Cultural capacity means different things to different people.

 

Our understanding of ‘knowledge and cultural capital’ is derived from the following wording in the national curriculum: ‘It is the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.’’

 

The term comes from a variety of sources:

• “Cultural capital” was first set out in the late 1970s and 80s by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. (The Guardian)
• E. D. Hirsch, Jr. is the founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation. He developed his concept of cultural literacy—the idea that reading comprehension requires not just formal decoding skills but also wide-ranging background knowledge. In 1986 he founded the Core Knowledge Foundation. A year later he published Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.

Some people say that these types of activities add to a child's cultural capital

• Listening to a wide range of music
• Reading a range of books including fiction and non-fiction
• Learning to play an instrument
• Going to museums and having educational experiences
• Visiting town, city and rural locations
• Going on holidays abroad

 

And these activities are more likely to lead to educational advantage.

Schools can help children acquire cultural capital by providing opportunities to them that they may not otherwise receive.

 

Here at South Wingfield, we have woven these types of experiences across school, in our curriculum. We have a core spine of books we think all children should read or listen to. All children learn a tuned instrument in lower Key Stage 2 and have the chance to have piano lessons taught 1-1 by our music teacher. We visit different locations in topic work. We expose our children to different types of music. This may be played in class, in music lessons and as part of assemblies. Learning is enhanced through visits to galleries and museums that give children stimulating experiences on which to reflect and draw upon.