Cultural capital and cultural deprivation

[Pariswhenitdrizzles]

Disclaimer: I promise and solemnly swear that I'm not trying to be goady or trollish or anything like that. I'm just really interested.

this Wikipedia article on cultural capital and cultural deprivation says:

"Proponents of this theory argue that working class culture (regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or other factors) inherently differs from that of people in the middle class. This difference in culture means that while middle-class children can easily acquire cultural capital by observing their parents, working-class children cannot, and this deprivation is self-perpetuating."

Last week, I was talking to a school librarian who's based in London. Part of his job involves organising events such as free theatre trips for London schoolchildren. He's organised trips to places like the Royal Opera House, and said that some children and their families on one of the trips didn't actually end up going into the Royal Opera House because they felt like they shouldn't go in.

I really think that more should be done to help everyone feel that they're able to go anywhere that they'd like to and that they should never feel as if they don't belong somewhere or that they shouldn't go somewhere.

I know that a lot of work has already been done on social equality and cultural capital, but I really think that more needs to be done. What can we do? And AIBU?

Crumbs, you raise some very good points about entrance to medical school.

In my DC's case, UKcat and BMat were taken locally in his high school and in a Pearson exam centre (we are in rural Scotland), the big issue being lack of support from his large state school.

DC and us had to request that the school organise the exam sitting at school. This was 7 years ago and UKcat was still fairly new, Bmat also fairly new and only for Oxbridge (not common for Scottish DC to apply to English medical schools). As his parents we found ourselves advising a number of other people's DC on how to apply to medical school. DH is a dr involved in postgraduate education of junior Dr's, and was able to offer some work experience and also mock interviews.
He found the school careers advice was woefully inadequate with no insight into the lengthy preparation needed to submit a successful application... bright, capable kids (without parental support) at risk of falling at the first hurdle because of poor advice - what a waste.
We definitely found there was no culture of actively supporting and encouraging pupils at our dc state school to aim high, to take a risk and put at least one top flight uni on their applications (actually, not much encouragement to aim for university at all!), especially compared to the huge amounts of advice, help and encouragement given to the pupils of out local independent school (the school many of my DH's colleagues send their DC to).

I think that art and acting have become dominated by the same young people who could do unpaid internships- you can learn your craft without having to financially support yourself. Plus possibly having good connections, plus if that "educating Harrow" (I forget the exact title!) was accurate, the facilities and encouragement available were phenomenal.

As a middle class person you can (almost always) participate in things that are outside of your comfort zone culturally

If you believe that a person can change class, I am definitely middle-class NOW, and I feel much more that "I belong here" and "this is for people like me" than I ever did as a child.

That said, we didn't GO to many places where we might feel that. As pps have said, it didn't occur to us that we would want to.

This theory seems to assume that only high brow art is legitimate cultural capital.

You could argue cultural capital is comprised not only of the ROH and Tate, but also artwork in video games, Disney music, viral advertising campaigns and tattoo art.

Therefore it is wrong to assume that working class kids don't have access to cultural capital because they don't visit the ROH or tate.

Personally I don't enjoy the theatre. I like opera and musicals though. I'd prefer to watch a film than read a book. Nothing to do with class/ or socioeconomic status. Purely my personal preferences.

thecat I used to be a secondary school teacher in the UK. Sadly the majority of my colleagues were not analytical beyond the narrow and limited confines that analysis was taught as appertaining very specifically to their subject.

Citizenship came the closest - I taught a bit of citizenship after maternity leave when returning part time meant I was given all the stuff nobody else wanted... We did a bit of critical thinking about rights and responsibilities. In media studies we did a bit about stereotypes in the media, but obviously only a minority take media and there is a tendency to direct academic students away from it. Class wasn't on the syllabus when I taught it.

A lot of secondary teachers have or appear to have swallowed the dominant ideology whole, and questioning or encouraging students to question why things like uniform and haircut rules without it actually being a propoganda exercise intended to "help them understand" why the school/ prevailing norms are correct would mark a teacher out as a shit stirrer.

A lot of teachers accept the official line hook line and sinker, others are too tired and overwhelmed/ over worked to think about it, and those who are analytical and critical keep it mostly to themselves or other like minded colleagues because being openly thoughtful and analytical and critical about the rules and inherent prejudices of your school will not go down well with leadership.

So sadly, in my experience, critical thinking about class prejudices and how the school perpetuates them is not taught in school and most teachers would not want to get involved in admitting the school ideology and rules perpetuate ingrained prejudices...

*I'm very ambivalent about the opening post because it implies ....... the way forward is to help the working classes understand that middle class values are the right ones, and help them adopt them.

Giving a few working class children middle class experience without encouraging all children regardless of background to analyse their and society's entrenched prejudices just compounds the problem.*

Evelyn the point that I was hoping to make in my OP was that everyone should feel welcome, and be made to feel welcome, anywhere. I don't think I suggested in my OP that middle class values are the way forward either - I didn't mean to suggest this.

Evelyn That's kind of my impression, too. I remember it being quite rare for it to come up directly in the classroom. And it's doubly odd because of the demographic from which teachers are drawn. We had a big discussion about this in a few of our lessons on our (Primary) PGCE course - and a few discussions about how we would engage and actually teach around this whole issue. It was a real conundrum!

Paris It's an interesting thread. I don't think anyone holds you personally responsible for the class inequalities articulated in and through culture! Kudos to you for noticing, posting about and discussing such an interesting issue.

Sure beats a paring thread!

that should be: "Sure beats a parking thread."

Paris I know you didn't mean to - that's kind of what I'm getting at! These prejudices are so ingrained we don't think about them. Trying to make some working class children more middle class works on a surface level for a minority, but misses the systemic issue.

Why is being at home in the Royal Opera House more important than being at home at a thrash metal concert? Why is a floppy haircut more acceptable than a fade? Why is a nylon blazer more appropriate than a hoodie for school? Why is rugby better than football? There is no intrinsic superiority at all, it's all prejudice.

Tanaqui Fri 29-Sep-17 17:42:36

"I think that art and acting have become dominated by the same young people who could do unpaid internships- you can learn your craft without having to financially support yourself. Plus possibly having good connections, plus if that "educating Harrow" (I forget the exact title!) was accurate, the facilities and encouragement available were phenomenal."

I think there's a lot in that. Drama schools have become incredibly competitive, so to stand a chance you need to stand out from the crowd not only through talent (which can be difficult to estimate on the day) but through confidence, ability to interact with the people at the school and general preparedness.

We are not well off but managed to scrape together enough money to let dd go attend a summer school which really changed the way she auditioned.

Otoh ds has a friend who is also talented, but his mum can't even pay for him to join a youth theatre, so the only preparation he is going to get is the standard GCSE and A-level class surrounded by indifferent class mates. There is a state Sixth Form college which is very good on drama and attracts the students who really care about the subject- but the bus fare is beyond them so he has to go to the one within walking distance.

You'd also have to have the idea that you could go to drama school.

And you'd have to believe that you'd be able to afford to. Are there scholarships? I'd assume it was something that people's parents paid for.

Really interesting post. When I was growing up I wasn't materially privileged. We didn't have a tv and I never had nice clothes or trainers, which meant I was often picked on or excluded at school. However my parents were and are staunchly middle-class, university educated people. So I spoke (and speak) with a 'posh' accent (that didn't help with the bullying!) My parents prioritised cultural education above everything, so they did a lot of reading with me, and took me to museums, galleries, to see plays (there were often free or cheap Shakespeare performances in a town near us), etc etc. They supervised my homework and pushed me academically. I often hated them for it - and I was desperate to be 'normal'.

At the end of my school career you would never have got me to say I was privileged. How could I have been? I'd never had nice things and I'd constantly been excluded for being different.

It wasn't until I got to university that I started to realise that there are different kinds of privilege - and money is not the only kind. I'd been pushed academically so I'd got into a good university. The way I spoke and my 'cultural capital' allowed me to make friends with people who were far more financially privileged. Making friends with those kinds of people opened doors. And so on. Now I'm reasonably successful - I'm not a millionaire or anything but I'm in a profession and married to a professional. Meanwhile the kids at school who had nice trainers and big TVs are stacking shelves in supermarkets now.

It all led me to realise that we actually confuse privilege with money. And they're not the same things, necessarily. Obviously money is the ultimate privilege. It buys you choice and freedom. But class runs much deeper.

I had a similar discussion with a friend of mine.

She is a music teacher and she was saying that initially she had this desire to bring classical music to black children (she's black herself). But then ultimately, why? Why is classical and opera the pinnacle of culture? As if it's something that's 'good' for us and we need to see?

Why not grime, rap or folk in the Albert hall?

Similarly, what's the deal with Shakespeare and the utter wankery that goes with it. Shakespeare is not high art. It's bawdy, it's full of dick jokes, and it's great.

End the snobbery and encourage kids to embrace all culture.

Why not grime, rap or folk in the Albert hall?

I saw a country music singer at the Royal Albert Hall - she was very impressed and said you could fit every single person from her hometown inside it.

I think it is an outdated way of thinking. Knowing about opera makes no difference whatever to a child's chances in life. It is not going to affect your chances of getting a job or doing anything else you want.

I grew up in what people would call a "working class" family but I don't see any distinction between myself and the so called middle classes. We are the same people living in a classless society. The distinction between middle and upper class is equally irrelevant in today's world. Being aristocratic means nothing.

It all boils down to income. Families with money will do just fine. New money people are not at a disadvantage to old money. The barriers are financial not social. Less stop with this 19th century Marxist nonsense.

It all led me to realise that we actually confuse privilege with money. And they're not the same things, necessarily.

Pigface I think you've absolutely hit the nail on the head there. That's a really good point.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with my Mum the other day, where was telling me that I'd had an 'expensive' education. I found this quite odd, as I hadn't really had an expensive education.

I'd gone to reasonably good state schools before going to university, and I think my Mum was making the point that I'd had a privileged education but confusing it with one that had cost a lot of money.

I think that, as PP have mentioned, people can often (understandably, IMO) confuse privilege - whether that comes from education or lifestyle - with money.

What really, really frustrates me - although, reading through the thread, I can begin to understand why this might be the case - is the different types of schools we have in Britain and the very different opportunities that they typically offer.

We have state schools and private schools, but even within the state sector, we've got selective and non-selective schools, which all offer different opportunities to their students and have varying levels of resources available to them.

Is there anything that could be done to level out the playing field between the different schools? I think that Pupil Premium has been very helpful in addressing the problem of underfunding in schools, as this then helps schools to buy the resources they need, but it's not enough. Should, for example, private schools or privileged schools do more to help deprived schools? Some private schools do team up with less privileged schools, but should - and could- more be done?

Culture is a choice.
*
You can read books for free.
*
You can visit museums and galleries for free in this country

Really ignorant post. Yes you can read books for free. I read The Babysitters Club etc because I had no one to nudge me in the direction of anything that might help me engage with literary heritage.

You can indeed visit museums and galleries for free if you can afford the transport or if, as a child, it occurs to someone to take you there. My only experience of a gallery was the small local one you walked through to get to the office where my mum worked as a secretary.

Oh and as for BMAT, I heard of it for the first time last year (I'm 40). I had no idea why you might choose to do a conversion to law as a new graduate.

Winebottle, whether or not you feel equal to those of other classes is the irrelevance. The plural of anecdote is not data. While money is key, class status is closely tied up with money.

Several people have mentioned social mobility, and I found this interesting short read:

www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2017/07/26/glass-floors-and-slow-growth-a-recipe-for-deepening-inequality-and-hampering-social-mobility/

The article you posted does not go into class. Of course, those with higher educational attainment, are more successful and go on to have better educated children. The same goes for wealthy people.

Class is different. That is about social attitudes affecting life chances which I don't think is a problem anymore. People nowadays don't think that because my dad works in a factory, I deserve to be treated differently. That was not the case in times gone by. But, of course, people whose Dad's work in factories will earn less and have lower educational attainment than those whose who are doctors. That's inevitable.

It's the same with the race issue. You cannot say because black people earn less that there is institutionalised racism. Race is a proxy for other variables.

What can we do to work towards levelling out the playing field in terms of giving everyone access to the same opportunities?

I think that education is a really valuable way of addressing social inequality and improving it, but I don't think we're taking enough advantage of it.

I disagree, Paris. Education has been over-burdened with the responsibility of fixing a whole load of things, inequality included. Believe me, education has been tasked with this particular one.

Did you read my post about the fact we discussed this as part of my PGCE course? Did you know that's its built into the primary curriculum, as a stated aim, and something that teachers are actually supposed to do?

I have to say, I think the complete opposite to you. I feel that it's about time we looked for solutions outside of education.

Yes I did read it thecat, and I think what you suggest about looking for solutions elsewhere makes a lot of sense. Where should we focus on to find solutions?

I'd love to see higher taxation and a well-funded pool of public goods (health, education, etc.). I thought it was really interesting to read cory's post where she said she saw this devaluing of working class cultures, etc. less in a Scandinavian country.