What do ‘Baby Shark’, ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen and Peppa Pig all have in common.
Other than them being mildly annoying, when you have heard or watched them a hundred times, they all make up a part of a child’s popular culture. The dictionary defines ‘popular culture’ as being based on the “tastes of ordinary people, rather than the educated elite” (Oxford Reference, 2023)
So, what role should popular culture play in a child’s cultural capital?
Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, which forms the foundation for Ofsted’s definition, was a belief that exposure to, or having possession of some things, gave you an advantage in life and society, for example, financial capital.
In this case, the more money you have, the more opportunities you have in life. Bourdieu viewed a child’s exposure to culture in the same way. It was about gaining an appreciation for the fine arts in the world. If you are exposed to these and have an awareness of them, it could open doors and allow you to move forward in society.
However, he also believed that cultural capital was rooted in an individual’s cultural history and placed importance on cultural reproduction, where this is passed down from generation to generation. Bourdieu also believed that the society in which a child grows up, contributes to their cultural capital.
However, Ofsted have interpreted cultural capital to be ‘the essential knowledge that children need to be educated citizens’ (Ofsted EY Inspection Handbook 2019, p31). Those of us working with children are required to introduce ‘them to the best that has been thought and said’, and in doing this it helps to engender in them ‘an appreciation of human creativity and achievement”. Viewed in this way, it sees the child as ‘lacking in some way’, an empty vessel that needs filling up, ignoring the agency that children have in their own lives, and overlooking the importance of a child’s cultural background and individual experiences.
So who decides?
Who decides what is culturally appropriate and what place does popular culture, such as Peppa Pig, have in this discussion? Back in the 1950’s the BBC controlled the music that people listened to. They deemed the likes of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, to be detrimental and a danger to young people. What was appropriate was decided by largely white, middle-class men, and only classical music was considered suitable. Young people found a way around this, by secretly listening to the music via pirate radio stations.
Educational sociologists and philosophers, such as Bourdieu, also believed that education is the site of a power imbalance and can end up reinforcing the class system. A central feature, of current government policy, focuses on ‘Levelling Up’ and the minister for this portfolio, Michael Gove, introduced the concept of ‘cultural capital’ over ten years ago when he was the Minister for Education.
Similarly, Ofsted refer to us making sure that cultural capital is applied with special consideration to those who are most disadvantaged, reaffirming the argument that the concept of cultural capital, views children using a deficit model. There is no denying, that due to factors, such as a family’s socio-economic status, a child’s outcomes might be detrimentally impacted, and this could explain why we prioritise what we believe is important for the child, above what children like to engage with or taking time to really explore a child’s own cultural heritage.
Judging ‘culture’
Interestingly, theories on cultural capital, were written before the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the United Kingdom ratified in 1991. This recognised that the child has a right to have their voice and opinion heard.
So, who should decide what is ‘best’, or of an appropriately high standard of culture? Who decides which child is deficient in culture?
The Cultural Learning Alliance, work on making ‘arts’, in the broadest sense, accessible to all children. Ironically, despite it being a requirement in education, to provide for a child’s cultural capital, access to arts and culture within schools is diminishing and more emphasis is being given to academic subjects. As pointed out by the late Ken Robinson, in the most watched TED talk of all time, this marginalisation of arts in schools is a universal phenomenon. The Cultural Learning Alliance discuss ‘heritage’, in relation to the arts, with regards to a child being aware of themselves, but also the world around them. They can experience this culture through a range of means, including listening, watching and doing, playing and performing.
I recently attended a wedding of a 30-year-old cousin, and when the band started playing a medley of songs from when the bride, groom and their peers, were in their teens, the dance floor suddenly flooded with people. They knew every word, to every song and all the dance moves. We are talking Busted, Steps, McFly, to name a few. This was the popular culture of their youth. This united them, it was part of their cultural identity.
This article, by no means, is arguing that we should not expose children to the best that life has to offer. But we also now have a better understanding of the importance of communication and language development, for a child’s outcomes. Therefore, we need to reflect on the role popular culture can play in meeting a child’s cultural capital and enriching opportunities for learning and development.
Recently, whilst on holiday in France, I saw a girl of about three years of age, standing in the river, with her pink armbands on, singing ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen (in French) at the top of her voice. From that brief observation I was able to note that this child was making independent choices – responding to her own interests and fascinations and was deeply absorbed in what she was doing (CoETL); as well as meeting areas of learning for a child older than her age bracket for communication and language and personal, emotional and social development.
Dialogic teaching
Research has shown that one of the most effective ways to support a child’s communication and language development, is through the use of dialogic teaching, which promotes the quality of conversations we have with children, and asks that adults make the most effective use of talking (Cambridge University Primary Review Trust and York University, 2017).
Dialogic teaching requires ongoing conversations between children and adults, which links to the work of Vygotsky, who taught us that children make sense of their world, through experience and language. Wohlwend (2017) believes that popular culture can play a pivotal role for children, as they use it to ‘mediate their social histories and shared norms of belonging’, (p.1). She stresses that popular culture can be particularly important for those children who operate on the fringes of a group. If you all have some knowledge of Peppa Pig, this can open doors to play, interaction and subsequently language development, which Wohlwend goes on to define as ‘peer culture’. In short it can support inclusion.
An understanding of popular culture, and incorporating it into our discussions with children, into the curriculum and the activities we plan for them, shows an awareness of the children in your care and this can only serve to make you a better educator (Dickie and Shucker, 2014). Work with parents to understand what the child engages with at home, and also what is important to them in their culture and family. Then it might be a case of fixing yourself a cuppa, and settling in front of some children’s tv, watching the Barbie film, or to trying to understand the appeal of watching other children play Minecraft or unwrap a parcel. It is all a part of a child’s culture and therefore it is important we are aware of what they enjoy.
References
- Dickie, J. and Shuker, M.J. (2014). Ben 10, superheroes and princesses: Primary teachers’ views of popular culture and school literacy. Literacy, 48(1), pp.32-38.
- Cambridge University Primary Review Trust and York University ( 2017) Dialogic Teaching [online]. Available on: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/dialogic-teaching (Accessed: 20/06/2023_
- Wohlwend, K.E. (2017). Who gets to play? Access, popular media and participatory literacies. Early Years, 37(1), 62-76.