Thank you, merci, shukran! private education and language in Egypt

My thesis examines the processes by which the reproduction of power and social hierarchies transpire in the field of international, private schools in Egypt. More specifically, I will analyze how the linguistic system in these schools reproduce and reinforce forms of power and inequality. I will consider the process by which nonnative languages, principally English, became the dominant and legitimate linguistic system of these schools, and how the complexities of their habitus have influenced students\u27 language beliefs and practices. Language is a place for ideological contestation and identity assertion reinforcing power relations between groups and individuals. Differences in accent, grammar, language, and vocabulary indicate hierarchical social positions and quantities of linguistic capital. Furthermore, this process has stigmatized Arabic, although the national language, as deficient and subordinate. Using a theoretical framework guided by the work of Pierre Bourdieu and through ethnographic fieldwork, I will attempt to understand the effects such developments have on structuring agents\u27 (studentsâ primarily Egyptian, teachers, alumni) behavior and beliefs, and how private schools assist in the reproduction of this social order. Aside from my ethnographic fieldwork, I explore the effects of two transformative socio-historical processes on Egypt\u27s education system and social order. First, I explore the emergence of the effendiya and the reproduction of their habitus and practices into a privileged, cosmopolitan class. Second, I explore the reproduction of social positions and inequalities through the continued bifurcation of Egypt\u27s education system into two distinct tracks. Previous scholarship focused on public Egyptian schools analyzing curriculum, the pyramidal and antidemocratic nature of public schooling, the impact of Islam on school culture, and the State and Arabic language polices. I, however, will focus on the complexities of social processes in Egypt\u27s â privilegedâ class regarding the development of language using education as the site of contestation. Through a rather unexplored approach, this thesis will show how inequalities and social hierarchies are transferred into the macrosociety through the English language and education. Furthermore, it also addresses ways in which power relations and social positions of the elite in Egypt are maintained and reproduced

A Global-Local Paradox: The Influence of International Schools on Egyptian Students

This study seeks to understand the influence of global-local connections in the context of international schools in Egypt. Specifically, how does the international and local orientation of elite, international schools in Egypt influence Egyptian students’ orientations towards the self, others, and the broader society? Quantitative subquestions explored include: What is the orientation of elite, international schools in Egypt? What global and local inputs have the greatest significant influence on this process? Qualitative questions include: What role do international schools play in legitimizing and cultivating cosmpolitanism in these privileged students? How do privileged students interpret and use the skills and dispositions acquired and refined in their international schools? The goal of this study is to examine social and cultural processes in elite, international schools in Egypt that reinforce and reproduce distinction and privilege. Unraveling this process is done using a mixed methods, vertical case study framed by the work of Pierre Bourdieu through the perspectives of school alumni. International schools are unique and exclusive sites where global inputs–teachers, curriculum, language–flow largely unfiltered into these local schools. Yet, little research exists that analyzes the influence of these global inputs in local school contexts, if any adaptation or inclusion of the local context transpires, or the subsequent long term influence this field has on students (re)positioning into society. Quantitative results indicate that global-local connections in international schools persistantly focus on internationalization at the expense of localization. The lack of localization subsequently increases differentiation within Egypt’s society. Qualitative results support these quantitative findings that perceptions of differentiation are largely related to the cultivation of global rather than local connections. As a result, these schools act as exclusive vectors of cosmpolitanism, subsequently, deepening social class divides while simaltaneously reinforcing students’ privilege and distinction. However, this distinction, cultivated and legitimized by elite, international schools, provides both advantages and disadvantages depending on the orientation of the field in which they are participating and individuals’ abilities to operationalize legitimatized local and transnational capital