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This is a phenomenological study of privileged education and the role it plays in social reproduction within the context of an elite international school. The project is based on interviews with sixteen adolescents completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. A qualitative study through narrative methods enables the participants to offer a portrait of their perspectives on the habitus of their school in Central Europe. The research examines social group-making in this transnational setting to explore global class hierarchies. Current political and historical dynamics can be viewed within this space in an interdisciplinary manner to demonstrate how this impacts the social relations of these students. These global flows will be considered within the narratives that the participants offer on their class groupings in order to consider the international school as a space for cultural exchange. There is complexity to the social class making that is taking place there, and this study aims to explore this social organisation to better recognise how international schools establish students as a 'global elite'. This research will focus on this social reality of the under-researched domain of international education by allowing students to express their stories about how they conceive of their privileged schooling.

Some leading behavioural geneticists propose the design of education around universal DNA testing. Their research and advocacy, referred to here as edugenics, revolves around the study of human genetic material in order to predict individual learning predispositions. This has attracted high-level UK government interest. The historical lineage of such scholarship runs from the first half of the 20th century when intelligence theory, genetics and eugenics were closely linked; through an apparent epistemological division between scientists and non-scientists; to later 20th century and early 21st century scientific ambiguity around issues such as race. This thesis takes a long historical view. Its perspective is liberal but it employs both critical theory and critical race theory to help expose assumptions about race veiled in the edugenics literature. It explores themes of scientism, authorial gamesmanship and media amplification. Two devices employed by some geneticists to evade the charge of scientific racism are explored. It is suggested that the primary intended application of edugenics may be as a technology of embryo selection, where related products appear close to market. These devices, it is argued, do not of themselves invalidate edugenics research, but they do present unexposed risk to policymakers.

This thesis examines the apparent paradox between the introduction of new technology into the classroom and studies that have reported that they have had little effect on learning (Cuban, 1986; 2001; 2003; Selwyn, 2014; 2015; 2016a; 2016b). If this is the case, then it raises the question of why. Central to this thesis is the apparent distance between expectations of technology in teaching and learning and the current practices of teachers and young people. The context for this enquiry is a special school in the UK that is designated as an IT Showcase School. Following an examination of the literature, the thesis provides an account of the history of the Gutenberg press as a means of identifying how technology might change social and educational practices. Given the length of time it takes for major technological change to take effect, any study of the impact of new technology needs to be placed in a historical context. Of particular note, is that with respect to the Church the role of both the priesthood and the laity changed as a result of the Gutenberg press. The dissemination of knowledge through the books produced by the technology of the Press enabled the traditional authority of the Church to be challenged. This analysis is used as a guide to examining the current social and educational practices of young people and teachers to try to elicit whether any parallels can be drawn between the history of the Gutenberg and current uses of new technology. The historical analysis lays the ground for a study of the views of teachers and students to assess the ways new technology is being used by them. The views of young people and teachers are garnered through focus groups, a collaborative IT tool, and open-ended questionnaires. It is found that the traditional role of the teacher is being challenged as are the ways young people communicate outside the classroom. The teachers raised a series of issues that were barriers to the innovative use of technology, while the students drew a strong distinction between the uses of technology outside school and inside, which may also deter innovative technologies for learning. This thesis concludes with a set of practical implications for how we might improve the incorporation of technology in the learning process, more effectively.

Between 2000 and 2015 the Millennium Development Goals were the focus of much global attention and activity. They were selected in light of astounding poverty, with over 1 billion people at the time living on less than $1 per day. In a sense the MDGs were morally undeniable. The focus of this study is MDG2, universal primary education. It sets out to establish how and why MDG2 came to be selected. Whilst its selection seems obvious, for years developing countries complained about the short-sightedness of prioritising primary over secondary and tertiary education (Klees 2008). A task force commissioned by the World Bank and UNESCO at the time showed that the Bank’s rate of return analysis on primary education was flawed. It argued that developing countries need highly educated people to be economic and social entrepreneurs, develop good governance, strong institutions and infrastructure. In this way MDG2’s selection is problematic. Using case study method, first the literature is examined. Three hypotheses are generated: one based on a rational synoptic theory, one on critical theory and one on world society theory. A range of data are used to establish findings and test hypotheses. The study then considers implications of the findings for theory and the policy process. The findings show that priorities promoting more equal opportunities, such as MDG2, were gradually preferred. Whereas priorities promoting more equal outcomes, such as elimination of trade barriers, were gradually excluded. The study finds no evidence that the General Assembly ever voted on the list of 8 MDGs. Rather, the MDGs were selected by elite policy actors, addressing multiple interests. The study considers the assertion that marginalization of the poor does not happen because people harbor ill will toward them, rather because “The poor have no friends among the global elite” (Pogge 2011, p. 62).

This thesis focuses on the social exclusion of children of primary school age in India and Mozambique by examining two related aspects: the policies that have been adopted in both countries to tackle social exclusion and the indicators they have used to identify it. It is argued that existing policy indicators in both countries can provide a partial answer to the question of how far they have been able to address social exclusion but that indicators and analyses need to be more fine grained both to monitor social exclusion and provide leads as to how it can better addressed. The purpose is not to compare the two country analyses in order to evaluate how they differ in terms of magnitude or severity in the form of the exclusion. Rather, it is to understand the diverse nature of exclusion, and the different remedies and analyses that are required in the two countries. This analysis suggests that one size fits all policies, as once suggested by the World Bank, are inappropriate. The thesis develops an understanding of the concept of social exclusion and contrasts it with previous accounts of poverty in countries like India and Mozambique. It also adopts a normative Human Rights approach in viewing primary schooling as crucial to questions of social exclusion. It also shows how these key concepts can be related. Through the two country analyses offered in this thesis, it can be shown that because data collection processes are largely based on aggregate indicators, there is insufficient information to undertake an adequate analysis of social exclusion. In order to establish this point, official data sets are reanalyzed to see how far they can take us in helping to understand the complex nature of social exclusion. In particular, it will be shown that the indicators related to the education status of children are insufficiently disaggregated to enable an improved understanding of the characteristics of children that continue to be excluded. From this analysis it will be argued that a broader list of indicators needs to be developed related to the dynamics at the level of the school, community and household. However, given that social exclusion may be structured differently in various contexts it is argued that participatory research is required that facilitates the assessment and analysis of these dynamics by all the key stakeholders, including children, at the various levels. In particular, policy makers fail to involve children in the process of assessing and analyzing the reasons for exclusion, and therefore do not benefit from their perceptions and insights. Further analysis of the various dynamics which relate to exclusion provide useful insights to better understand the policy and programmatic initiatives that effectively address the social exclusion of children from primary school.

This thesis identifies the nature of the values that students hold about business and whether they are acquired through education; the uniformity of the transmission/communication process is addressed. The study traces the views of policy makers and teachers in the policy chain, interviews students and observes classroom interactions in a longitudinal study. The research has been conducted at a time of increasing student numbers on Business Studies courses and during an ongoing debate about the sources of values students hold about business. A distinction is drawn between the values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism and the values that students espouse enabling insight as to whether students are taught and hold AngloAmerican capitalist values or not. Other sources of values such as gender and students’ parttime jobs are considered. Seven policy makers (individuals influencing the creation of the ‘hidden’ or ‘overt’ curriculum) and four groups comprising ‘A’ level and GNVQ Advanced in Business Studies students and their respective teachers participated in the research. The study draws the following conclusions: students, typically, see profit as the primary business objective and this view is framed by the values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism, with other values such as customer service seen as ‘instrumental’ in the pursuit of profitability. Values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism were not directly being transmitted down the policy chain; however, work socialisation values were. The students were able to distinguish between their own personal values and those of business organisations; their personal values often conflicted with those of business. Factors extraneous to education, for example, students’ parttime jobs appear to have a greater influence over their knowledge of business values than that of their teachers. The students often expressed scepticism at business activities, despite no clear evidence that teachers ‘transmit’ antibusiness sentiments. Gender had some influence on the values that students held.