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Selling Eliteness to Prospective Students

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Colby is undoubtedly an elite institution, but it is easy to lose sight of that fact when you become an insider and Colby just becomes your “normal.” As an intern for the Office of Admission here at Colby, I am constantly promoting the school to prospective students and families. What I have now come to realize, though, is that in promoting our professors, labs, dorms, alumni, and more, I am actually selling our eliteness. Given this, I have decided to look into how Colby promotes its eliteness through the Admissions information session without ever saying the word elite or referring to our rankings. Specifically, I have looked at the information session script through a Bourdieusian framework and identified how theories of field and capital—specifically social and cultural capital— are strategically utilized to promote our eliteness.


Social capital refers to one’s network of connections that they are able to leverage. Social capital is evoked in numerous ways throughout the information session, the main one being in relation to our alumni network. The information session reminds students that, regardless of the path they take after Colby, they will “join a global network of more than 20,000 alumni in over 90 countries who serve as leaders and influencers across all industries.” This is essentially stating that the students will leave with an immense amount of social capital solely given their status as a Colby graduate. The script goes on to emphasize how these connections can be leveraged, which is the other important element of social capital. One anecdote that exemplifies this utilization of alumni connections is that “two Colby students recently designed and produced their own show that was workshopped in New York City during Jan Plan, thanks to a connection with one of our 20,000+ alumni.”

https://memegenerator.net/instance/62988740/ron-burgundy-networking-its-kind-of-a-big-deal

In addition to social capital, the Colby information session also emphasizes the cultural capital that one inevitably gains as a Colby student. Cultural capital refers to one’s familiarity with the “legitimate” culture and how their tastes, mannerisms, language, etc. reflect that familiarity. One of the major areas in which this is evoked by the information session script is in reference to the museum. “We believe our Museum of Art is the finest college art museum in the country,” the script claims, a statement that is supported by listing several of the well-known artists it features such as Zao Wou-ki, Marsden Hartley, Picasso, Whistler, Alex Katz, and O’Keefe. Students are bound to interact with these works as “the Museum serves as an extraordinary resource for a diverse array of departments and programs” and is utilized by over one-hundred courses in our catalog.


Beyond this, cultural capital is also gained through the global experiences offered at Colby. In the spiel about Davis Connects, we state that “we believe that every Colby student should have access to a meaningful research experience, internship, and global experience.” These experiences promoted by Davis Connects are offered in addition to the two hundred plus study abroad programs that about seventy percent of students take advantage of. Together, these experiences contribute to the “inherently global experience Colby is known for” and therefore help students gain cultural capital through increased exposure to and knowledge of the international community.
Finally, the Admissions information session script sells our eliteness by situating Colby in relation to other elite schools or within the elite “field.” According to Bourdieu, a “field” is a setting in which agents and their social positions are located that is structured internally in terms of power relations. There are two references to our relationships with, and, specifically, our impact on, other elite schools around the country which serve to place us in the same field as them. First, in a discussion of our computational biology major, the script states that our interdisciplinary computation program, or CS + X, has served as a model for similar programs at other colleges and universities such as Stanford.


Later on, in a discussion of our Center for Arts and Humanities, the script points out that our digital humanities labs have been replicated by other colleges and universities such as Dartmouth. Although in both of these cases there were probably also some less elite schools that replicated these initiatives, the script intentionally cites well-known, elite colleges as being inspired by Colby to place us in the same field as them. Between these references to the field of elite colleges to which we belong as well as examples of the ways Colby provides its students with the opportunity to develop their social and cultural capital, the Admissions information session script is successful in selling Colby as an elite institution without using the term “elite” or citing our rankings.

The Elite Student Experience of Gaining Capital

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Individuals from varying class backgrounds are able to structure their free time in distinct ways based on the difference in resources they have at their disposal. A high-school-aged individual in the working class, for example, may have childcare responsibilities while their parents are at work or may be required to get an after-school job to cover their personal expenses and to help support their family. This may take time away from engaging in extracurricular activities and studying for school. Additionally, when money is tight, these individuals will be far less able to take unpaid opportunities like internships. In all, the necessity to spend one’s free time working a paid job or helping with household tasks may impede a lower-class student’s ability to develop social and cultural capital.


Individuals from the upper classes, though, are often awarded a far greater degree of flexibility when it comes to their free time because they have less of a responsibility to help with household tasks or to earn money. Free of these financial burdens, high schoolers in the upper classes are able to spend their time after school studying, engaging in sports and clubs, hanging out with their friends, and taking career exposure opportunities like internships. Given their ability to develop their well-roundedness as a result of their far greater amount of free time, individuals in the upper class are able to accumulate valuable forms of social and cultural capital which put them in a more advantageous position for admission to university and entrance into the job market.


This ability for high schoolers in the upper class to spend free time on activities besides paid work was highly apparent in the interviews with students at Everdeen, an elite school in Australia. In an interview with a male high school student, the interviewer inquired about the student’s previous job experience such as a summer job. The boy replies that he has never had a job, although he has had work experience. This work experience is in the form of short-term internships for which he did not receive compensation. One internship, he explains, was at an eye and ear hospital and the other was at a stockbroking firm. Acknowledging that these are two very different things, he further explains that he does not know what he wants to do for university or a job yet, so he is just exploring his options.


Never having a job after school or over school vacation also allowed him to develop various other skills that he otherwise would not have been able to if there were more time and monetary constraints. Beyond having the opportunity and the flexibility to engage in internships, this interviewee also participated on a club rowing team, played multiple instruments, and traveled internationally with his family. Not only do these opportunities require a time commitment, which is time that could be spent working for a wage, they also cost significant sums of money. Therefore, the ability to spend one’s free time throughout high school on extracurricular activities and travel as opposed to household tasks and employment is a uniquely upper-class experience.


The trend among Everdeen students of not ever having worked a job is echoed by a female student also in year 11. When asked if she has a job, she responds by saying no, she does not, because she hasn’t ever had much spare time. Similar to the male interviewee, she goes on to explain that she spends a lot of her free time playing sports, specifically soccer, going out to eat with her friends, and traveling internationally with her family. Additionally, she mentions that she regularly volunteers her time, as her “house,” a school organization, frequently sponsors clothing drives, charity events, and mission trips.


Based on the two student examples from Everdeen combined with my previous knowledge of financial mobility among different social classes, it appears as though access to opportunities to build capital and elite status are available at higher rates to those who already hold dominant positions in society. Again, this is largely due to differences in their responsibility to earn money and provide help around the house as well as differences in their capacity to devote funds to extra-curricular opportunities. Through the growth of their capital, members of the elite class are likely able to further their elite position in society while those who face factors limiting their acquisition of capital, such as needing to spend time throughout high school completing domestic tasks or earning money, are often excluded from this elite status.

https://memeguy.com/photo/10075/as-a-college-student-who-has-been-looking-for-a-summer-job-for-over-a-month-now-without-success

Exploring the Characteristics of an “Elite” and “Globally-Oriented” Curriculum

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Everdeen, like many other elite schools around the globe, prides itself on having an individualized, well-rounded curriculum paired with innovative instructional techniques that, together, contribute to the development and the success of each student. One theme that is woven throughout the curriculum, both academic and extracurricular, is establishing a global outlook among the students. This helps to prepare students for successful engagement with the international community at both universities abroad and in the global job market after graduation. To get a glimpse into the academics at Everdeen, I examine the “Curriculum” section on the official school website. Everdeen educates all age groups from “Early Learning Centre” to “Senior School,” and each school has a set of designated practices and goals that are specific to the age they serve. That being said, Everdeen uses the Australian Curriculum as its framework for all levels.


The Early Learning Center, which serves ages three to five, is focused on exploration and the development of a love of learning. This is accomplished through activities that encourage creativity, develop social skills, and contribute to the emotional wellbeing of the child. Given their young age, the curriculum is “play based,” but is said by Everdeen to include “Language and Literacy, Numeracy, Social Thinking, and Diversity and Inclusion.” The values of the school which include trust, unity, and respect are instilled in the children from a young age. Another important feature of the Everdeen school system that they aim to establish at the Early Learning Center is the relationship between the school and the families of the children. Through this partnership, educators are able to learn the interests, needs, and dispositions of each student and cater the learning process accordingly.


In the Junior School which goes up to year four, the values introduced in the Early Learning Center continue to be emphasized with new age-appropriate goals introduced such as decision making, self-sufficiency, problem solving, and independence. At this level, the Explicit Teaching Model, which becomes a trademark of future levels of schooling at Everdeen, is introduced. The explicit teaching model has two main components: the warmup and the “I Do, We Do and You Do.” The warmup is a small chunk of time, about ten or fifteen minutes at the beginning of class, in which students receive instruction that is centered around foundational skills in the given subject. The “I Do, We Do and You Do” component represents the transition from reliance on one’s teacher to independence. First, the teacher gives the lesson, next they work collaboratively to understand and apply the concepts learned, and finally the student is able to engage independently with the material.


As a whole, the goal of the explicit teaching model is to “move learning from short-term to long-term memory, so students effectively retain what they are learning” which also prepares them to apply what they have been taught to various future contexts. This system, which promotes independence, allows for students to work at paces and through mediums that work for them rather than assuming a one size fits all approach to instruction. This individualized approach can also be seen in the nature of assessments which, rather than setting a universal standard, provide an opportunity for each student to look at their results and set personal goals for feasible improvement.


At the middle school level, the parallel education model that Everdeen is well known for begins. In this model, boys and girls take classes separately from one another. This model is based on evidence that, especially in this formative period of years five through eight, boys and girls have different social, emotional, and educational needs. By separating the sexes, the school attempts to cater to the distinct needs of each group and to promote “learning, personal growth and self-confidence” through creating an environment where “intellectual risk-taking can occur and optimal academic outcomes can be achieved.” The curriculum at the middle school level begins to take on a global outlook. This can be seen, for example, through the language program which teaches Chinese to years five and six and then provides the options of Chinese, French, and Japanese for years seven and eight. Beyond this, the aim of preparing students from the globalized world can be seen in “Everdeen Startup,” an entrepreneurship program, which teaches “work-ready skills” like teamwork, digital literacy, critical thinking, and presentation.


At the pre-senior level, year nine, the parallel education model continues, but the students are provided more occasions to socialize with the opposite gender. Opportunities to strengthen one’s global outlook are further expanded at the pre-senior level through the option to engage personally with the international community. Student often use their Chinese language learning skills to navigate time at the Everdeen International School in Tianjin, China or they can opt for alternative short off -campus trips to locations such as the United States. At the pre-senior level, the curriculum features a blend of compulsory subjects— English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and a language— and elective courses students select based on their personal interests. This prepares students to be able to successfully navigate the flexibility of the VCE program that students follow in Senior school, years ten through twelve.


The VCE, short for Victorian Certificate of Education, is the credential that students in Victoria receive for completing secondary education, and it allows them to pursue employment or higher education after graduation. Typically, the requirements for VCE are covered in years eleven and twelve, but Everdeen takes a three-year approach which allows for the required courses to be more spread out and therefore feel more manageable. In year ten, students work with the Everdeen staff to pick a VCE program that suits their individual talents and interests, satisfies their needs, and is appropriate given their academic record. Success in VCE is measured by the ATAR, or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, which ranks students on a scale from zero to 99.5 to indicate each student’s position relative to all the other students in their age group. In 2020, the VCE results published on Everdeen’s website indicate that the passing rate for the VCE was one hundred percent. Fifty-one percent of students attained an ATAR of ninety and above, placing them in the top ten percent in Australia. Beyond that, a solid thirty-two percent of students attained an ATAR of ninety-five and above, placing them in the top five percent of Australia.


In addition to strong academic studies, co-curricular engagement is also highly encouraged in the Senior school. This takes a variety of forms from sports, which are compulsory, to art, chess club, music, and outdoor activities. Beyond these typical high school offerings, though, Everdeen also offers co-curricular activities that will build the cultural capital of their students and put them at a competitive advantage in the international work force. Such opportunities include public speaking and debating, commerce, and social justice club.
Social justice is presented as a significant focus of the Everdeen school, with the “obligation to develop high-achieving students who are connected globally to each other and the communities in which they will serve” at the center of their mission. Social justice curriculum is taught with a focus on generosity, protection, forgiveness, inclusion, sharing of resources, and more. With these values in mind, students are considered empowered to change the world around them.


As a whole, the curriculum at Everdeen is designed to ensure success among all students both during their time at the school and in their future endeavors. This is accomplished in several ways such as individualized learning approaches, the explicit teaching model, the breadth of co-curricular opportunities, and more, all of which help the students grow into a well-rounded individual and gain cultural capital. This development is furthered by the focus on the global which is emphasized in the classroom through learning about international social justice, studying various foreign languages, and exploring unique cultures around the globe as well as through opportunities to travel. Together, these elements of the curriculum serve to create a student body of well-educated, elite critical thinkers and global citizens.

https://medium.com/@aprilrinne/10-resources-to-cultivate-inspire-global-citizenship-a077d2e351df