Elitism in Schools Isn’t Such a Bad Thing
July 12, 2008 12 Comments
As I’ve discussed before, elite is quite a popular term in this year’s election. I won’t use this post to discuss the long history of populism i.e. anti-elitism in the U.S. because I would like to focus on one little slice of elitism that I happily subscribe to and that is elitism in schools, specifically high school and middle school.
I was blessed with a mother who sent myself and my siblings to Catholic schools. I don’t remember feeling privileged when I was in ‘grade school’ and I probably just figured it was because she wanted us to grow up to be good Catholics. Once I got in high school, that changed. Because I came from a single parent home and my dad thought Catholic schools were a waste of money, i actually assisted my mom with my tuition for high school. This meant bagging groceries for 30 hours per week and foregoing a car until I was 18, but somehow I knew I was paying for something special. Well into my college years I still felt I had been fortunate to have that experience but i couldn’t quite articulate why.
Late one night at an archaeology conference i was talking to some colleagues in a hotel bar and we were discussing alumni donations. I admitted that I still gave as generously and I could to my former high school, was active in the alumni association and still had a school bumper sticker on my car. To the last man they were all shocked. “It’s just your high school….why do you care?” Was their collective response. I asked how many of them attended private schools and none of them had. That’s when it began to click and I told them simply, “Unless you went there, you wouldn’t understand.”
What I began to realize after that conversation was that beyond academics, beyond the talent of the students and teachers, what made my high school and others like it successful was a sense of elitism. We were told nearly every day that, “Excellence is our standard, not the exception.” We were told that we should thank our parents for sending us there. We were told that we represented our school wherever we were and we were to carry ourselves accordingly in the local community (we could receive disciplinary actions for a speeding ticket or a fight on the other side of town). We were fortunate enough to be a powerhouse in local athletics and that also contributed to a general sense that we were special.
What I have come to realize is that for those years of my life, filling my head with notions of elitism wasn’t such a bad thing. Yes, it made us all a little cocky. Yes, we probably thought we were better than other kids at other schools. I say, so what? It made us all work harder. It made us feel like we had a thousand brothers that had our back. It made us feel like we could accomplish anything. We used words like family to describe our school and the people that were involved with it. In my opinion, the millions of dollars in scholarships that my graduating class received and the 98% of us that went on to college was the proof that a little elitism isn’t such a bad thing.
The teachers I had weren’t any smarter than the teachers at the public high school down the street. The students at my school weren’t any smarter. But we were all committed to that school in a way most public school employees and students are not. There is no sense of ownership, no sense of school pride. For most kids, college is the first time they really feel proud of their school and that is a shame. But I don’t think it is impossible to develop that in public schools.
As my oldest daughter moved through her middle school, a school that is public but follows a ‘traditional’ model, I saw that same old sense of elitism creep in. Because her school had a long waiting list due to its excellent reputation, the students there were told that if they didn’t like the tougher standards they could easily be replaced by more willing students. Brutal but true. Her school told them daily that they should be thankful they were there. ‘Spirit weeks’ and other activities helped ensure a healthy dose of school pride. The high number of honors students on graduation day again testified that a little sense of elitism isn’t such a bad thing. My daughter was a little cocky when she left there as well and I happily encouraged it. Sooner, rather than later, the world will tell her she’s not the big shot she thinks she is, so for now, why not let her enjoy it?
While we toss about ideas on how best to educate our children and how important it is to be involved parents working with good teachers, maybe we all need to take a step back and think about what really motivates students. Learning the school fight song, lots of pep rallies, developing a sense of pride and a little dose of elitism are pretty good companions to a quality education.
Thanks for the bit of insight into private schooling. I’d like to send our children (when we have them) to Catholic schools, but my husbands mentality is “We went to public school, and it was good enough for us.” I’d be interested in more of your perspective on it sometime.
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Thank you,
Well said. I would contribute to my school – which has a similar ethic, I think – but money is short in the law school… and I have other giving priorities in the short term…
Have you considered submitting this to Carnival of the Elitist Bastards? It’d be a heartwarming, and important, take on the issue.
NP,
Catholic schools were a fantastic experience for me and one that i rank up there with a good family and the Boy Scouts for having formed me into the good person I try to be.
Any time you want a little more insight I’d be happy to share. You know where to find me.
Ames,
I don’t think Dana would welcome my input, but thanks for the suggestion. I understand the lack of fundage. Until recently I mostly donated my time instead of my money.
I don’t think it would be unwelcome. It’s important to know that elitism isn’t just about being smart, it’s about having the will to become smartER, and to wish the same happiness on others.
I think part of it is that when you attend public school you take it for granted. It’s there. It’s something you HAVE to do, something you have to ‘get through’. You can’t take a private school for granted. You have to work for it, earn it. It takes more… more money… more work… higher standards. Once you’ve earned it you get to take pride in it. Pride in your accomplishment.
It’s true, too, that there’s a greater sense of family in a private school. Everyone works for the private school. More fund-raising means more of a connection to the parents standing next to you. The ones with whom you are in the trenches. Those that are invested in its success. They become like family.
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You’re really just describing a paper-tiger version of elitism. All you’ve said is that students benefit from receiving an elite private education. Well, sure they do. And in many cases, they continue to benefit for the rest of their academic and professional careers, even when they haven’t earned those extra benefits. They tend to be given special benefits based on the reputation of the school they attended (e.g., scholarships, admissions to elite colleges, internship opportunities). Sorry, but you’re conveniently ignoring the basic problem: most students would benefit from “elite” education, yet very few have access to it, so the innocuous benefits that you describe become an engine of inequality. And by the way, you have your head in the clouds if you think that the only difference between elite and non-elite schools is that the elite students and teachers care more about their school and their academics. Students at elite schools (whether they’re public or private) do tend to have relatively wealthy, educated parents. Students without rich/ educated parents are very unlikely to have access to elite primary or secondary education.
The primary difference between private schools and the majority of public schools is attitude. In private schools the foundation for that attitude comes from two sources: one is access, i.e. kids are ‘elite’ because they were fortunate enough to have parents who paid their tuition. The second is expectations. The parents of private school kids generally take more interest in their kids education and hold those kids to a high standard. The schools themselves also set the bar high.
I have seen both of these factors duplicated in public schools. Elitism through access can be created through admission standards to some public schools. This of course presents a problem for the other kids who don’t gain access and the other schools that must accept everyone. That may be where it is necessary to have internal progranms at the schools like honors-level classes, a good art program, quality music education, etc. The point is to create niches for as many kids as possible where they feel special and ‘elite’ for some reason. Then you link continued inclusion in that niche to grades.
The second factor i.e. expectations is the more easily duplicated. You seem to brush off the prospect of students, teachers (and parents) caring more about academics. I suppose you think a child of disinterested parents and teachers will do well simply because he is in a private school? To the contrary, my experience with private schools was that some of my fellow students did very poorly despite the thousands of dollars their parents spent on their education.
We have to start being honest with people, especially much of our lower-income population, and telling them that their attitude towards their childrens’ education is the most easy to solve variable and also the most critical. It costs nothing but the potential for benifits are enormous.
It’s unfortunate to hear attitudes like yours because it is definitely a glass-half-full mentality and that kind of attitude is why public school students tend to fail. it also ignores hundreds of high-performing public schools across the country that have found a formula for success even without students from rich parents.
The basic premise of your argument is that if we make something exclusive and expensive then it will get better. One, by your own admission there was not anything fundamentally different about students or teachers at your beloved high school. Two, if we take your argument to a logical end basically what you are saying is that all schools should have admissions, charge tuition. Ok, what would happen? my guess is a good chunk of the population would not be formally educated all. For those who could education would be turned in to more of a hyper competitive game than it already is. Parents especially lower income ones, which you conveinently ignore that the wealthy don’t have this dilemma and are over represented at elite institutions, would have to be perpetually concerned about tuition, little Billy and Jane might have to go out and get jobs to help out. Of course considering the wonderment that is American society maybe our trusty banks can start issuing “primary education loans” that can be paid by the kids until they are in their 50′s. I am certain the debt will make them appreciate their education more…. I have gone to public schools from grade school up through my PhD, education is what you make of it. The idea that we need more artificial barriers to overcome to make people like you feel “special” is absurd on to many levels to count.
Bob – I think you might want to take another go at reading my post. The point was that we can create the same sense of elitism found in private schools within the public school system itself.
My kids attend public schools. Our district has done a good job of creating a healthy mix of magnet, traditional and basic schools. Every school offers unique programs with a specific number of spots. This creates a competitiveness within the system for students wanting to get hose spots, a feeling of accomplishment and ‘elitism’ for those that make it in and it also creates an illusion of exclusivity. Both of my kids had go through an admissions process to get into their respective schools. The process was not difficult or all that rigorous but they felt special when they got their acceptance letters in the mail. They actually brag about their schools standardized test scores. This is rare in public schools but can easily be duplicated.