The Hidden Internationalism of Elite English Schools

Abstract

Analyses of UK higher education have provided compelling evidence of the way in which this sector has been affected by globalisation. There is now a large literature documenting the internationalisation of British universities, and the strategic and economic importance attached to attracting students from abroad. Within the schools sector, it has been argued that parents are increasingly concerned about the acquisition of valuable multicultural 'global capital'. Nevertheless, we know little about whether 'internationalism' and/or the inculcation of 'global capital' is an explicit focus of UK schools. To start to redress this gap, this article draws on an analysis of websites, prospectuses and other publicly-available documents to explore the extent to which internationalism is addressed within the public face that schools present to prospective pupils, and the nature of any such messages that are conveyed.

Giving something back? Sentiments of privilege and social responsibility among elite graduates from Britain and France

“…It is evident, she argues, in the wholesale incorporation of the virtues of charitable work into the school and the establishment -through the school curriculum, through BBC programmes such as Comic Relief and Blue Peter 'appeals', and through political campaigns, such as David Cameron's 'Big Society' initiative. Of particular relevance to this analysis are the ethnographic studies of elite schools which reveal widespread engagement in charitable work -national and international -through which students are to develop 'imaginations of transnational mobility and cosmopolitan futures' (Maxwell and Aggleton, 2015: 9; see also Brooks and Waters, 2015). And, as we saw with our Oxford respondents, universities are keen to encourage their students to undertake a range of volunteering activities -within their local communities and internationally.…”

Strategic cultures of philanthropy: English universities and the changing geographies of giving

“…This approach also enhanced awareness of the conditions under which selected documents were produced (Neuendorf, 2002;Fairclough, 2003). Geographers in particular have used variants of qualitative content analysis in order to investigate how institutions and individuals interact with their surrounding environments (Dittmer, 2005;Jackson et al, 2006;Brooks and Waters, 2014).…”

Strategies of social (re)production within international higher education: the case of Swiss hospitality management schools

“…Consequently, new educational offers are created or transformed to respond to this demand for "international goodwill" (Petzold and Peter 2015;Nogueira and Aguiar 2008). For example, at the primary and secondary levels, the most prestigious private schools in dominant countries accept foreign students and advertise themselves as "international" (Brooks and Waters 2015;Khan 2011). International boarding schools -which have been recruiting from a small number of dominant countries for a long time -have gradually begun to accept children from emerging countries (Bertron 2018).…”