Elite Schools Research Articles

Nazi Elite-School Pupils as Youth Ambassadors: Between Fascist Italy and the Third Reich

Focused on transnational exchanges, this article examines a series of trips to Fascist Italy that were undertaken by pupils of Nazi elite schools in their role as youth ambassadors of the Third Reich. As a form of cultural diplomacy that continued during the Second World War, these trips were part of Fascist and Nazi efforts to foster a new cultural order. However, although intended to strengthen ties between the two regimes, the trips also laid bare national differences.

Citizenship Education in Elite Schools of Pakistan: Examining Requisite Skills for Civic and Political Participation in History Textbooks

The study employed qualitative content analysis to investigate the model of citizenship education in the history textbooks of elite schools in Pakistan. This study specifically explores the representation of requisite skills, one of the micro components of citizenship rights. This requisite skill is further divided into qualification, motivation, and information. Purposeful sampling was used, and textbooks from grades 6th to eighth were selected. Elo and Kyngäs’s method was used to conduct content analysis, and NVivo software was used to code textbooks. It has been found that textbooks exclusively written for Pakistani students focus more on facts as records of past events and show less tendency for higher-order thinking skills such as collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills. Conversely, the textbooks exclusively written for International Baccalaureate (IB) students emphasized the situation where the students not only developed requisite skills for civic and political participation but also created a situation where the students could develop a holistic view of events in history and global issues. The findings of this research have implications and recommendations for the written curriculum of elite schools

Political and Economic Discourses of Centralization and Decentralization: Education and Science in Russia

Incidents are increasingly occurring in schools, for which municipalities are being held responsible in Russia. Business makes complaints about the level of training of university graduates, which is a problem of coordinating the activities of the leadership of the constituent entities of the Federation with classical and technical universities. According to the authors, this is a consequence of the functioning of informal institutions that have developed in post-Soviet Russia in the field of education and science. Differences are determined by the different informal institutions that develop in these organizations. Such institutions are identified by insiders – employees and consumers of services (parents of pupils and students, students themselves), distinguishing between types of schools and universities. But their knowledge remains tacit and is not included in public discussion. From the point of view of officials responsible for the functioning of secondary and higher schools, some types of organizations highlighted in the work do not exist. Scientific activity began to be assessed on the basis of bibliometric indicators. But there is an international legal cartel operating in this area, which allows large publishing houses to maximize their income. Russian scientists spent about $ 10 million in 2020 to pay for the services of the publishing houses. The current system meets the needs of representatives of elite universities and schools, which is common for peripheral capitalism. At the same time, municipalities and Subjects of the Federation are very interested in changing the situation – minimizing the scope of “negative” informal institutions in schools, developing advanced scientific and educational centers in the regions.

Rugby union, class and ‘Middle Ireland’ in Irish media

Although graduates of elite Irish fee-paying schools are disproportionately represented in the Irish men’s national rugby union team, Irish international games are among the most popular on Irish terrestrial television, signifying rugby’s growth as a spectator sport in Ireland. This article examines the role of Irish print, broadcast media and related publications in popularising elite-level Irish rugby. Employing a principally Bourdieusian theoretical perspective it analyses how media representation obscures the significance of class background and elite schooling in facilitating players’ individual and collective social advancement and material gain prior to, in and beyond rugby careers. One is by highlighting players’ relatability and transcendence of class privilege as the antithesis of the popular Irish caricature of an arrogant, privately educated former schools rugby player, Ross O’Carroll Kelly. The second is the displacement of class, in media representations, onto narratives, and performances, of regional and stylistic variety that are contained within an all-encompassing, inclusive conceptualization of ‘middle Ireland’.

Beyond a sense of obliviousness: elite education and national identity among Palestinian students in Israel

ABSTRACT Through interviews with Palestinian students in elite schools in Israel, we delve into the intersection between experiences of elite identities and national identities. Contrary to the conventional narrative of hegemonic elite education promoting apolitical attitudes, our findings reveal that Palestinian students, belonging to a stigmatized minority group, prioritize academic excellence alongside a strong emphasis on Palestinian patriotism and national identity. Furthermore, we uncover a heightened political awareness among these students, which they attribute to distinct practices and rituals within the school setting. This paper contributes to understanding how elite education intersects with the construction of national identity among minority elites. It offers insights into the experiences of minority elite students facing discrimination while also highlighting the emergence of a self-defined elite within this specific sub-group.

Do social ties between two signatory auditors affect audit quality and firm value?

We explore the effects of social ties (including alumni relations, regional connections and employment affiliation) between the two signatory auditors (engagement and review auditors) on audit quality in China. We find that client firms with socially connected auditors have lower audit quality. The negative effect is more pronounced when the two signatory auditors are partners in their audit firms or when financial irregularities exist in their client firms. Conversely, this adverse effect is alleviated if the two auditors have attended elite schools or work for one of the Big 4 audit firms. We further find that social ties between the two auditors is negatively associated with firm value through impaired market confidence, while this negative relationship can be partially explained by impaired audit quality. Overall, our results indicate that the costs of the two signatory auditors’ social ties outweigh their benefits.

Magneettikouluja vai eliittikouluja?

The connection between urban and school segregation has been identified as a major question in Finnish educational policy. Families’ school choices in basic education are strongly connected to socio-spatial segregation, families’ socio-economic status, and the provision of selective tracks and streams in schools. As a result, the provision of selective schools and selective classes is a major factor shaping the landscape of urban school segregation. We have analyzed whether the geographical placement of selective education in the City of Helsinki can be identified to either ameliorate school segregation through a “magnet school” effect or exacerbate segregation through “elite school” placement. Our results demonstrate that the provision of selective schools and classes in public schools is in general geographically very equally distributed, and as such does not construct a magnet school effect. However, as the placement of private schools has a distinct “elite” pattern, the educational landscape of the city leans towards a slight “elite effect”.

Problematising teachers' accounts of privilege in elite high schools

AbstractThe research question at the core of this paper concerns how teachers in elite Israeli high schools explain their educational work in this context, given its central role in establishing and perpetuating privilege in the current polarised era. To answer this question, we conducted 28 interviews with teachers from three elite high schools in Israel. The findings reveal three ways teachers justified their educational work in elite schools: cultivating the ‘serving elite’, helping shape elite students' leftist political orientation and future voting behaviour (emphasising the idea that political leftism serves as a mitigating force against the excesses of plutocracy) and fulfilling elite children's right to a level of education commensurate with their ability. The discussion problematises these justifications by highlighting their features, which, in turn, contribute to a complex understanding of how privilege functions and how advantages and inequality are produced and perpetuated in exclusive and exclusionary elite spaces.

Strategies for social mobility through sports and/or school in working-class Moroccan families

ABSTRACT This article examines the social mobility strategies employed by working-class Moroccan families in the context of the complex relationship of elite sport and school. To better understand these strategies, a qualitative study, including semi-structured interviews and participant observations, was conducted in the city of Temara (on the outskirts of Rabat) with young people aged 14–20 years and parents. From the analysis of this data, I identified five themes that reflect the different investments families held in sport and/or schooling, as strategies for their children’s futures. One group of parents invested in an educational strategy that focused on academic success. In contrast, others adapted their strategies to encourage their children to pursue an athletic career if they failed academically or showed signs of potential athletic success, while another group of parents tried to protect their children from the possible adverse effects of sports commitment. Another group supported their children in their chosen paths of social mobility. Lastly, there were parents who due to precarious living conditions and family conflicts were indifferent to sports as a pathway to social mobility and instead urged their children to become more productive immediately through seeking work. These differing family strategies in relation to young people's investment in sports point to the diversity of working-class families’ responses to the tensions that emerge when school and sport come into conflict as pathways to social mobility. I acknowledge that these family strategies are not fixed but may change with changes in available resources and opportunities. However, I argue that both schools and sporting organizations need to be aware and understand the complex environments, including family investments and strategies in which students may be making choices about their futures in relation to education and sport.

Elite schools and educational inequality: Evidence from a private university in Kazakhstan

Neoliberal reforms in education led to the creation of elite schools which resulted in educational inequality that later often channels into economic and social inequalities. This research aims to deepen the understanding of the impact of elite secondary education on inequality in a post-Soviet context. The study empirically examines the gain in academic performance achieved by graduates of better-funded, better-quality, elite public secondary schools in Kazakhstan during their studies at a university, with a sequential mixed-method approach. Our quantitative analysis documents that they indeed perform better than their peers who have studied at mainstream public schools. The qualitative analysis underscores that elite schools in Kazakhstan, with superior infrastructure and academic standards, prioritize soft skill development, yet exacerbate educational inequality by limiting access to students without resources or means to relocate. This work has important policy implications most crucial of which is the efficiency of public funding policy that anchors educational inequalities. Our research highlights how neoliberal reforms in Kazakhstan have exacerbated educational inequality through the emergence of state-sponsored elite and private schools, echoing broader concerns about the negative impact of education marketization on equity in post-socialist contexts.

Effects of Stress and Procrastination on The College Application Process in High School Students Belonging To Elite Schools

The primary research has been conducted on 11th and 12th-grade students from higher socioeconomic strata in India planning to apply for further studies outside the country. The methodology involved a survey conducted on 60 high school students from elite (top- ranked) schools in New Delhi, India. The results indicated that the students experienced high stress levels during the application process, leading to procrastination. This conformed to various research studies that were conducted on students of the same age in other countries of the world. To reduce these high levels of stress for these students various steps have been identified.

"Each student is fitted with a customized suit": Teacher identity, the burden of intensive educational work, and ethical transgressions among teachers at an elite high school

This study examines two central questions: What characterizes teacher identity in an elite high school? Does teacher identity in an elite high school influence the construction and cultivation of privileges? Thirty teachers from an elite high school in Israel were interviewed, revealing three features of the teacher identity: engagement in the concept of the "ideal teacher," acknowledging the burden of the educational work, and the ethical consequences of the burden of their work as educators. Findings highlight the unique characteristics of teacher identity in an elite school and their impact on cultivating and maintaining class privilege and social inequality.

The Role of Motivation to Excel in the Etiology of Exertional Heat Stroke.

Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a medical emergency characterized by elevated body temperature and central nervous system dysfunction, and it can include dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness, as well as long-term organ and tissue damage. EHS is distinct from classic, or passive, heat stroke and is most commonly observed during intense physical activity in warfighters, athletes, and laborers. EHS is an ongoing non-combat threat that represents a risk to both the health and readiness of military personnel. Potential risk factors and their mitigation have been the subject of investigation for decades. One risk factor that is often mentioned in the literature, but not well quantified, is that of individual motivation to excel, wherein highly trained military personnel and athletes exert themselves beyond their physiological limits because of a desire to complete tasks and goals. The motivation to excel in tasks with high standards of achievement, such as those within elite military schools, appears to create an environment in which a disproportionately high number of exertional heat illness casualties occur. Here, we review existing biomedical literature to provide information about EHS in the context of motivation as a risk factor and then discuss five cases of EHS treated at Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Moore, GA, from 2020 to 2022. In our discussion of the cases, we explore the influence of motivation on each occurrence. The findings from this case series provide further evidence of motivation to excel as a risk factor for EHS and highlight the need for creative strategies to mitigate this risk.

Trusted professionals or expendable functionaries? Exploring the sources of role strain among teachers at an elite high school

In this qualitative study, I examine the sources of role strain among teachers at The Richmond Academy of Science (the Academy) – one of the most exclusive English-medium international schools in Bangalore, a city in southwest India. I address the following question: How does the Academy’s position, as one of the premiere inter-national schools, impact teachers’ interactions with students, parents, and senior administrators? The analysis of interviews with 24 teachers at the Academy indicates that structural aspects of the school, such as its dependence on recruiting stu-dents from wealthy families, inform how students, parents, and senior administrators interact with teachers. In some cases, teachers are treated as trusted professionals whose opinions are valued, whereas in other instances, they are treated as expendable functionaries whose job involves ful-filling the goals set by others – namely parents and senior administrators. Teachers’ attempts to satisfy these conflicting expectations lead to role strain, which they express as resignation and frus-tration. Interrogating how teachers at one elite school experience their work provides important insight into how schools’ structural characteris-tics and the behaviour of key stakeholders shape teachers’ professional experiences.

CREATION AND ACTIVITY OF «ELITE» SCHOOLS IN GERMANY (1933–1945)

The article highlights the activities of elite schools and their creation. It has been revealed that from the very beginning of its existence, the Nazi regime in Germany sought absolute power over all spheres of German life. The field of education and upbringing had a specific importance in the ideology of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (hereinafter NSDAP).
 Significantly, the ideologues of the Third Reich emphasized the non-class nature of their movement, and the main criterion for achieving personal growth of social peaks was not belonging to a particular class, not property qualifications, but a person’s own abilities and personal qualities. However, the main qualities were blind faith in the Führer, ruthlessness towards enemies, and cooperative personality. For the first time in the entire existence of Germany, young people had a sense of their importance. Never before in German history have youth been so needed, and, at the same time, so criminally used. Social selection began to play a fundamental role in society, so it is not surprising that it also affected the sphere of school and youth education. The emergence of elite schools that educated future generals, Gauleiters, and party officials was a logical reaction to the current regime in Germany.
 In Hitler’s elite schools, the dream of educating new German people-lords was to become a reality. In schools named after Adolf Hitler, national-political educational institutions, and Reich schools of the NSDAP, the regime wanted to raise capable performers who, as Hitler’s heirs, should have the future. Children were drilled, taught military affairs, and formed their worldviews. They were obliged to “believe, obey and fight”, to fulfill the role of political fighters. Young people, attracted by the opportunity to engage in various sports, to have rich leisure time, and to have a promising future career, entered elite boarding schools. There, they were brought up with unconditional loyalty to the regime. During the war, graduates of Hitler’s schools were often fanatics. Only one in two survived.

Foreign language learning motivation and the socioeconomic status of Czech lower secondary students: An analysis of mediating factors

The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and students’ English as a foreign language (EFL) learning motivation is an under-researched topic. However, with growing concerns about how SES affects students’ academic behaviors and educational outcomes, an investigation of this topic is needed. Applying the L2 motivational self-system theory, we explore, on a sample of 664 Czech lower secondary students, the effect of SES on students’ EFL learning motivation and examine whether this effect can be explained by students’ attendance at elite schools and their families’ use of English while traveling abroad. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that SES plays an important role in both students’ L2 learning experience and ideal L2 self. We found that children of parents with higher SES levels are more likely to attend elite schools and experience trips abroad with their family where English is used to communicate, which can largely explain the effect of SES on students’ L2 learning experience and L2 ideal self. Future research into the factors that contribute to language learning motivation among students from different SES levels could further shed light on how the motivation gap can be closed.

Behavioural and attitudinal support to zero-COVID policies among adolescents in a Chinese coastal area: direct experience and political socialization

ABSTRACT China implemented the stringent and controversial zero-COVID policies nationally for almost three years during the pandemic, yet little is known why Chinese citizens tolerated and supported the policies. Adopting the explanatory frameworks of direct experience and political socialization, we explored, with data from a representative survey in a coastal area in China, how adolescents in the area formulated their behavioural compliance with and attitudinal trust in the policies. We found that after socio-demographic differences were controlled, negative direct experiences during the pandemic were associated with deviation and distrust while positive direct experiences correlated with compliance and trust. In addition, parental socialization at home and school socialization also affected adolescents in their policy support. Those who enjoyed good communications with parents tended to develop both behavioural compliance and attitudinal trust. Adolescents with college-educated parents were more likely to show trust in the zero-COVID policies, and those who attended elite schools were more likely to comply with them. Attention needs to be paid to the agencies of adolescents embedded in their life environment in developing attitudinal and behavioural policy support, as well as the increasing inequality in China during the pandemic.

Elite schooling in the city: the model minority myth and urban education

ABSTRACT The movie Try Harder! features a group of students at Lowell High School in San Francisco, California, as they navigate their elite public institution and apply to top-tier universities. A critical analysis of this film allows us to understand new trends and emerging discourses in urban cities, showing the way racialized groups are pit against each other to legitimize white supremacy. I employ the lenses of critical studies of race to examine the following questions: (1) how does the model minority myth shape urban contexts? and (2) how are racial, political, and academic discourses constructing notions of merit via the film Try Harder? Few studies examine the model minority myth in relation to urban contexts, despite its rising influence in political debates and education policy. This paper aims to fill this void by addressing the changing landscape of urban education and academic discourse.

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Culture of Excellent Black High Schools in the Era of Jim Crow

This article describes the cultural characteristics of four elite African American high schools, initiated prior to Brown v. Board of Education, that produced outstanding graduates. Positive school culture characteristics examined were leadership, faculty, curriculum and instruction, student qualities, the environment, and internal and external relationships. The authors posed questions investigating how educators and alumni of Gary, Indiana’s Theodore Roosevelt High School viewed the characteristics of its culture and how the culture compared to other elite African American high schools in the extant literature. Using surveys, archival information, and the research literature, the authors collected information describing the high school’s distinctive features. Comparing the results of Rooseveltwith the other exemplary high school cultures of Dunbar, Sumner, and Terrell, they reported these insights about their cultural characteristics: (a) high caliber and sustained leadership of individuals who cultivated positive school environments and created institutions that were a distinctive blend of school and community; (b) highly educated and qualified faculty members; (c) a rigorous and challenging curriculum emphasizing the preparation of students for higher education; (d) students who exhibited a strong sense of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a rejection of the concept of inferiority; (e) a family-like environment that was welcoming, inclusive, and receptive to individuals from varied backgrounds that fostered a strong sense of pride and efficacy; and (f) a family climate experienced by internal and external stakeholders that created a sense of belonging and place.

In a Class of Its Own? The Origins and Early History of Tennis in the 19th-Century Cape Colony

This article endeavours to awaken a scholarly interest in the origins and early history of tennis in the city of Cape Town and the Cape Colony more broadly. By drawing on newspaper accounts and other supplementary materials, the article maps out a social, political and cultural landscape that shaped this particular history prior to 1892, the year that tennis was established on a national basis in the region that would become the Union of South Africa in 1910. Much of this history has disappeared or has been erased from public consciousness and therefore events are called up that may appear insignificant to the modern reader. In recovering this history, this article seeks to demonstrate that the history of this sport matters because of its place in the social and political unfolding of 19th-century Cape colonial society. It then unpacks this history as it evolved predominantly among the English-speaking colonial middle class, in elite private residences, hotels, schools and clubs within the culture associated with these institutions.