Understanding and celebrating advantaged boys: education that excludes

ABSTRACT

Under neoliberalism, parents as consumers are expected to provide their children with opportunities to get ahead. Governments defend elite schools on the grounds that ‘diversity’ and ‘choice’ are in the public interest but not everybody has an equal opportunity to choose. School websites act to promote specific images of schools with opportunities and advantages they claim to offer. A marketing video of the International Boys’ School Coalition reveals the specific masculinities and advantages touted as on offer in boys’ education. Globalised discourses of inclusion and merit are interrogated for hidden class and race inequities and advantage, as well as excluding girls and limiting identities of some boys. Schools that overwhelmingly produce the leaders of society are shown to reproduce unfair gender, class and race discourses limiting the possibilities for anyone excluded.

KEYWORDS:

• Boys schools
• gender
• class
• school choice
• masculinity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stef Rozitis

Stef Rozitis’ research interests lie in social justice in education, especially feminist perspectives and analysing discourses around education and their political and philosophical implications. She takes from her early childhood background a strong sense of the people (children and educators) that make up education as a field. She is strongly committed to teaching/learning as active grassroots democracy.