Book: Education and Elitism

Of interest to teachers in international schools.

Education and Elitism
Challenges and Opportunities

By Conrad Hughes

Education and Elitism discusses polemical debates around privilege, private schools, elitist universities, equal access to education and underlying notions of fairness. The overarching question that runs through the book is about the future of education worldwide: how can schools and universities tread the tightrope between access and quality?

This book investigates the philosophical positions that characterize elitism and anti-elitism to establish three types: meritocratic, plutocratic and cultural. These types of elitism (and their counter-positions) are used as reference points throughout the book's analysis of successive educational themes. The conclusion leads to suggestions that bridge the worlds of elitism and egalitarianism worldwide. The book covers critical questions related to the sociology and philosophy of education with particular focus on contemporary disruptors to education such as the COVID-19 pandemic and protest movements for social justice.

With an attempt to offer readers an objective overview, this book will be an excellent compendium for students, academics, and researchers of the sociology of education, education policy and comparative education. It will also be of interest to school leaders, university provosts and professionals working in curriculum design.


A video of his online book launch can be viewed here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wEFSYVAIBDyNyV4MdwSVZkFoCDp4uyJY/view

Many parents send their kids to int schools not for the education but for the contacts it can bring.

A bright kid from a poor family can get into Oxbridge these days. Even if she's Black, and gay. Wadham, in particular, would love to have you- although ChCh might be a bit more iffy.

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Originally Posted by armstrong

Many parents send their kids to int schools not for the education but for the contacts it can bring.

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Your research is based on what exactly? How 'many' is 'many'?

Having had children go through the private and international school system it was because of a better education and curriculum.

Elitism? Good Lord, PlanKaren will be along shortly.

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Originally Posted by TheRealKW

The overarching question that runs through the book is about the future of education worldwide: how can schools and universities tread the tightrope between access and quality?

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That's been a matter of debate ever since there have been private universities, in Australia at least. Lower funding levels and the mass-influx of overseas students for public universities also created a quasi-private atmosphere due to the competition it created and disadvantaged local children . . . whose parents, grandparents, had funded said universities for decades though taxes.

At the end of the day parents will do what they can to provide the best education for their children - which, in many cases like USC, went into the criminal.

The tightrope has been walked.

Many is just many from what I've seen. There's not a specific number as I'm not walking around with a notepad asking parents for their reasons for sending their kids to certain schools.

There's also the chance you're only replying to me to ease your sexual tension.

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Originally Posted by armstrong

Many parents send their kids to int schools not for the education but for the contacts it can bring.

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Originally Posted by panama hat

Your research is based on what exactly? How 'many' is 'many'?

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Originally Posted by armstrong

Many is just many from what I've seen.

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Right . . . two, three . . .

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Originally Posted by armstrong

There's also the chance you're only replying to me to ease your sexual tension.

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There's also the certainty that you're flattering yourself.

It's good, though, that you join a serious discussion . . . and add weight with 'many'. :smile:

And you countered with one :smileylaughing:

Hayden and Thompson suggest that one of the main reasons that parents send their children to international or English-medium is that they believe that allowing their children to become fluent in English will provide them with an advantage in later life. It's a perceived advantage to admission into UK/USA based universities, which themselves provide an advantage later in life.

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Originally Posted by armstrong

Many parents send their kids to int schools not for the education but for the contacts it can bring.

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Of course. Its all about connections and playing the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLEvJUNfyBY

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Originally Posted by Backspin

Of course. Its all about connections and playing the game.

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For many Thai students this has nothing to do with universities overseas, though.

It's all about ABAC and jobs in advertising, media etc.

There's a substantial percentage of students who don't even hang around for the exams at int. schools - they leave before the end of the final year and get into ABAC and the like without any actual qualifications.

They've got the $, and just go to the int. school for the image, connections and lack of anything else to do.

One of the problems of research is that it can tend to look for answers too deep and complicated for Thailand. :D

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Originally Posted by armstrong

And you countered with one

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Except I didn't, halfwit . . . and look . . . Skidmark agrees with you. A sure sign that you're wrong :rofl:

Cyrille seems to agree. And he's not really in the habit of agreeing with me if I'm wrong.

And you countered with your one personal reason for sending your kids into school.

But go ahead and continue to insult me on this thread because you've taken a dislike to me in other parts of the forum.

Anyway, elite education requires elite educators and elite students- by which I mean intelligent and motivated, not Tatler fluff. All educational institutions are certainly not created equal, and by trying to make them so you just bring down the standard of the whole.

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Originally Posted by sabang

All educational institutions are certainly not created equal,

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Exactly the point Hughes makes in his book, and video above.

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Originally Posted by sabang

and by trying to make them so you just bring down the standard of the whole.

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Not really, it's more a point that scarcity creates value, and the opposite, without scarcity, without elitism, then the educational institutions will have to share the value add they actually bring... which may not be much after all.

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Originally Posted by TheRealKW

which may not be much after all.

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. . . this is a very good take-away.

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Originally Posted by sabang

Anyway, elite education requires elite educators and elite students - by which I mean intelligent and motivated

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That's a very narrow definition of elitism in 2021.

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Education and Elitism discusses polemical debates around privilege, private schools, elitist universities...

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And a different kettle of fish to what this report seems to be about.

^^ Just one of these 'wish it were so' airy fairy pseudoprinciples that don't work in the real world KW.

^ Elite probably wasn't the best choice of word, given that it is so often conflated with 'elitism'.

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Originally Posted by sabang

Just one of these 'wish it were so' airy fairy pseudoprinciples that don't work in the real world KW.

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Not mine, Hughes. And he has plenty of expertise, qualifications, research and real life experience to back it up to be more than just air fairy pseudo principals.

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Originally Posted by sabang

Elite probably wasn't the best choice of word, given that it is so often conflated with 'elitism'.

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There is a reason those words are connected. :rolleyes:

Yeah, he's right though.

It struck me that they have different connotations, especially in this context.

That's what I tried to suggest in my post too.

I'd suggest that in SEA neither have much to do with people possessing genuinely superior intellects though.