Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
classmates in ninth through twelfth grade. Faculty researchers and I developed a set of
interview questions inspired by the student researchers' broad conceptualization of bul-
colleagues (7 males and 3 females; 8 teachers and 2 administrators).
Student and faculty researchers then collaborated with me to systematically analyze
the collected data together; taking turns to read aloud and review quotes, stopping to
discuss surprising or interesting results, reflecting upon personal experiences, and sum-
marizing the general themes that emerged. This chapter will illustrate the conversations
student and faculty researchers had as they engaged with their data and their own ex-
periences as well as direct quotes from one of the administrators interviewed in the
study. Labels in parentheses are included throughout the text to help readers identify
whomadethequotes:SR=studentresearcher;FR=facultyresearchers;AD=administrat-
or. The quotes offered in the following sections exemplify the type of research spaces
that can evolve when community data mediate and anchor a critical discussion about
one's local environment.
Inthefollowsectionsweexaminetheintersectionbetweenmasculinity,privilege,and
space as it is learned and reproduced through the enactment of masculine-oriented bul-
lying and within a school culture of hegemonic masculinity and bullying. By focusing
onsuchinstitutional spacesassportslocker-rooms,classrooms,andstudentclubs,Iwill
contextualize the reproduction of privilege within the geography of the school. By fo-
cusingonbullyingnotasanoutlyingactivitybysomeindividualstudents,butasacom-
mon masculine expression of a hegemonic culture among boys within this elite space,
I will reveal the production of privilege as a social interaction, co-constructed between
students, faculty, and the administration.
Rockport as a Privilege (Re)Producing Space
People in the American upper class have a disproportionate amount of power, privilege,
and influence (Domhoff, 2002). Those most advantaged are increasingly concentrated
and the gap between the wealthy and poor continues to widen (Rose 2007). Domhoff
(2002) argued that “families can rise and fall in the class structure, but the institutions
of the upper class persist” (67-68). Elite private schooling represents one of the per-
sistent “institutions of the upper class.” While not all of the students in private schools
become members of the power elite (e.g., politicians, CEOs, corporate leaders), these
were
the spaces where many of those individuals traditionally emerged from (Cookson
and Persell 1985). These remain important spaces for the (re)production of upper class
privilege (Kuriloff and Reichert 2003).
