Negotiating Privilege and Identity in Educational Contexts

Recent efforts emphasize the roles that privilege and elite education play in shaping affluent youths’ identities. Despite various backgrounds, the common qualities shared among the eight adolescents showcased in this book lead them to form particular understandings of self, others, and the world around them that serve as means for them to negotiate their privilege. These self-understandings are crucial for them to feel more at ease with being privileged, foster a positive sense of self, and reduce the negative feelings associated with their advantages – thus managing expectations for future success.

Offering an intimate and comprehensive view of affluent adolescents’ inner lives and understandings, Negotiating Privilege and Identity in Educational Contexts explores these qualities and provides an important alternative perspective on privilege and how privilege works. The case studies in this volume explore different settings and lived experiences of eight privileged adolescents who, influenced by various sources, actively construct and cultivate their own privilege. Their stories address a wide range of issues relevant to the study of adolescence and the various social class factors that mediate adolescents’ educational experiences and identities.

Adam Howard is associate professor of education at Colby College, USA. Prior to teaching at the college level, he was an English teacher at an independent high school. He is co-editor of Educating Elites: Class Privilege and Educational Advantage and author of Learning Privilege: Lessons of Power and Identity in Affluent Schooling.

Aimee Polimeno is an undergraduate at Colby College in the graduating class of 2014. She is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Education. She is a research assistant for Professor Adam Howard in Colby’s Education Department.

Brianne Wheeler is an undergraduate student at Colby College, USA. She is majoring in Psychology with minors in Administrative Science and Human Development. She is a research assistant for Professor Adam Howard in Colby’s Education Department.