Relativism in elitism: discovering the ‘non-elites’ in elite schools

• Main Author: Quah, Vanessa Li Ting
• Other Authors: Zhan Shao Hua
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70004
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite the valiant efforts by the government to promote every school as (an equally) good school, some schools such as Raffles Institution Junior College [RI(JC)] stand out as elite schools that students aspire towards. Academic research thus far have focused on inter-school dynamics which risks perpetuating the misconception that elite schools are monolithic entities – with students that are all equally brilliant, having equal access to resources and opportunities. This paper conducts an intra-school study, studying how academic tracking of some students into elite programmes in RI(JC) affects the student’s perception of themselves and their interactions with those around them. In so doing, this paper seeks to break the façade of a homogeneous high achieving student body by exposing conditions in the RI(JC) specialised academic programmes that perpetuates inequality by predetermining access to opportunities, encouraging segregation, and shaping students’ self identity situated within the broader student body.