Constructing the Identity of a "School in the Middle": How School Values Build Tension Around Privilege

• In Event: 63.060 - Issues in Private Education

Abstract

This paper grows out of concern about the role of independent schools in the preparation of citizens from privileged backgrounds. One tool a school might use in this effort is reference to a core set of values that have a civic component. These values can create tension with privilege and lead to a healthy questioning of the role of privilege in the school community and society. This paper describes how members of the school community at EFS constructed an identity for the school through these tensions and how this identity at times functions to facilitate exploring tensions between the prep school culture and Quaker values, but also at times is used as a tool to avoid addressing these tensions.

Author

• Christopher George Pupik Dean, University of Pennsylvania