What is ‘Cultural Capital’?

Cultural capital is the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success. It is about giving children the best possible start to their education.  

The original phrase came from the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in the 1970s, believing the more ‘capital’ you had, the more powerful your position was within society. This concept has continued to develop and research now shows that when a child’s cultures are valued, both their experience of learning and their progress can benefit (Husain et al., 2018, p. 4 and Gazzard, E. 2018 in Chalmers, H. and Crisfield, E. 2019).

Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a child can draw upon to be successful in their education, society and the world of work. It helps children achieve goals and become successful no matter their starting point.