The 'selected' and the 'ejected': The making of student subjectivity within four Australian selective schools

This research explores the processes of selection and selective schools through the perspectives of students who have been ‘selected’, as well as those who have been ‘ejected’ or have left selective schools prior to graduation. Underpinned by Foucault’s concepts of power and discourse, the operations of power, student subjectivities and the effects of selective schooling as it relates to elite and state schooling are analysed. The research highlights four discourses that shape selected students: opportunity, 'superiors', 'more than marks' and 'student wellbeing.' It argues that through an ambivalent and paradoxical experience of selective schooling, ‘ambivalent’ subjectivities are made; characterised by a sense of unease and uncertainty about oneself and one's future. Implications for research on selective schooling and student subjectivity are discussed.