Luddendenfoot Academy

What is Cultural Capital?

• "the essential knowledge that children need to be educated citizens". Cultural capital is the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success.
• promotes the notion that schools should support the teaching of the modern definition of what ‘cultural capital’ means; an individual who is knowledgeable about a wide range of culture and is comfortable discussing its value and merits, and someone who through being given a vast array of experiences and access to skill development, will to be able to deploy appropriate knowledge in a given situation.

• Objective: cultural goods, books, works of art;
• Embodied: language, mannerisms, preferences;
• Institutionalised: qualifications, education credentials.

Therefore, cultural capital in education could potentially be realised through all aspects of the curriculum – exposing students to a large variety of subject areas and arts; promoting character-building qualities that lead to creating well-rounded, global citizens, and of course the more typical expectations of education, which is to provide young people with recognised and meaningful qualifications that will open up doors to paths in later life. A great curriculum builds cultural capital.” 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.