The Making of Elites in the Knowledge Economy: An Ethnographic Study of an Elite K-8

• In Event: 422 - Regular Session. Ethnography/Ethnographic Studies 1

Abstract

This ethnography represents one response to recent calls for descriptive accounts of elites. The site is an elite K-8 independent school for gifted children (Gentry) with an annual tuition bill of $38,000. This ethnography examines the construction of identity of the new elite in the knowledge economy – an identity that begins to take shape not during college, or even high school, but as young as age four. The school aims to recreate the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley, the prestige of Stanford University, and the innovation of a company like Apple with an emphasis on fostering skills such as social networking, adaptability, and entrepreneurship. The paper examines how structural, cultural, and interactional forces in an early childhood education setting come together to create this new elite as well as the specific mechanisms that reproduce those identities. Whereas in most public school settings students have little say over what they will learn, these students help decide, or even decide independently, what they learn, and how they learn it. I describe the work that teachers, parents, and students put into upholding their elite status and into ensuring their children’s success. I find that the school itself participates in concerted cultivation by offering music lessons and extensive electives, giving elite students significant advantages over their middle class counterparts.
key words: elite, cultural capital, knowledge economy

Author

• Chris Caldeira, University of California-Davis