Cultural Capital

 

What is Cultural Capital?

 

‘…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.’ Ofsted

 

 

Every child and family who joins our setting will have their own knowledge and experiences that will link to their culture and wider family. This might include: languages, beliefs, traditions, culture and family heritage, interests, travel and work.

 

Cultural capital is the store of knowledge, skills and behaviours that someone can draw upon and which shows their cultural awareness, knowledge and expertise. It is one of the key ingredients a person will use to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

 

To build someone’s cultural capital, they need a wide variety of experiences so that they know about details related to their own culture and can talk about their values and merits, coming to their own conclusions, and expressing opinions and preferences fed by this store of knowledge, skills and behaviours.

 

Cultural capital gives power. It helps children achieve goals, become successful and rise up the social ladder without necessarily having wealth or financial capital. By seeing these details used in different ways (contexts), a person becomes able to use their knowledge, skills and behaviours independently in situations they haven’t encountered before.

 

At Kincraig Primary School, children benefit from a creative curriculum that builds on what they understand and know already. We believe that exposure, not only to culture but also to situations in which the children might not have previous experiences of, is of paramount importance to their ongoing successes.

 

Gradually widening children’s experiences as they progress through school is an important step in providing rich and engaging learning across the curriculum. We plan carefully for children to have progressively richer experiences in nursery and beyond. These include trips to the local park, shops and visits to places of worship, museums, sports and music venues, to name a few.

 

Please see the link below of examples of how we build upon experiences and knowledge by immersing children in the world around them.