This paper investigates the experiences of Western teacher expatriates in a Shanghai international schooling organization. We explore the risks and benefits associated with transnational mobility and how teacher expatriates, as part of the global middle-class (GMC), maintain and reaffirm their middle-class status. Focusing on adaptation and…

In this paper, I develop the idea of cosmopolitan stances -- one 'intellectual' and the other 'aesthetic' -- to examine conceptions of cosmopolitanism within a range of university strategies. Recent research into cosmopolitanism has adopted a Bourdieusian lens, understanding it as cultural capital, which acts as a locus of stratification in the…

As global neoliberalism continues to take root, States aim to produce linguistically-skilled human capital to gain an advantage within highly-competitive market conditions. With this relationship in view, English language proficiency constitutes a 'rational' educational pathway for national and personal-level success within an outwardly…

This study adds to the emerging body of literature on parental practices and trajectories of globally mobile middle-class families, by focusing on families belonging to diverse religious Jewish communities. Through an interview-based, in-depth analysis of three internationally mobile families representing various Jewish religious factions, we…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of college-age mentors in a school-based mentoring (SBM) program with the aim of understanding mentor perceptions of "power." Design/methodology/approach: Seventeen mentors, comprising both undergraduate (9) and graduate (8) students, participated in this exploratory…

This article examines the educational strategies of Shanghai Chinese middle-class parents who intend to raise their children to be cosmopolitans. It is based on a 2-year interview study of a group of Chinese parents who send their children to accredited international bilingual schools in Shanghai. Drawing on the concept of ordinary…

This paper offers an ethnographic account of how Golden Harvest International School in Bengaluru branded itself as both 'International' and 'Indian', by elaborating discursive practices within the school. Drawing upon scholarship that has sought to delineate the ways in which globally hyper-mobile Indians construct a distinctive cultural…

This article traces the state takeover and neoliberal reconstruction of a mid-size urban school district in the California Bay Area. Aligning with research on social networks in school reform, it identifies three organizational nodes of power operating within the takeover and post-takeover landscape: venture-philanthropic capital, the Teach for…

Today China witnesses a renaissance of classical studies and Confucian Academies across the nation. With an estimated 10 million children attending Confucian kindergartens, classes, and schools, cultural heritage has increasingly become a new marker of social distinction. At the same time, Confucian tradition is often associated with excessive…

Travel has become ubiquitous for most social groups as holidaying abroad has become ever cheaper and ecumene. This paper considers how travel can be understood as part of family practices around children's educations and futures. Drawing on Kaufmann's concept of motility, we examine how spatial mobility might become a form of cultural capital to…

This essay discusses the role of religion as a central facet when researching the emerging social group -- the global middle class (GMC). It is argued here that religion is a particularly relevant feature for the constitution of this social group because of the GMC's transnational and cosmopolitan character. In this essay, I will draw on several…

Schooling has long been studied for its role in class formation and reproduction, Australian government secondary schools have also traditionally been associated with 'the local' and with 'nation building'. Some schools might now also be engaged with ideas of the 'the global' not only through policy practices and priorities, but also through the…

Drawing on empirical data regarding educational strategies among internationally mobile families in the Stockholm-Uppsala region, this study questions the notion of a global middle class. First, a quantitative analysis shows that immigrating middle class professionals and their children are few, having marginal impact on the demand for…

This paper explores internationally mobile global middle class families (GMCF) in terms of how they rationalise moving away from their home country, select schools and reimagine their young children's futures in an international setting. Building on Appadurai's notion of 'the future as a cultural fact' and Anagnost's concept of 'life-making in…

This study employs the notion of 'flexible citizenship,' to examine how national and transnational forces and discursive logics mediate Chinese international secondary school students' educational routes and life trajectories. It draws upon a larger ethnographic research programme that followed 11 Chinese students in a Canadian international…