Scrutinising Elites and Schooling in Post-Communist Poland

Globalisation, European Integration, Socialist Heritage, and Tradition
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-45258-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 206 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 299 g

Reihe: Routledge Research in Education

This book offers new insights and methodological tools to improve our understandings of how prestigious schools in Poland navigate the major political, social and cultural crosscurrents.

The range of choice for elite schooling in Poland has expanded during its post-communist transformation. However, while elite education in countries such as the US, Australia, the UK, France, and Switzerland has been extensively studied, post-communist countries have been largely neglected. This book explores the emergence of such schools within a context influenced by a range of different and often conflicting social forces. In doing so, the study elucidates how the socio-historical processes since 1989 diversified Poland’s egalitarian education system and facilitated the emergence of schools for elites. The book demonstrates that social and political changes in Poland triggered the emergence of new elites with different political and social outlooks, leading to a variety of types of elite schools that reflect and reproduce the elites’ positions and idiosyncrasies. A bespoke theoretical arrangement scrutinises extant and generated data from elite schools’ websites, online readers’ forums, and interviews with elite school principals.

The book contributes new insights into elite schools in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, enriching the existing body of knowledge on elites and elite schools around the world. It will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students investigating elite education, sociology of education, education policy, and education and international development.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dunwill, Alexandra Margaret

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Gruppen & Klassen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Geschichte der Pädagogik, Richtungen in der Pädagogik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wirtschaftssoziologie, Arbeitssoziologie, Organisationssoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Philosophie der Erziehung, Bildungstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction. 1. Theorising elites and elite schools 2. Theory and method 3. The Polish nation at the crossroads 4. Polish education at the crossroads 5. Elite school principals’ perspectives on prestige 6. Elite schools’ websites: Values and beliefs 7. Supporters and opponents of elite schools: Online public commentary 8. Conclusion Appendices

Über Autor(innen)

Alexandra Margaret Dunwill holds a Master's degree from the University of Warsaw, Poland, and a Ph.D. from Monash University in Melbourne. Her research interests include social, cultural, and economic aspects of globalisation, transnationalism, and educational policy reforms in Australia and Europe. Alexandra is President of the Australian Institute of Polish Affairs, an independent, non-political organisation founded in Melbourne. The institute collaborates with leading academic and other institutions in Australia.