Educating Elites: Class Privilege and Educational Advantage

Howard (education, Colby College) and Gaztambide-Fernandez (curriculum, teaching, and learning, U. of Toronto, Canada) bring together nine studies by scholars of education, sociology, and psychology from the US who examine privilege in educational environments characterized by wealth and the abundance of material resources and discuss how this is related to inequality and social justice in education. Focusing on class as a critical dimension of inequality in the US, elite education as not only within school walls, and issues of methodology, the contributors discuss these environments in a historical context; questions of gender, race, and class in secondary schools; the importance of higher education in elite status; and educational experiences of elite young women outside of school, in leadership roles and the Girl Scouts. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Adam Howard is an associate professor of education at Colby College. He is author of Learning Privilege: Lessons of Power and Identity in Affluent Schooling.
Ruben A. Gaztambide-Fernandez is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is author of The Best of the Best: Becoming Elite at an American Boarding School.