Negotiating Privilege and Identity in Educational Contexts

236 Pages·2014·1.77 MB·English

by  Adam Howard

Negotiating Privilege and Identity in
Educational Contexts
Recent eff orts emphasize the roles that privilege and elite education play in
shaping affl uent youths’ identities. Despite various backgrounds, the com-
mon qualities shared among these adolescents defi ne their self-understand-
ings and serve as means for them to negotiate their privilege. This improved
self-knowledge helps them to feel more at ease with being privileged, foster
a positive sense of self, and reduce the negative feelings associated with
their advantages, thus managing expectations for future success.
Off ering an intimate and comprehensive view of affl uent adolescents’
inner lives and understandings, Negotiating Privilege and Identity in Edu-
cational Contexts explores these qualities and provides an important alter-
native perspective on privilege and how privilege works. The case studies in
this volume explore diff erent settings and lived experiences of eight privi-
leged adolescents who, infl uenced by various sources, actively construct
and cultivate their own privilege. Their stories address a wide range of
issues relevant to the study of adolescence and the various social class fac-
tors that mediate adolescents’ educational experiences and identities.
Adam Howard is associate professor of education at Colby College, Water-
ville, Maine. Prior to teaching at the college level, he was an English teacher
at an independent high school. He is co-editor of Educating Elites: Class
Privilege and Educational Advantage and author of Learning Privilege:
Lessons of Power and Identity in Affl uent Schooling.
Aimee Polimeno is an undergraduate at Colby College, majoring in psy-
chology with a minor in education. She is a research assistant for Professor
Adam Howard in Colby’s Education Program.
Brianne Wheeler is an undergraduate student at Colby College, majoring
in psychology with minors in administrative science and human develop-
ment. She is a research assistant for Professor Adam Howard in Colby’s
Education Program.
Routledge Research in Education
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com.
89 Family, Community, and 97 Online Learning and
Higher Education Community Cohesion
Edited by Toby S. Jenkins Linking Schools
Roger Austin and Bill Hunter
90 Rethinking School Bullying
Dominance, Identity and 98 Language Teachers and
School Culture Teaching
Ronald B. Jacobson Global Perspectives, Local
Initiatives
91 Language, Literacy, and Edited by Selim Ben Said and
Pedagogy in Postindustrial Lawrence Jun Zhang
Societies
The Case of Black Academic 99 Towards Methodologically
Underachievement Inclusive Research Syntheses
Paul C. Mocombe and Expanding Possibilities
Carol Tomlin Harsh Suri
92 Education for Civic and 100 Raising Literacy Achievement
Political Participation in High-Poverty Schools
A Critical Approach An Evidence-Based Approach
Edited by Reinhold Hedtke and Eithne Kennedy
Tatjana Zimenkova
101 Learning and Collective
93 Language Teaching Through Creativity
the Ages Activity-Theoretical and
Garon Wheeler Sociocultural Studies
Annalisa Sannino and Viv Ellis
94 Refugees, Immigrants, and
Education in the Global South 102 Educational Inequalities
Lives in Motion Difference and Diversity in
Edited by Lesley Bartlett and Schools and Higher Education
Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher Edited by Kalwant Bhopal and
Uvanney Maylor
95 The Resegregation of Schools
Education and Race in the 103 Education, Social Background
Twenty-First Century and Cognitive Ability
Edited by Jamel K. Donnor and The Decline of the Social
Adrienne D. Dixson Gary N. Marks
96 Autobiographical Writing and 104 Education in Computer
Identity in EFL Education Generated Environments
Shizhou Yang Sara de Freitas
105 The Social Construction of 113 Teacher Leadership
Meaning New Conceptions for
Reading Literature in Urban Autonomous Student Learning
English Classrooms in the Age of the Internet
John Yandell Kokila Roy Katyal and
Colin Evers
106 Global Perspectives on
Spirituality in Education 114 Test Fraud
Edited by Jacqueline Watson, Statistical Detection and
Marian de Souza and Methodology
Ann Trousdale Edited by Neal M. Kingston and
Amy K. Clark
107 Neo-liberal Educational
Reforms 115 Literacy, Play and Globalization
A Critical Analysis Converging Imaginaries in
Edited by David A. Turner and Children’s Critical and
Hüseyin Yolcu Cultural Performances
Carmen Liliana Medina and
108 The Politics of Pleasure in Karen E. Wohlwend
Sexuality Education
Pleasure Bound 116 Biotechnology, Education and
Edited by Louisa Allen, Life Politics
Mary Lou Rasmussen, and Debating Genetic Futures from
Kathleen Quinlivan School to Society
Pádraig Murphy
109 Popular Culture, Pedagogy
and Teacher Education 117 Vernaculars in the Classroom
International Perspectives Paradoxes, Pedagogy, Possibilities
Edited by Phil Benson and Shondel Nero and Dohra Ahmad
Alice Chik
118 A Psycho-social Perspective on
110 Teacher Training and Professional Uncertainty
the Education of Black Knowledge, Theory and
Children Relationship in the Classroom
Bringing Color into Difference Joseph Mintz
Uvanney Maylor
119 Negotiating Privilege
111 Secrecy and Tradecraft in and Identity in Educational
Educational Administration Contexts
The Covert Side of Adam Howard, Aimee Polimeno,
Educational Life and Brianne Wheeler
Eugenie A. Samier
112 Affi rming Language Diversity
in Schools and Society
Beyond Linguistic Apartheid
Edited by Pierre Wilbert Orelus
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Negotiating Privilege
and Identity in
Educational Contexts
Adam Howard, Aimee Polimeno,
and Brianne Wheeler
NEW YORK LONDON
First published 2014
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2014 Taylor & Francis
The right of Adam Howard, Aimee Polimeno, and Brianne Wheeler to be
identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howard, Adam.
Negotiating privilege and identity in educational contexts / by Adam
Howard, Aimee Polimeno, and Brianne Wheeler.
pages cm. — (Routledge research in education)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Upper class—Education—United States. 2. Elite (Social sciences—
Education—United States. 3. Educational sociology—United States.
4. Social classes—United States. 5. Social status—United States.
I. Polimeno, Aimee. II. Wheeler, Brianne. III. Title.
LC4941.H694 2014
371.826'210973—dc23
2014003033
ISBN13: 978-1-138-02468-7 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-315-77560-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.
To Ellen Brantlinger
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Contents
Foreword xi
1 Making Privilege Visible 1
2 Meredith: Confi dently Traveling 20
WITH ANNA CARON, JENIFER GOLDMAN, KATIE GRIFFIN,
CONNIE JANGRO, CELESTE LATTANZI, AND ADELE PRIESTLEY
3 Herman: A Scripted Life 41
WITH CYNTHIA GARVIN, ERIKA JOHNSON, ETHAN MEIGS,
AND MORGAN RUBLEE
4 Kayla: Dribbling toward the Goal 61
WITH ADRIENNE BOWLES, JENIFER GOLDMAN, CELESTE LATTANZI,
KATE O’CALLAGHAN, AND MORGAN RUBLEE
5 Marcus: On His Own 80
WITH COURTNEY ERSKINE, CYNTHIA GARVIN, MOLLY HODSON,
PEGGY MEYER, AND HANNAH O’BRIEN
6 Sarah: Alone in the Crowd 99
WITH IAN BORTHWICK, ANNIE CHEN, KELSEY CROMIE,
ANDREW RHOADS, AND HILLARY ROWSE
7 Leo: Uncertain Future, Certain Success 119
WITH ANNIE CHEN
8 Olive: Creating Her Own Space 138
WITH ANNIE CHEN