Cultural capital is only for the wealthy...

[Explodingatomickittens]

I feel that the kids who are really gaining cultural (& on another level social capital) are from wealthy families. I know people will reply that there's lots of free events on all over the UK daily. In my experience these spots are always nabbed by the mc also. Due to covid & cost of living crisis the gap is widening between tremendously between the haves & the have nots. It's very sad.

Cultural Capital and the type of Cultural Capital you pass on to your children is entirely down to the parents.

Yes it costs money and time... but isn't it up to parents to decide how they spend their money; what value they give an experience versus material goods?

Yes this is true, I agree with you on that. Parents are free to choose what they want their kids to experience. However with social mobility at an all time low, I would imagine cultural capital matters more now than it ever has.

These days I know it's not the same but there's YouTube for the main museums , archaeological sites ect

There are plenty of free opportunities out there for parents that can be bothered to find them.

I think it’s a bit shorty to complain about MC parents booking free events. Their children are children too and they are all equally deserving. Being MC doesn’t automatically mean plenty of spare money for cultural activities, and if some parents make the effort while others don’t then it’s no surprise whose children are going to have the best outcomes.

Shorty = shitty according to autocorrect

When there is barely any money, you cannot justify cultural spending when there’s already not enough to cover essentials.

Don’t blame the poorer among us for ‘choosing’ not to spunk hundreds on theatre and exhibition tickets. It’s not a bloody choice.

If you are looking at it from a social mobility point of view... I think once again you'll be looking at the parents first.

What are their experiences and what do they perceive as important? Also geography is an important factor.

For example I grew up in a place that had acess to 2 countries all within reach of up to 1 hour drive. I spent my childhood on day trips visiting these countries for leasure or shopping. However, we didn't really go on holiday abroad or within my own country...
So how I raise my DC and what Cultural Capital I provide for them is very much an reflection of my childhood.

The point being made is that there is quite a lot of free cultural capital if you look for it. It’s whether you chose to look for it.

It depends on what you mean by 'cultural capital'.

I appreciate that not everybody has the time or the money to take their children to the opera etc, but there's also an element of normalising culture and 'intellectual pursuits'.

I grew up in a fairly normal lower middle-class family in the west of Scotland in the 80s, so we weren't exactly spending the weekends at workshops exploring the concept of madness in post-modern Belgian art, or regularly attending symphony performances.

BUT my family were readers - there were always books in the house, library visits were frequent, we discussed what we were reading with each other. Radio 4 was on in the background.

Learning about and discussing politics etc was encouraged and children were encouraged to talk properly to adults (and we did go to museums occasionally too!).

I'm never sure I know what cultural capital is. A quick google said it includes a range of things from mannerisms, qualifications, knowledge, art etc that promote social mobility so i suppose you have to know and understand what the people with power value to be socially mobile. Otherwise its just culture which could even make you less socially mobile if those with power view it as lesser.

But yes think a lot of culture those with powe value is expensive and inaccessible.

The problem isn't the lack of access to cultural capital with regards to social mobility, it is that expensive and exclusive activities are used as a cultural bar to freeze out the commoners.

The way to social mobility isn't aping the wealthy better it is recognising that these arbitrary experiences are not valuable pre-qualifications for many jobs.

Now, this is different to the question of whether I think it's fair that these cultural experiences which are interesting and enriching should be out of reach to so many people.

Yes that system sounds much better. I want that one.

Yes, I agree. Whilst I see lots of effort to reduce costs and make events more accessible, there will always be the travelling costs which are a barrier on top of the event cost itself.

We take the DC to the library, museums, art galleries, Nat Trust, Historic Scotland, Ed Book Fest, Bozzy Book Fest, Ed Fringe, the RSNO, the SCO and anything of interest that pops up. Most recently they tried Shinty at the Mod. Many of these are free but a fair way from where we live.

I don't think any of these options, except the library, would be doable without a cushion of disposable income.

Schools are one option to widen access. I know Scottish Opera and the RSNO do fabulous work with primary schools both virtually and in-person. But, budgets are being cut everywhere including Education and the Arts.

The country feels poorer in every sense since the early part of this century.

You talk as if everyone has spare cash for either material goods or experiences. Maybe you have never visited the UK?

Part of the problem is that people don't really know the sheer degree of difference it makes to learning to have pre-knowledge of certain stuff.

I showed up to my A Level classes already knowing all the Greek myths, Roman stuff, Grimms etc. Which made reading Carol Ann Duffy's poetry a doddle.

Used to go to church - my friend wrote a poem in a church setting, but wasn't using any of the right vocab - pew, altar, hymn etc.

Boys writing essays using football language - because that's the language they were most familiar. "Blake kicks off the poem" is still a reasonable understanding of how Blake has started the poem.

I had all the background to start lessons ready to engage with the content, whilst others were using up energy learning the context.

I was brought up on a council estate in Haringey but my parents bought me books for Christmas, comic annuals at first, then other books as I got older. They encouraged me to use the local library to help with my homework. They both left school at 14 to work but could read & write ok.

Then when I had my children I encouraged them to read, took them to the library.
There’s also a lot of museums we visited, cheap days out to the seaside or NT gardens.

My grandchildren now have a similar childhood, so the circle of life goes on. There are lots of cheap things that you can do in London if you look online.

Theatre tickets can be as cheap as £5 if you look in the right places, depends how determined you are to find a bargain. I’m pretty determined because I know what it’s like to be poor, it’s actually helped me now to save money in loads of ways including shopping and cooking.

Working class here and my parents took us to plenty of museums, nature reserves, stately homes and so on - the house was also full of books. We were not well-off but my dad was king of the discount coupon - this was the 1980s when everything was on paper, so we'd end up eating e.g. baked beans for weeks because if you collected 50 labels you could get free tickets for a museum, and that sort of thing.

Yes, I agree. We need being viewed as WC to not be a barrier to getting recruited for education or jobs.

What do you mean by 'wealthy'? Do you just mean more well-off people? I do agree that some things may not be as accessible to those in poverty for various reasons, but everyone else is not 'wealthy'.

Think we need to recognise the stories of past social mobility people tell are not that applicable now - the situation is far worse in terms of social exclusion, and worsening before our eyes. Deliberate government choices since 2010.

@thecatsthecats - that creally interesting as one of the schools I work in pre-teaches children who arrive with littke to no English all the vocab and some cultural stuff, before a lesson / topic. They have started to include 'deprived' children in these lessons as they simply dont have the vocab to access the lesson or some of tge experiences.

I know that, that's my point. There is loads of free events in the UK & I pointed out the spaces are nabbed by the mc more often than not. I know as twice I have been on the waiting list for a kids art event in out town hall.. I went down both times with dc on the off-chance some kids didn't turn up. The event was full of the wealthiest kids in my dc's school...

There’s actually a 25 year study ongoing (only a few years in) looking into this. Arts Council and De Montfort University. Participants are given 4 years of access to free cultural activities and the children are tracked from birth to adulthood. It will be very interesting to see the results at the end.

I was brought up in a council house on benefits but I would argue that I have a lot of cultural capital. Largely from the library, which is totally free! I never got taken to the theatre but I read plays and I knew what it was about, and I listened to radio plays. I borrowed classical music CDs and DVDs of classic movies. I learned to play chess from a book. I read widely on all different subjects including classic novels. And I went on the bus to free museums etc.

Where I’m lacking is not in knowledge, but in actual physical experiences. Knowing music is different to being able to play it. Reading travel books is different to being there. I’m knowledgeable but not experienced.

Anyway I think the real difference is that middle class parents push their children to learn and curate their experiences, whereas working class kids perhaps don’t have that push, or indeed anyone to tell them stuff or share anything with them. So unless they’re very self-driven they don’t get exposed to culture.

I mean having enough spare money in the tank to travel to - and fully participate in and to regularly attend those cultural experiences that demonstrate your worth among others who do the same.

I suspect the hurdles change depending on the group - and that the exclusivity is almost entirely invisible to you until you find yourself knocking on the door of a group who finds you lacking.