‘I THOUGHT I WASN'T CREATIVE BUT …’. EXPLORATIONS OF CULTURAL CAPITAL WITH LIVERPOOL YOUNG PEOPLE

Abstract

Traditionally, youth and community workers use informal education principles to engage the most ‘hard to reach’ young people through relationships and project activities that promote personal development, social education and cross‐cultural understanding. In Liverpool, the project activities increasingly reflect a cultural dimension in the lead up to the city's status as European Capital of Culture in 2008. In this context, 36 students on the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) youth and community studies programme explored their own ‘cultural capital’. They applied this experience to their practice, using the creative arts to enable local young people and community groups to give expression and a voice to their own cultural identity and experience. These innovative projects bore witness to the diversity of the city's heritage, its communities and aspirations. A selection of young people's comments on their experiences is included. This paper reflects on insight gained into the nature of culture and forms of cultural expression and the contribution that the youth work approach can make to cultural learning.