Introduction

Culture encompasses everything. This composite whole can be subject to influences and dynamics. Education is a transversal component of culture. If we agree that culture is the set of material, immaterial and natural elements specific to a group or community, then education in culture or the building of cultural capital in children varies from one cultural context to another. So what is the relationship between culture and education? What is the construction of cultural capital in children?

 Is education cultural?

The close relationship between culture and education means that we need to re-examine each element of this link. Culture includes education, just as education includes culture.

Culture is education

The cultural constituents of a group or community are constantly being made the object of learning. Girls are taught to cook, making the art of cooking an educational objective. The care given to newborn babies, common in a community group, is taught from generation to generation. Marriage, and the different ways in which homes are built and geographically organised, are all learned. Dances, rituals and handicrafts are educational sets/objects. Culture is educational.

Education is culture

The tangible, intangible and natural cultural heritages, which are educational objects, do not operate in the same way.  If culture is education, this amounts to saying that every culture is an education in its own right, and therefore education is culture. In this sense, education has a responsibility towards culture. Since the former is an offshoot of the latter, as well as a formal or informal means of transmission, it seems necessary, in the context of the globalisation of cultures, to review the ways in which children build up their cultural capital. 

Building cultural capital within the communities and states

• Cultural capital in cultural communities 

Cultural education for children today is experiencing enormous difficulties because, with the advent of nation-states, governments have considerably reduced the scope of community education. The transmission of cultural heritage within cultural communities is less extensive. The cultural community has difficulty in truly building cultural capital in its children. However, the community remains a unique and important educational system that coexists with the State.

• Cultural capital transmitted by the State

The State, in its regalian functions, has forged educational systems in order to instruct its citizens. As far as cultural education is concerned, particularly in a multicultural context, the State has difficulty in implementing it effectively. As a result, the cultural capital transmitted by the State remains extremely limited.

Conclusion

In short, the construction of cultural capital in children is more favourable in the community system than in the state system. Building cultural capital in children means preparing fertile ground for the cultural and creative industries. Hence, the educational content of a country should reflect its culture.