This article applies positional conflict theory to investigate how the proliferation of international schools can create a new layer of educational stratification and deepen inequality of opportunity. Data from five international schools in metropolitan centres across southern China were collected through interviews, school visits, and a survey.…

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…

There has been reference in literature to the concepts of a Transnational Capitalist Class and a Global Middle Class, but there has been little discussion of how education may form any sense of class solidarity for these groups. In national contexts, ruling class socialisation has been achieved through elite private schooling. But the notion of…

Global citizenship education has been in the world agenda for some time. However, different understandings of global citizenship are at play not only on the official curricula but also in the daily enactments of students within each institution. The research presented in this article seeks to investigate the notions of citizenship practices in an…

Across East and Southeast Asia, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is expanding and diversifying. More students from affluent families are 'opting out' of mainstream schooling to take the IB's Diploma Programme (DP), which is marketed as a distinctive skill-based education that prepares students for university. This research investigated how DP…

This paper focuses on the production of cosmopolitan capital among students participating in the DC Public Schools Study Abroad Programme, an initiative that has been lauded as shifting the narrative of equitable access to global learning. We draw on a framework of Bourdieusian ideas about cultural capital, as well as community cultural wealth…

"Study Gods" offers a rare look at the ways privileged youth in China prepare themselves to join the ranks of the global elite. Yi-Lin Chiang shows how these competitive Chinese high schoolers first become "study gods" ("xueshen"), a term describing academically high-performing students. Constant studying, however, is…

The main role of an elite school is to produce future leaders and this paper examines how four elite schools in different parts of the Global South are engaging in this process. Despite the critiques of global citizenship education (GCE) being a vestige of the colonial project, we analyse closely how it is being actively and productively…

Drawing on a multi-sited global ethnography of elite schools, this article explores how these institutions work to produce subjects that will thrive in a globalized world. We examine how despite a similar commitment to global citizenship education and a cosmopolitan orientation across all schools, the intersections between the transnational and…

This article reports on a research project which focused on the aspirations and identities of students in an international school. Ten boys and ten girls were interviewed using semi-structured and photo-elicitation interviews. This research indicates convincingly that socio-economic background and international capital are crucial factors framing…

In order to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to live and work in an interconnected and interdependent world, it is essential they have teachers who understand global processes and can employ a global perspective in the classroom. While globalization can lead to expanded economic markets, increased mass…