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The Soft-Selling of World-Class Education

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Distinction, Exclusivity and Whiteness

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Abstract

British private schools are perceived by Nigerian elite parents as ‘world-class’ educational institutions. However, this chapter reveals how this perception of ‘Education UK ’ as a global brand is based on unsubstantiated facts and visceral feelings, which are rooted in, and have emerged from, parents’ colonial habitus . However, while the collective belief in the value of British private boarding schools may have helped these schools to attain their current dominant position in the field of international education, the increased competition within the international education marketplace has meant British private schools have devised ways of maintaining and projecting their ‘world-classness ’. More specifically, the chapter argues that British private schools in Nigeria (BPS-NIG) and British private boarding schools in the UK (BPBS-UK) adopt a soft-sell technique , which allows them to sell themselves to prospective parents by appealing to their wealth and social status .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK

    Pere Ayling

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  1. Pere Ayling
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Correspondence to Pere Ayling .

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Ayling, P. (2019). The Soft-Selling of World-Class Education. In: Distinction, Exclusivity and Whiteness. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5781-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5781-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-5780-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-5781-7

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