A educação da elite: a busca pela homogeneidade e as ferramentas de compensação para o insucesso escolar

Abstract

This work introduces some of the characteristics of the elite education - how families choose which schools to send their kids to and what is indirectly included in the high tuitions. Homogeneous friendships, a controlled circle of friends, an idea of how to behave oneself socially speaking – everything is part of a feeling that one belongs to a special and select group. In some of the researches that are discussed, rich families revealed a certain negligence for the learning process in itself and a sense of worth in the diploma and the networking assured by it. Contrary to popular belief, money does not automatically eliminate educational failure. There are, however, compensation strategies that hide academic mishaps, like private lessons, for example. Finally, one may question what is the school´s roll in the making of a good elite student – since some habits, like the value of reading, are already present in the home of the privileged