{"id":6289,"date":"2023-03-16T21:45:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T01:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=6289"},"modified":"2023-03-16T21:45:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T01:45:18","slug":"how-is-the-awareness-of-being-privileged-generated-and-how-does-it-impact-elite-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2023\/03\/16\/how-is-the-awareness-of-being-privileged-generated-and-how-does-it-impact-elite-students\/","title":{"rendered":"How is the awareness of being privileged generated and how does it impact elite students?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-6289\" data-postid=\"6289\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-6289 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_5m8k322 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_vva3323 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module box -->\n<div  class=\"module module-box tb_bdb2155 \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"module-box-content ui  tb_default_color\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tb_text_wrap\"><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ve all known that usually people in elite schools are from wealthy families who get advantageous resources and opportunities. As a result, I am curious about whether or not they can sense their privilege and how they think about their privilege. For this blog, I will mainly focus on interviews with a student called Kwabena Dankwah from Sankofa International College in Ghana and use them as examples to explain how elite students understand their privilege.<\/p><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module box -->\n<!-- module box -->\n<div  class=\"module module-box tb_dex1594 \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"module-box-content ui  tb_default_color\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tb_text_wrap\"><ul><li><strong>How do elite students feel their privileges in daily life at school?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><div class=\"more-text\" style=\"display: none\"><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 According to Kwabena, \u201caround April or May people start talking about what they are doing for the summer and where they are going\u201d in the school and his family is able to afford traveling abroad, such as going to Europe. Another thing that draws Kwabena\u2019s attention is the college application. \u201cWhen people were applying for colleges and people were applying for financial aid,\u201d, he had more privileges in choosing whatever colleges he wanted based on his academic performance because he \u201cwas one of the few\u201d that did not need to consider and worry about applying for financial aid. As a result, the awareness of being privileged appears in daily conversations with peers, such as topics about traveling or college applications.<\/p><\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"module-text-more\">More <\/a><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module box -->\n<!-- module box -->\n<div  class=\"module module-box tb_rk4i712 \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"module-box-content ui  tb_default_color\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tb_text_wrap\"><ul><li><strong>How is the elite family involved in the generation of the awareness of being privileged?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><div class=\"more-text\" style=\"display: none\"><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Kwabena\u2019s family emphasizes his privileges a lot. \u201cThey always refer to the fact that thousands of other people of Kwabena\u2019s age aren\u2019t getting the same privileges that he is getting.\u201d His family wants him to recognize and appreciate his privilege and uses this awareness to study harder as they want him \u201cnot to waste his opportunities\u201d, \u201ctake his education seriously\u201d, and \u201cnot take things for granted.\u201d From here we can see how this awareness of being privileged turns into a family pressure that the privileges are provided by the family so the elite students need to take responsibility to use those resources and opportunities properly.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Another interesting observation is about the future career planning of elite students. Kwabena\u2019s father works in the bank and his mother is a pharmacist. Following his family\u2019s pathway, Kwabena considered himself \u201cmore of a science person\u201d and he also mentioned, \u201ceveryone else in my family is more economics and finance minded.\u201d It is noticeable that all the children in his family choose to follow their parents\u2019 careers. Therefore, the elite family also indirectly provides an example of the success that their children can continue to honor.<\/p><\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"module-text-more\">More <\/a><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module box -->\n<!-- module box -->\n<div  class=\"module module-box tb_xppz316 \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"module-box-content ui  tb_default_color\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tb_text_wrap\"><ul><li><strong>How does the school guide their understanding of being privileged?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><div class=\"more-text\" style=\"display: none\"><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In Sankofa International College, the pedagogy of the school is to \u201cdevelop Pan-African minded leaders.\u201d The school\u2019s mission statement is \u201cknowledge in the service of Africa\u201d, showing a huge focus on service and leadership. The school brings students to do community service a lot. For example, Kwabena was working on a project to \u201crefurbish a school for blind and deaf kids.\u201d The outcome of this leadership pedagogy is very successful. Kwabena said he \u201cbelieves he upholds these values\u201d and he believed that \u201cif you are not suffering, then you have the moral obligation to give back to where you came from<b>.<\/b>\u201d\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In general, schools use students\u2019 awareness of being a privilege and guide them to step into a leadership role. And then schools transform students\u2019 awareness of being a privilege into a sense of social obligation to use their power and to help more people. School should be a setting for justice so it is very important to guide students to understand their privilege in a positive way in elite school settings.<\/p><\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"module-text-more\">More <\/a><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module box -->\n<!-- module box -->\n<div  class=\"module module-box tb_8fvd582 \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"module-box-content ui  tb_default_color\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tb_text_wrap\"><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Elite students recognize their privileges in many different settings, including daily conversations with peers, family pressure, and school pedagogy. And they may have different impacts on the students, making students work hard to achieve individual success and care about services and social injustice at the same time.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module box -->\n<!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_y091216   image-top tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1736\" src=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-scaled.jpg\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-6297\" title=\"pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101\" alt=\"Photo by Pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-1024x694.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-1536x1041.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-2048x1388.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<div class=\"image-content\">\n\t    \n\t    \t\t<div class=\"image-caption tb_text_wrap\">\n\t\t    Photo by Pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto\t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/image-caption -->\n\t    \t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-content -->\n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image -->                    <\/div><!-- .tb-column-inner -->\n                            <\/div><!-- .module_column -->\n            \t    <\/div><!-- .row_inner -->\n\t<\/div><!-- .module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11767,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"builder_content":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ve all known that usually people in elite schools are from wealthy families who get advantageous resources and opportunities. As a result, I am curious about whether or not they can sense their privilege and how they think about their privilege. For this blog, I will mainly focus on interviews with a student called Kwabena Dankwah from Sankofa International College in Ghana and use them as examples to explain how elite students understand their privilege.<\/p>\n<ul><li><strong>How do elite students feel their privileges in daily life at school?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 According to Kwabena, \u201caround April or May people start talking about what they are doing for the summer and where they are going\u201d in the school and his family is able to afford traveling abroad, such as going to Europe. Another thing that draws Kwabena\u2019s attention is the college application. \u201cWhen people were applying for colleges and people were applying for financial aid,\u201d, he had more privileges in choosing whatever colleges he wanted based on his academic performance because he \u201cwas one of the few\u201d that did not need to consider and worry about applying for financial aid. As a result, the awareness of being privileged appears in daily conversations with peers, such as topics about traveling or college applications.<\/p>\n<ul><li><strong>How is the elite family involved in the generation of the awareness of being privileged?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Kwabena\u2019s family emphasizes his privileges a lot. \u201cThey always refer to the fact that thousands of other people of Kwabena\u2019s age aren\u2019t getting the same privileges that he is getting.\u201d His family wants him to recognize and appreciate his privilege and uses this awareness to study harder as they want him \u201cnot to waste his opportunities\u201d, \u201ctake his education seriously\u201d, and \u201cnot take things for granted.\u201d From here we can see how this awareness of being privileged turns into a family pressure that the privileges are provided by the family so the elite students need to take responsibility to use those resources and opportunities properly.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Another interesting observation is about the future career planning of elite students. Kwabena\u2019s father works in the bank and his mother is a pharmacist. Following his family\u2019s pathway, Kwabena considered himself \u201cmore of a science person\u201d and he also mentioned, \u201ceveryone else in my family is more economics and finance minded.\u201d It is noticeable that all the children in his family choose to follow their parents\u2019 careers. Therefore, the elite family also indirectly provides an example of the success that their children can continue to honor.<\/p>\n<ul><li><strong>How does the school guide their understanding of being privileged?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p><\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In Sankofa International College, the pedagogy of the school is to \u201cdevelop Pan-African minded leaders.\u201d The school\u2019s mission statement is \u201cknowledge in the service of Africa\u201d, showing a huge focus on service and leadership. The school brings students to do community service a lot. For example, Kwabena was working on a project to \u201crefurbish a school for blind and deaf kids.\u201d The outcome of this leadership pedagogy is very successful. Kwabena said he \u201cbelieves he upholds these values\u201d and he believed that \u201cif you are not suffering, then you have the moral obligation to give back to where you came from<b>.<\/b>\u201d\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In general, schools use students\u2019 awareness of being a privilege and guide them to step into a leadership role. And then schools transform students\u2019 awareness of being a privilege into a sense of social obligation to use their power and to help more people. School should be a setting for justice so it is very important to guide students to understand their privilege in a positive way in elite school settings.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Elite students recognize their privileges in many different settings, including daily conversations with peers, family pressure, and school pedagogy. And they may have different impacts on the students, making students work hard to achieve individual success and care about services and social injustice at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-scaled.jpg\" title=\"pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101\" alt=\"Photo by Pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-1024x694.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-1536x1041.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/files\/2023\/03\/pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto-5152101-2048x1388.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/> Photo by Pexels-susanne-jutzeler-sujufoto","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6289"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6298,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6289\/revisions\/6298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}