Globally Elite

Enduring the Game

April 21, 2025

Education can be a tricky field to navigate for anyone. Throughout the course of this research project, I have become increasingly interested in the ways in which youngins have the ability to navigate certain pressures pinned against them while enduring school in an elite institution. As I continue to understand the ins and outs of specific students’ lived experiences at Olive Grove, in Jordan, I have noticed a rigid intersection between “elite pressures” and elite education systems. One specific exterior pressure I would like to highlight is this desire to “conform” to an elite mold. While many of these institutions, like Olive Grove, pride themselves on their diversity and holistic values, through reading various student transcripts, I uncovered an undertone of this “need to fit in”. To dive a bit deeper into this desire to conform, I want to understand what specific drivers cause students to mold themselves into an elite student.

To understand this concept even further, I have chosen to explore the relationship between elite pressures and the idea of the “monster” as examined by Marx. Specifically, in the article by Kenway and Howard, Elite Universities: Their Monstrous Promises and Promising Monsters, they use the metaphor of the “werewolf” to illustrate how elite institutions place intense, often damaging pressures onto their students as well as the fact that these institutions often tend to “transform” students paths, wishes and desires. The metaphor portrays students as “monsters” which essentially means that these students are shaped by the overarching system they are part of. I found this to be a rather intriguing analogy: just as a werewolf undergoes a painful and somewhat uncontrollable transformation under the full moon, students at elite institutions are expected to transform themselves to meet the institutions’ demands for excellence and sometimes conformity. This transformation is not always voluntary; it is driven by the unspoken desire to succeed, obtain power and gain prestige. As a result, students may begin to lose touch with their true selves. The “werewolf” metaphor highlights how elite institutions, in their pursuit of creating “promising monsters,” often end up producing students who are perhaps emotionally overtaken and shaped by the institution’s intense expectations of themselves.

While this is the case for many, I would like to note that not every student feels and experiences these pressures in a negative tone. Some students at elite institutions are able to transform the pressure to conform into an opportunity for meaningful self-growth. For instance, the student I have been studying quite in depth throughout this research project prides themselves on their civic engagement as well as their ability to compete with close friends academically and socially which is something they would attribute in part to their institution. While reading through the transcripts, I discovered an interesting response to the question: “What kind of social pressures do you experience at school? Or pressure from your peers to do well in school?” The response goes as follows: “There is a huge competition and everyone wants to become something. You feel like there is a competition within class, within activities, but you’re all friends at the same time. It doesn’t feel bad! I think it’s good to have competition, even with my closest friends. We do work hard and I think there is a huge competition in this school for everyone to be the best. But I think it’s a good thing”. This truly highlights the fact that students at Olive Grove, as well as many elite institutions across the board, feel this pressure to succeed, however, this desire to “conform” only plays its role in certain students’ lives. This makes me wonder what factors contribute to certain individuals needing to transform into an elite mold? And how do others have the inner wherewithal to overcome these pressures?

Taking into consideration the “werewolf” metaphor I’ve mentioned above, it is important to understand the ways in which students experience social and educational pressures tended specifically towards those in elite institutions. For example, many elite schools often pride themselves as producing “future leaders” which could mean that students may feel burdened by the expectation to become activists, democratic leaders or innovators before they’ve even graduated. While it is human to occasionally feel this need to fit in, or to conform, I have found it incredibly intriguing to uncover the hidden truths about how these pressures are heightened through the lens of a student submerging themselves in their education and social lives at elite institutions.

Sources:

Jane Kenway & Adam Howard (2022) Elite universities: Their monstrous promises and promising monsters, Curriculum Inquiry, 52:1, 75-96, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2021.1994837 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2021.1994837

Education and How It Keeps Chilean Colorism in Place

lcruz27 / Globally Elite /

April 19, 2025

In Chile, people with lighter skin are often treated better than those with darker skin. This idea comes from the lasting effects of colonization, when the Spanish took control of the land and established a racial hierarchy that privileged European features. People with lighter skin and European looks were seen as better. Today, these beliefs continue to influence media, beauty standards, workplaces, and schools. In Chile, to “have an acceptable appearance” often means being “light-skinned and blonde” or at least having “European” features (Not Another Blog About Chile), while people with darker skin, especially those with Indigenous or African ancestry, often face discrimination.

Class is also closely tied to these ideas. People from higher classes often use negative words for those who are seen as poor or from lower classes. Terms like “flaites,” “ordinarios,” or “rotos” carry harmful stereotypes, describing people as rude, poorly educated, or badly dressed—but these are not direct translations. Not Another Blog About Chile explains that the lower class is often seen as having a “very bad appearance, dark complexion, and… weight problems.” These views reflect how racism and classism are connected in Chilean society.

The school system plays a role in keeping these beliefs alive. The most prestigious schools are private and expensive, giving access mostly to the wealthy. Since lighter-skinned people are more likely to be favored in society and have more economic opportunity, they are the ones who attend these elite schools. That leads to better chances at attending top universities and getting high-paying jobs, while people with darker skin and less money often have fewer opportunities or face more barriers.

However, the issue is not only about wealth and appearance—it’s also about how Chile sees itself as a nation. Many Chileans believe the country is racially homogeneous, but this belief ignores the existence of Afro-Chilean and Indigenous communities. The Cultural Atlas notes that Indigenous groups often “feel ignored.” By claiming that most people are mestizo, or mixed, Chile hides the fact that many racial and cultural groups exist—and continue to be marginalized.

This connects to the deeper role that elite institutions play in maintaining social hierarchies. As Bourdieu explains, elite schools reproduce privilege by giving more advantages to those who already come from wealthy backgrounds. They also use what he called symbolic violence—subtle ways of making inequality seem normal or deserved. In this sense, colorism is one more issue that elite schools often overlook, allowing discrimination to continue unnoticed. As part of this system, we can see how whiteness and elite status are connected. To that end, we extend the arguments developed by Leila Angod in a larger project where she demonstrates “the central role of whiteness in making elite status through multiculturalism and humanitarianism.” In the Chilean context, this means that schools and elite spaces may appear inclusive, but they still rely on old ideas that link whiteness to power, status, and success.

References

Scroope, C. (2017). *Chilean Culture: Core Concepts*. Cultural Atlas. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/chilean-culture/chilean-culture-core-concepts

Not Another Blog About Chile. (2021, April 24). The ugly truth about the complex stratification of the Chilean society. Medium. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://medium.com/not-another-blog-about-chile/the-ugly-truth-about-the-complex-stratification-of-the-chilean-society-28c21bee82d9

Gaztambide-Fernández, R., & Angod, L. (2019). Approximating whiteness: Race, class, and empire in the making of modern elite/white subjects. Educational Theory, 69(6), 719–742.

ibschu25 / Globally Elite /

April 16, 2025

Education without Motivation

In a world that caters to the elite, there are systems in place that reinforce existing class hierarchies. This elite class reproduction is ingrained in systems as well as the students themselves. While reading interview transcripts from the Croft School there was a common theme of not needing to study or work because it doesn’t matter. This caused me to ponder the idea of education without motivation. Without future goals of contributing to the workforce, pursuing higher education, or being a responsible citizen, what is the point of attending an elite school? Is this thinking the capitalist curriculum ingrained in my brain as a participant of 18 years of the United States education system, or is this a valid concern? If the goal isn’t education, and the students show little care or concern, then why go?

When interviewing a 17 year old female student at The Croft School, details on social life and hierarchy at the school emerged. When asked about social groups Maria states, “There’s always the popular ones, the ones that hate studying. They have very bad grades. They only go to school to hang out. They go to parties”. Then going into further detail, Maria mentions how these students are usually a lot richer than the rest of school. They don’t need to study or go to class because there is no reason to. She says, “ Some of us, like me, study very hard because we need really high grades to enter university. And others not so much because they can enter easily”. The student interviewed here alludes to wealth and privilege playing a role in entering college, and not needing to try or get good grades to do so. Maria illustrated the lack of care or concern that some students have for trying in school, and how she has noticed it’s relation to social class.

There are several interesting concepts here. First, the Croft School is an elite institution catering to the elite. There is no middle or lower class representation. And yet, these students still distinguish themselves on attitudes and social class. All of these students continue their education in high school because of these connections. Student X mentioned, “ I think that they have more opportunities because of contacts… often people from the (Croft School) are the bosses of big companies and important places and sometimes legal companies… it’s a very big network and we have lots of advantages”. Elite institutions, even without the education, create a network of highly wealthy elite families. Families want their children to attend elite institutions to increase their access and social capital.

Bourdeiu discusses social capital as a series of resources based on group membership, relationships, networks of influence, and support systems (Bourdieu 1986). The Croft School provides opportunities for students to connect and meet others in possession of wealth and opportunities that can then be passed down to the next generation of elite Croft School graduates. Not only does this help students and their families, but it also cements the school in having elite status. Cultural capital, both institutionalized and embodied, comes into play. Students at the Croft school receive an elite institution diploma, as well as a set of behaviors and expectations on how to remain elite.

Finally, returning to my last point, schools have several objectives, both spoken and unspoken. While growing up in the U.S. I do believe that schools have a role in preparing students in an economic sense, schools also contribute to the development of social and cultural capital. In this case, although students should want to be educated for purposes of education, the Croft School provides students with a variety of other objectives that contribute to the success of elite students and families. So yes, attending an elite institution without care or concern for academic success or one’s future, is in this case worth it.

The Importance of Schooling in School

jkrubi27 / Globally Elite /

April 15, 2025

Olive Grove Academy creates an environment of fast, grade focused learning, which, according to Bourdieu, is a means of preparing students for elite careers, of which category democratic leadership would fall into. Ahmad, a junior at Olive Grove, continually mentions grades as a motivator and focus within his interviews. He specifically discusses how grades could impact his ability to do what he wants in life, and how he feels his grades are not to where they could be and the unhappiness this causes him. Another student, Sara, works extremely hard to achieve academic excellence in terms of grades to ensure that opportunities for various high powered career paths remain open. Both students make it clear that grades and academic achievement are important, and that the workload to support that importance is a huge factor in their daily lives. Olive Grove Academy thus is a preparatory school that, like many others, has a strong commitment to hard work and grade motivation. Ahmad makes his feelings on being in the middle of the pack quite evident, emphasizing the burden of the competition for grades at his school. Both students are passionate about academic topics, but strive above all for good grades.

Bourdieu (1985) has researched French preparatory schools that appear to emulate a similar formula as Olive Grove Academy in Part Two of The State Nobility. He observed that many of these schools, and specifically, their teachers, focus on learning how to succeed in school rather than on what they are learning. This presents itself through gaining the skills needed to quickly and effectively complete assignments, as well as an exposure to knowledge at a fast pace without an influx of information. Bourdieu argues that this allows students to be prepared for executive level jobs where they must quickly process information and deliver results that appease others and live up to required standards.

As we are researching how Olive Grove prepares its students for democratic leadership, we must consider what democratic leadership means in the job sense. It often presents itself as a high- powered, executive job even if the ultimate goal is to lead citizens and work for their benefit. These leaders are required to also think on their feet, know how to work the system to get what they (and their constituents) want, and especially to process information and disregard the irrelevant in order to do their job as effectively as possible. With Bourdieu’s framework in mind, we must thus assume that Olive Grove Academy creates an academic environment that prepares students for how to effectively do a job as a democratic leader, beyond just getting the job. Democratic leaders do not always get their start in politics, but are often successful as executives in the business world and other high powered positions, and this is a way of preparing for and ensuring success. They have to be able to present information and answer questions based only on what they know. Getting sidetracked in a university setting may be considered an intellectual pursuit, but a democratic leader must be precise and concise, just as assignments are made to be within Olive Grove. Ahmad and Sara understand the importance of good grades in order to reach the next level, whether that be school or a career, demonstrating that Olive Grove has cultivated an environment where students are prepared for the day to day work of democratic leadership.

As we research, it is always important to keep focus on our research question. Bourdieu’s theory allows me to understand a key component of the school, the academics, in a framework that applies to our question. Often, school and teachers are thought of as deliverers of content, but I had to consider, how does the delivery of content and the role of the student in receiving the content play into their status of becoming democratic leaders? It is easy to forget in research such as this that school is first and foremost meant for learning, but there is a purpose beyond the content. There is a reason Olive Grove is not relaxed and solely intellectual in nature like the universities Bourdieu mentions, and that relates directly to our research question.

References

Bourdieu, P. (1998). The state nobility : elite schools in the field of power. Polity Press.

Learning Democracy in a Place Without It

bmcade25 / Globally Elite /

April 14, 2025

At Olive Grove Academy in Jordan, students are taught with the goal to actively engage in critical thinking, respectful discourse, and global citizenship initiatives. Each of these life lessons are traits that we commonly associate with democratic thinking and action, yet they’re being taught in a monarchy where political power and individual freedoms are limited and filtered. While researching how Olive Grove Academy implements democratic education, this tension resonated with me. Can a school truly instill democratic values when the political system surrounding it doesn’t support them? And perhaps more importantly, what kind of leadership is actually being produced?

Through our research so far, we have found that Olive Grove Academy prepares students to be democratic leaders using two pathways: democratic mindset and democratic action. Student interviews reveal that through a heavy emphasis on critical thinking, conversation-based learning environment, and independent choice, the school is helping students to adopt a democratic way of mentally approaching the world. Additionally, by encouraging students to engage in community service and other student leadership opportunities, the school is guiding students to global citizenship initiatives which help to steer students towards democratic action. Despite understanding everything the school is doing to situate their students to be democratic leaders in the future, I still can’t help but wonder are these democratic habits actually enough to make someone a democratic leader in this political environment? And what would this leadership look like?

An important component of this question is understanding the intangibles of life at Olive Grove Academy. In particular, social class and furthermore social divides are an ingrained part of the social structure at the school. As an elite school, students at Olive Grove Academy primarily come from affluent backgrounds and elite families, with only a small portion coming from working class backgrounds. While one student noted that the school takes efforts to reduce social divides, she highlighted that they are still present and mostly revolve around social class. She also added that the reason for this, as she observes it, is simply because these students knew each other before school.

From the perspective of a student in the school, there might not be any obvious association between the class divide and students knowing each other from outside of school. However, Weis and Dolby present the point that class is reflective of lifestyle practices and shared cultural experiences, going deeper than just material realities (Weis & Dolby, 2012, pp. 1–2). Students from similar class backgrounds likely knew each other prior to school because they experienced similar lifestyles. As a result, at Olive Grove Academy, where there are now various clusters of students who are accustomed to different lifestyles, class divides emerge. Under the veil that the social divides are simply due to students knowing each other before Olive Grove Academy, the reality is that the social hierarchy emerges due to a lack of blending of the class characteristics that each cluster has been raised with.

These class differences might be less apparent between students from upper and middle class backgrounds, however, they are likely much more noticeable for the students who receive full scholarships. While the student interviewed mentioned that the school does a lot to minimize the class divides, Kenway and Howard highlight that elite universities often take advantage of diversity for marketing and ranking purposes while using the front of meritocracy in order to preserve the social hierarchy (Kenway & Howard, 2022, p. 84). I think that this insight is notable in highlighting the ongoing tension between the school trying to teach students to believe in equality when the structure of the school still reflects a very unequal environment.

Furthermore, I would argue that this contradiction parallels the Jordanian political system. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the nation is ruled by a king who holds most of the power along with the royal court. The “constitutional” part of that label means that the government has a parliament and elections for some roles, but in reality, citizens have few genuine opportunities to influence governance and political dissent is not tolerated warmly. In this sense, Olive Grove Academy can be viewed as a reflection of the larger national system. The school preaches and adheres to democratic values, yet in reality, functions within and thrives on the preexisting elite structures.

While students are encouraged to think critically and take democratic action, in all reality, they don’t always actually do it. In a similar way, Jordanian citizens may be taught to participate, however, these efforts are likely illusory due to the lack of mechanisms provided by the government to actually do so in a meaningful way. This creates a system that, in many ways, values the image of transparency and democracy, but often stops short of the real structural change those values would demand.

What struck me the most about this is how the fundamental contradiction between democratic ideals and elite structures can coexist in such a seemingly seamless way. My inclination was that in preparing students for democratic leadership, there would be an inherent push for social change towards a democracy, however, I have come to see that it is much more complicated than that. Olive Grove students are clearly thoughtful, engaged, and committed to making a difference, but they’re also navigating systems that reward conformity and privilege. Whether democratic education in this context is truly transformative or simply another tool for maintaining elite status is still unclear to me, however, I do not believe that this question can truly be addressed without long term research on the alumni of the school.

Sources

Kenway, J., & Howard, A. (2022). Elite universities: Their monstrous promises and promising monsters. Routledge

Weis, L., & Dolby, N. (2012). Social class and education in globalizing contexts. Routledge.