept at aligning their social choreographies to shifting historical conditions and cultural tastes. In multiple theatres, they now regularly rehearse the irregular art of being global. Elite schools around the world are positioned at the intersecting pinnacles of various scales, systems and regimes of social, cultural, political and economic power. They have much in common but are also diverse. They illustrate how various modalities of power are enjoyed and put to work and how educational and social inequalities are shaped and shifted. They, thus, speak to the social zeitgeist. This book dissects this intricate choreography. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 Author Biography 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 13 Confronting Silences 16 Mobilizing Multiplicities 23 Notes 27 Chapter 2: Little England’s ‘Public Schools’ 28 The Presence of the Past 28 Grandiloquence: The Great, the Good and the Unsung 30 Class Intimations: Undisciplined, Disciplined and Imagined Schoolboys 34 Educational Reforms and Public Schools’ Defensive and Offensive Politics 37 Curriculum Histories and Hegemonies 42 Industrialization and Class Reconfigurations, Intensifications and Co-options 46 Empire: Through Imperial and Imperious Eyes 53 Conclusion 59 Note 59 Chapter 3: Colonialism, Capitalism and Christianity 60 Nation and Empire, Christianity and Colonies 60 Colonialism: Economies of Oppression 61 Old Cloisters, Barbados: Established 1733 62 Greystone School, South Africa: Established 1870 64 Highbury Hall, England: Established 1853 66 Capitalism: The Company and the Circulation of Commodities 71 Ripon College, India: Established 1882 71 Straits School, Singapore: Established 1823 74 Christianity and ‘Civilization’ 79 Cathedral College, Hong Kong: Established 1843 79 The Influence of the Anglican Church in Barbados 81 Founders, Australia: Established 1866 82 Notes 87 Chapter 4: Mobilizing the Past in the Changing Present 89 Entering Consecrated Spaces and Hallowed Histories 90 Understanding the Work of History as a Form of Ornamentalism 93 The Concrete Working of History 99 Past Times 100 Present Times 103 Future Times 109 Conclusion 113 Note 116 Chapter 5: Principal Experiments on the Global Stage 117 Principals as Leading Choreographers 118 Imagining the Global as a Problem Space 122 Plotting a Course Through Complexity 129 Conjuring the World 134 Sashaying in the Globalizing Hothouse 139 Conclusion 142 Notes 143 Chapter 6: Curriculum Contestations 145 The Politics of Curriculum 146 Colonialism and the Imported Curriculum 149 Colonial Legacies and Postcolonial Aspirations 154 Global Forces and Curriculum Reponses 157 Curriculum Options and Strategic Choices 161 Issues of Language 164 Contrasting Visions of the Future 171 Conclusion 176 Notes 178 Chapter 7: Students on the Move 179 Student Travel Through Elite Circuits 180 Elite Circuits and Their Others 181 Accumulating Capitals 183 Learning to Lead 189 Travel as Pedagogy 194 Elevated Aspirations and Splintered Mobilities 200 Conclusion 205 Notes 206 Chapter 8: The Art of Privilege 207 The Protesting Precariat 208 Class-Making and Privilege as Praxis 209 Occupy in Place 211 ‘Rioting Without Reason’/Occupy with No Alternatives 217 Hiding in Plain Sight 218 Artful and Artless Caring 223 The Moral Economy of Class 224 The Privileged and the Precariat 225 Servicing the Privileged Self 229 Histories of Benefaction 233 Conclusion 234 Chapter 9: Conclusion: Looking Back, Looking Ahead 236 Retrospection 236 Projections 242 Calculations 249 Note 254 Appendix: Publications from the project to date 255 References 260 Index 276 Elite schools have always been social choreographers par excellence, putting together highly dexterous performances as they stage and restage changing relations of ruling. They are adept at aligning their social choreographies to shifting historical conditions and cultural tastes. In multiple theatres, they now regularly rehearse the irregular art of being global. Elite schools around the world are positioned at the intersecting pinnacles of various scales, systems and regimes of social, cultural, political and economic power. They illustrate how various modalities of power are enjoyed and put to work, and how educational and social inequalities are shaped and shifted. They, thus, speak to the social zeitgeist. This book dissects this intricate choreography. - Page [4] of cover Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-15 Little England’s ‘Public Schools’....Pages 17-48 Colonialism, Capitalism and Christianity....Pages 49-77 Mobilizing the Past in the Changing Present....Pages 79-106 Principal Experiments on the Global Stage....Pages 107-134 Curriculum Contestations....Pages 135-168 Students on the Move....Pages 169-196 The Art of Privilege....Pages 197-225 Conclusion: Looking Back, Looking Ahead....Pages 227-245 Back Matter....Pages 247-281