Before enrolling in this class studying elite schooling and education, I did not understand all the aspects that affected an institution’s “prestige.” However, after reading many papers such as Tarc & Tarc’s on schooling in the Global South, I began to understand that a major aspect in the reproduction of eliteness in these different countries is focused almost entirely on communicating western ideas to students. The emphasis on western ideas demonstrates the connectedness of western curriculum to economic capital as well as cultural capital. Parents who send their children to western elite schools abroad or in their country believe that these schools will reproduce and reinforce their elite status. The key link between these schools and their high status is their westernized curriculum which parents see as valuable in the reproduction of eliteness. What makes these schools so elite is the fact that the basis of their curriculum is centered in western education to prepare students for a western elite higher education or a globalized job market. Western ideals create identities and cultural capital that are highly profitable and will allow students to thrive fit in a western focused global economy.
Western curriculum is seen as valuable in preparing elite students to enter into a globalized world
So how do schools emphasize a western curriculum? Hiring certain teachers, aligned with Western curriculum is often the answer. Before taking this class, I had not realized before the extent to which eliteness manifested itself in the hiring processes of the school. As one of the major contributors to a school’s eliteness and the reproduction of that eliteness, teachers are integral in maintaining a school’s prestigious status. Gaining access to an elite school as a teacher, is almost as difficult as gaining admission as a student. Teachers are highly valuable aspects of a school and as a result, it is much more likely that certain teachers, ones that reinforce the schools elite western image, will be hired. Teachers and school staff greatly affect a schools ability to boast a “western” curriculum. Schools are the starting point for the formation of some of the most elite spheres, and teachers are the leaders of those schools. As a result, teachers and school staff greatly affect a schools ability to boast a “western” curriculum. Communicating western ideas is more than just understanding a western curriculum, it is strongly tied to the way western teachers communicate, think and feel.
After learning about the desire for teachers versed in western curriculum, I was not surprised to learn that in the Elite Chilean School, The Croft School, western teachers are paid significantly higher than what Chilean teachers are paid. This pay gap further proves the point that a school focused on preparing students for a future in the global west requires western teachers, and is one key aspect to the reproduction of a schools eliteness. The Croft school wants to entice teachers to travel to Chile and begin a new life, and a high pay rate is one of the best ways to do that. I find myself wondering, does the Croft school try to maintain some number of teachers who are from Chile, or are they only focused on recruiting teachers versed in western culture and education?
Teachers are enticed with large salaries to travel to elite schools abroad, like the Croft School
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.
While I have completed a number of research projects during my time at Colby, my research partners for this project have arguably been the best ones ever. Each of us has our individual strengths, and I am very grateful to be a part of a balanced group. Collectively, we have rejoiced in moments when the research process has clicked…
… And persevered together when it hasn’t.
Early on in the research process, our group struggled to narrow our focus. In our initial research proposal, our group decided to focus on studying the impact of parental figures on the lives of Croft School students. When we realized there was not enough data on the Internet to analyze the Croft School through this lens, we decided to shift our focus to extracurricular activities. With this focus in mind, one of my group members effectively conducted three interviews with our assigned Croft School student. Shortly after finishing these interviews, my other group partner chugged along and transcribed all three interviews. Interviewing and transcribing are two of the most time consuming parts of this research project, and my partners did an amazing job.
While getting these interviews done was awesome, I was slightly disappointed to learn our student interviewee was not heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Doing a lot of research on two research topics and not having either pan out was definitely discouraging.
However, not being paired with a student who was deeply invested in extracurricular activities was actually a blessing in disguise. It forced my group to learn one of the most important rules of research– letting the data tell you what is important and what to focus on. We soon realized that one of the strongest connections between our class readings, Internet research on elite schools, and our interviews was the theme of homogeneity. Thus, we made homogeneity our research focus, and ran with it.
The Croft School is homogenous in a number of ways. First, the school provides a standardized, homogenous education to all its students; the curriculum is rigid and does not give students very many opportunities to take electives. Second, the social class standing of students at the Croft School is homogenous since most come from upper class backgrounds. Third, the Croft School fosters a particular environment, and upholds specific values, in order to develop a certain type of student — one that is well-rounded, responsible, prepared to attend university anywhere in the world, and equipped to become a trustworthy leader in the future.
Definition of Homogenous – of the same kind or nature; essentially alike.
After completing our paper outline, my group felt confident in its thought progression. However, when Adam took a look at it, he saw a gap between our literature review discussion about the growth of inequalities around the world, and our claims regarding the impact of homogeneity at elite schools such as the Croft School. While making this connection was difficult, required a lot of brainpower, and required us to use a theory we had not been directly exposed to in class, my partners and I now feel confident that we can finish our paper with this new thought progression.
To be honest, I had not considered what it has meant to be part of a larger research project until Adam asked us to reflect on this question. However, after giving this question some thought, I now have some answers. Since each group in our class is analyzing the Croft School, albeit through a different lens, it has been very helpful to learn about where my classmates have gathered information on the school. Being part of this larger research project has also given me the opportunity to learn more about the elite schools Adam, his previous students, and his research team have explored and analyzed. It has been interesting not only to learn about these schools, but also to look at the similarities and differences between the Croft School and other elite institutions around the world. It feels awesome to be part of a larger research project, and I cannot wait to read more about the Croft School when Adam and his research team publishes research on it sometime in the future.
Besides learning to let the data tell me what to focus on, I have learned a number of valuable lessons during this project. The most important lessons I learned, however, were about my own Eliteness and privilege. I am now more aware of my privilege; how my social class background led me to Colby; as well as the ways I have perpetuated social inequalities — in terms of how I used to see the world, and where I go to school. This awareness has encouraged me to think more deeply about the ways I can impede the perpetuation of inequalities. While I do not have all of the answers to this question yet, I look forward to generating, learning about, and acting on some of them in the future.
The Croft School is homogenous in a number of ways. First, the school provides a standardized, homogenous education to all its students; the curriculum is rigid and does not give students very many opportunities to take electives. Second, the social class standing of students at the Croft School is homogenous since most come from upper class backgrounds. Third, the Croft School fosters a particular environment, and upholds specific values, in order to develop a certain type of student — one that is well-rounded, responsible, prepared to attend university anywhere in the world, and equipped to become a trustworthy leader in the future.
