Starting from Lagos: International schooling and the diverse transnational status-making projects of ‘Middling’ and ‘Elite’ Nigerians

Abstract

This paper examines the diverse Lagos international school sector as an arena in which Nigerian families are attempting to (re)produce status and good lives that work transnationally. ‘Elite’ international schools focus on securing entry into Anglo-American universities and distinguish themselves via discourses of ‘modern Britishness’, yet also emphasize the special value of schooling in Nigeria and seek to reproduce circulatory lives. There is also a competitive landscape of ‘mid-range’ international schools that do not simply serve ‘aspirant locals’ but have broad international horizons and are central to transnational family strategies. Lagos schools across the spectrum receive students ‘sent’ from the diaspora, demonstrating they are valued stations in the transnational social field to protect as well as accumulate. The paper contributes to understanding international schools in the ‘global South’ not simply as a backstage to Anglo-American centres but as offering unique resources for families navigating hierarchies at home and abroad.