Widening participation in FE through culture capital for ESOL students

Widening participation in FE through culture capital for ESOL students

Iqra Javed, ESOL Programme Manager and English Lecturer, Slough and Langley College

At Slough and Langley College, our overarching aims for ESOL provision extend far beyond language acquisition. We have the privilege of working with students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and learners with interrupted educational journeys. Many are navigating significant socio-economic barriers and unfamiliar systems alongside learning English. As a department, we believe widening participation means not only supporting students academically but ensuring they feel confident and able to access the opportunities, spaces, and conversations that shape the world around them.

Using Hirsch’s definition of cultural capital as ‘knowledge that enables people to participate fully in society’, we have created a bespoke programme embedded throughout our curriculum. We consciously designed it to introduce learners to knowledge and experiences that may not have been immediately accessible to them. This includes exploring significant individuals who contributed to wider society and historical development, such as inventors, explorers, and social reformers. Students engage with materials exploring modern systems, infrastructure, and the development of technology embedded within daily life. Through these topics, learners develop both language skills and a wider contextual understanding of the society around them. These themes also create meaningful opportunities for discussion, comparison, critical thinking, and ultimately, curiosity within the classroom. 

In essence, this is the overarching goal of the curriculum: to cultivate curiosity within our learners and encourage them to engage critically with the material they encounter. To ask: what is this place/person/event? Why did this happen? How do I know this happened? What would have happened if this did not happen? Who would tell this story differently? How does this continue to shape society today? Is it connected to something I already know?

The impact has been tangible. Students are increasingly confident engaging in conversations beyond immediate survival English and have developed a greater understanding of the references, systems, concepts and nuances that shape life in the UK. We have witnessed increased self-belief in discussion-based activities, improved participation, and, more importantly, greater curiosity about the wider world beyond the classroom.

This has translated into actively immersing learners in settings that may once have seemed inaccessible or exclusionary in nature. Enrichment opportunities have included theatre trips exploring 19th century literature, visits to cultural heritage sites, and opportunities for student feedback to be represented within discussions taken to the House of Commons. By actively encouraging student voice and wider cultural participation, we want our learners to see themselves as contributors to wider conversations and active participants within the society they inhabit, rather than merely passive recipients of support. 

Though the programme has proved engaging and successful, it has not been without challenges. Most significantly, ensuring this knowledge remains accessible whilst meeting the varied language needs and levels within an ESOL classroom. Many learners are still developing confidence in reading, speaking, academic vocabulary, and comprehension. Therefore, careful scaffolding and contextualisation are fundamental in ensuring the content remains accessible. But trusting in your learners quells much of this hesitation. What students can achieve, and what they are capable of understanding, is often far greater than initially assumed. Success is contingent on mutual effort, high expectations - and a growth mindset as the bedrock of all.

Cultural capital is not simply a bolt-on to education, but part of the infrastructure that allows students to navigate it. Learners begin to see themselves not simply as students learning English, but as individuals living, participating, and belonging within England. The progression, inclusion, and sense of belonging this creates is palpable. Our students already bring rich cultural knowledge shaped by their own varied, lived experiences, their own communities, and histories. Why, then, should we not provide them with the same explicit access to the cultural and societal knowledge that others in this country acquire unconsciously? Truly equitable practice requires nothing less. And our learners? Well, simply, they deserve more.