At Lyfta, we have a working and evolving definition of cultural capital. We consider it to be a broad range of cultural experiences and opportunities that prepare children to thrive (now and in the future) and an accompanying awareness of the skills, values and knowledge that has been acquired from these experiences.
In education, it is important to recognise the cultural capital that every child brings to the classroom. Teaching strategies or curricula need to build in spaces to navigate the new and the pre-existing. When children's and families’ cultures are valued, both the child’s experience of learning and progress can benefit.
Some children have more experiences and opportunities to access different types of capital (languages, traditions, beliefs, interests, travel, awareness of work opportunities, cultural/human networks, literature, clubs & the arts etc.) than others and the reason for this may vary (e.g. socio-economic status, education levels of parents and so forth).
How Lyfta can support
Our storyworlds provide an amazing opportunity for students to experience diversity and gain a more global understanding of what it means to thrive and be a human being. Young people are able to virtually travel the world and hear stories from different kinds of people, building an inter-cultural capital ‘resource bank’ of sorts.
We offer students a number of virtual cultural capital experiences such as visiting the Finnish National Opera and Ballet and meeting the extraordinary people who work there. In other storyworlds children can virtually visit UNESCO world heritage sites and parks in Curacao, Peru, the Philippines and Tanzania.
As we work with teachers to research and understand the impact of Lyfta, we can see how it is effective at supporting a greater sense of common humanity by supporting intercultural understanding and knowledge.
Character education goes beyond simply the pursuit of a rigorous academic education; it asks us to help a young person become a moral and well-rounded individual.
Teachers are in the privileged position of helping to nurture a young person to become the best version of themselves that they can be. By helping them to develop positive character traits, teachers can not only help them succeed in their learning, but also prepare them for further education and the world of work.
How Lyfta can support
All of our storyworlds and documentary films cover positive values and teachers could select any one of them to explore character development with their students. Using our search function, teachers can look for content that covers particular skills, values or character traits central to character education.
Our Awra Amba series explores a community in Ethiopia, that values equality, compassion and self-sufficiency. Two storyworlds from this series are a great starting point for character development work. The Library, explores conflict resolution, faith and peace, and The Visitor’s Centre helps students to explore resilience and entrepreneurship.
In our Kids’ Cup series, students learn about disappointment, winning and losing in sports. Each film focuses on a young footballer representing their country in an international youth football tournament. Students can see how some of the characters handle their emotions when things don't go to plan. They also consider some of the pressures young people and teens face and how these can be addressed.
To meet key sustainable development targets and goals we believe that it is crucial to build a meaningful sense of global citizenship and global social justice.
Teachers cannot just present to children the facts about melting ice caps or deforestation and expect them to instantly feel or understand the impact on those living thousands of miles away.
Similarly, we do not always think there are necessarily clear answers or solutions in global citizenship education, but sometimes it is more about developing critical literacy, emotional literacy and intellectual rigour in order to face uncertainties and navigate unknown (and unknowable) futures.
How Lyfta can support
The positive and empowering stories contained within Lyfta can be used by teachers to balance out the sometimes seemingly overwhelming and disempowering dimensions of global world issues and challenges.
Environmental learning that helps us better connect with nature and build sustainable wellbeing is vital. In order to help us move beyond the local we believe our human stories from around the world can help to build a sense of human connection and bridge the gap between being ‘aware’ of major global challenges and connecting with their importance in a meaningful and human way.
Students can also build key skills for a changing world such as empathy for those who are immediately threatened by climate change for example.
Through Lyfta storyworlds we introduce the interlinked themes of sustainable living, responsible consumption, awareness raising and plastic pollution. We include sustainability-themed resources and lesson plans for example, sustainable farming in Tanzania; sustainable fishing in San Francisco; sustainable fashion in Kenya; beekeeping and sustainable living in Germany and Peru; reusing and recycling in the UK (phone boxes) and Argentina; entrepreneurship and sustainability in Ethiopia.
We also have storyworlds that explore alternative ways of being with nature and climate change. For example, Mother of the Forest explores biodiversity and conservation in the Philippines. High Water illustrates the impact of flooding, climate change and the environmental crisis in Guatemala.
When talking about diversity, it’s useful to consider the nine protected characteristics, as outlined by UK law. Age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
These protected characteristics provide us with an insight into the kind of diversity we may find in the communities and schools within which we work. However, it’s also important to think about the way in which diversity cannot be simply boxed up so neatly into these nine categories and that human beings are complex: their identities are both constantly evolving and made up of a variety of different elements.
Equity asks us to consider the individual and how they might be placed at a disadvantage because of discrimination they might experience. Therefore, rather than simply providing everyone with exactly the same starting point, schools must consider how provision can be adapted.
These adaptations will ensure that everyone can access learning but also ensure that any discrimination individuals may suffer is not compounded further.
Lastly, whilst many schools will have considered an inclusive curriculum for those who have special educational needs, inclusion within this context asks us to consider how we can create a sense of belonging for all young people, no matter their background, ability or circumstances.
How Lyfta can support
Through Lyfta’s immersive storyworlds students can travel around the world visiting numerous different countries and engaging with topics that cover many of the protected characteristics, including gender, age, disability, race, marriage, sexuality and religion.
Engaging with new people in this immersive virtual setting gives students the opportunity to identify common interests and, as a result, develop more positive feelings towards them. For those students who may have experienced discrimination or marginalisation, Lyfta’s storyworlds and documentary films also allow them an opportunity to see themselves reflected in the stories presented to them at school.
For example, in our Pride storyworld students meet Qwensley, a young Christian gay man from a conservative community in Curacao, in the Caribbean. Qwensley has been learning to balance his sexuality, faith and family. Students will find out about his experience of coming out, in addition to finding out more about Pride in Curacao and different types of families.
Teachers may also want to explore the issues of inclusion and belonging as well as sexuality by using our lesson plan Meet Qwensley. The associated lesson plan asks students to identify the challenges experienced by Qwensley and to consider how they might challenge homophobia.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) can be broadly defined as learning aimed at improving students’ emotional awareness, decision-making skills, empathy skills, interaction with others and their self-management of emotions, enabling them to handle challenging situations and establish positive relationships with others.
Social and emotional ‘competencies’ are increasingly considered to be skills that can be learned and acquired. Research has increasingly shown that the cognitive and emotional are profoundly interconnected in the learning and development processes.
How Lyfta can support
SEL is especially supported by Lyfta through empathy building and carefully composed educational resources that invite students to recognise the feelings of others and relate with them.
Experiencing real-life human stories can help students connect to the storytellers, see a situation in a different way, build empathy and trigger an intrinsic motivation to take action.
“it is literally neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things that you don’t care about’’
Dr Mary Helen Immordino-Yang (
NY Times, 2016).
At Lyfta we are discovering that SEL supports engagement with sometimes complex worldwide challenges and issues like sustainability or human rights by bridging the gap between an abstract concept and a meaningful demonstration of that.
In our storyworld The Singer Who Could Not Speak we meet Tamara, a Dutch woman who suffered a brain haemorrhage in her 30s and was left partially paralyzed with a speech impairment. After losing her speech, she used singing therapy to find her voice again. Students will hear her story of resilience and perseverance, in confronting prejudice and finding new ways to live after becoming disabled.
In Journey to a New Home, students follow Adhanom, originally from Eritrea, now living in Sweden. Students will learn what it’s like for people who are forced to leave their own homes and how life can remain a challenge for refugees like Adhanom. They will then discuss ways to welcome a new student to a class and help them feel welcome and included.
