With children to the museum? What it really brings
Group of children at the National Gallery in London
Quelle: pa/ZUMAPRESS.com/Steve Taylor
Children increase their cultural capital when they visit museums or theatres. But does it also improve their school performance? A study from England comes to an amazing result.
KIndians in the museum. They sit in front of paintings, draw sculptures, listen to the explanations of the mediators, curators and museum educators. In British museums in particular, one almost always sees groups of more or less interested students clashing with high culture. That could change if a study just published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education is believed. Because museum visits bring nothing – at least not significantly better school grades.
In this respect, it is just as pointless to force children to visit theater performances as to visit historical sites. Even when educated, mostly wealthy parents go to exhibitions with their children or listen to classical concerts, it rubs off less than expected on the school abilities of the offspring. The French social philosopher Pierre Bourdieu argued that students from better-off social classes have a greater stock of cultural capital and that it is passed down from generation to generation within families and converted into better academic achievement.
It’s tempting to think, the study says, “that increasing the level of students’ cultural capital will have a positive impact on academic outcomes.” It’s also tempting to “theorize that visits to museums or historical Sites could be helpful in stimulating an interest in history and that visits to the theater could similarly promote learning in drama”.
On closer inspection, however, it is difficult to see plausible mechanisms by which participation in certain extracurricular activities would influence results in certain school subjects. In short: The cultural capital acquired in museums and theaters in the sense of Pierre Bourdieu does not automatically improve the grades of the students.
Nor could the study’s empirical findings support the view that increasing cultural capital would reduce the magnitude of inequalities between social classes in school outcomes. This is not to suggest that extracurricular excursions cannot contribute to the enjoyment of education. However, if schools are serious about reducing educational inequalities, then there is a “clear and actionable message for policy and practice.” One conclusion of the study is: “Schools should therefore better concentrate on promoting reading activities.”
The same probably applies to the parents. It has been known for a long time that reading together with the children has positive effects. And the results of the current study should also underline this. It was authored by University of Sussex sociologist Sarah Stopforth and her co-author, social statistician Vernon Gayle of the University of Edinburgh: “The empirical analyzes convey the important message that the commitment to high-quality cultural activity is not so significant that Reading activities, on the other hand, have an influence.”
Pedagogues are therefore left with the realization that they mainly have to impart education in schools. And everyone else remembers a study by University College London that was carried out in 2019. According to this, at least those who go to the museum or the theater often live longer.