Giving the arts a social jolt - an extra-curricular arts programme for youths from low-income families.

• Main Author: Chen, Iris Lixin.
• Other Authors: Lim Khek Gee, Francis
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Communities, classes and races
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51702
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

My study is based on how a holistic arts education in a non-profit arts organization, The Little Arts Academy (LAA), provide pathways and opportunities for youth in low-income families to interact with the arts and the social impact on these youth participants. I have conducted interviews with 15 youth participants from low-income families to find out their experiences prior to and within LAA, and their individual thoughts about it. My primary questions provide a framework for the interview. My primary research questions are: 1. How does socio-economic status and class upbringing influence the cultural and social capital youths from low-income families have? 2. How does it in turn shape the way one perceive arts experiences within an institution like LAA? 3. Are institutional agents within an arts institution like LAA able to influence cultural and social capital accumulation for youths from low-income families? How is the process like?