Case study - Cultural Capital - Teaching ‘The Gothic’ in preparation for studying ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Case study Cultural Capital outlines a Key Stage 3 teaching sequence designed to build learners’ access to English Literature by strengthening understanding of cultural allusions and the Gothic genre. The approach addresses barriers for students learning English as an additional language, balancing historical context with universal ideas. It uses scaffolded lesson activities, a “modern Gothic book box,” and varied Victorian and contemporary texts to prepare students for GCSE study of Jekyll and Hyde, encouraging critical reading and vocabulary development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Cultural capital and context

Learner needs in English as an additional language

Moving from Key Stage 3 to GCSE

Activities and implementation

Lesson aims and skills for GCSE

Student engagement and outcomes

Extracts, scaffolding, and assessment

Stage 1: Exploration of a wide range of texts

Case study – Cultural Capital Teaching ‘The Gothic’ in preparation for studying ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ Introduction When starting out on the project we were unsure how to precisely define ‘cultural capital’. We had an awareness that it linked to context and asked colleagues, from various schools and subject areas, but they were equally unsure. After some initial reading we began to understand the idea of ‘cultural allusions’ being a barrier or gateway to social mobility, and to greater understanding of the world we live in. From our experience, many schools help students to develop cultural capital implicitly, often without drawing the students’ attention to it, and often without the teachers knowing they are addressing it also. The exception to this is English, when context is taught explicitly with a view to unlocking authorial intent, or some background information on a time period relevant to a text, but cultural capital is far more than this. Our school population has a high proportion of students for whom English is an additional language. For these students, the study of English Literature can pose additional challenges, especially when faced with curriculum content that would have been taught in Key Stages 1-2. For instance, comprehension of many 19th century texts requires some understanding of what life was like in Victorian England. We find that it can be challenging to balance teaching students enough relevant historical background to be able to access the text while still focusing on the universal ideas within the text. Our initial thinking was to recognise that ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is part of a canon of Gothic literature. We felt that genre and a text’s literary context could offer a ‘way in’ for students to access the text when they reach GCSE study. In the two-year GCSE course, teachers have a lot of content to cover and don’t always have time to read ‘around’ the text and explore the wider genre. We felt it was important that students got the opportunity to explore the Gothic genre more broadly so that they were fully prepared for the reading of Jekyll and Hyde. We wanted to instil a deeper understand of the Gothic genre so decided to write a series of Key Stage 3 lessons that focused on some of the basic elements, for example characters and settings, and introduced more challenging concepts, such as duality. We also wanted to expose students to as many different types of traditional and contemporary Gothic texts as possible, as a way of practising reading skills that link to both the English Language and Literature GCSEs (see suggested texts on the last page) . The idea was to begin with a blank canvas, a simple ‘noticing’activity to draw out students’ prior knowledge of the Gothic genre. From that point we could develop specific elements of the genre to enable students to identify cultural allusions within textsand use their newly acquired knowledge to further their appreciation of Gothic texts We had originally focussed largely on Victorian literature and using the more traditional Gothic texts but following feedback, added some more modern examples. Making the additions was successful as this made an interesting talking point for the pupils. One student added in her feedback, “I hadn’t realised that there were new Gothic books, I thought they were all just old.” This opened up discussion in the class about books, films and TV programmes that they liked that could be classed as Gothic and we put together a ‘modern Gothic book box’ for their KS3 library lessons that proved popular. Activities and implementation The unit of work we produced is designed to lead into GCSE in many ways: introduction to reading complex vocabulary and critical reading to encourage analysis. We also used short tasks designed to familiarise students with the skills required for GCSE English Language. All of the lessons were designed so that when students encounter ‘

FAQs

How does the project define and address cultural capital in teaching?

It treats cultural capital as linked to context and cultural allusions that can affect social mobility. The scheme aims to help students notice and interpret these allusions while building broader understanding beyond simple background information.

Why was ‘The Gothic’ chosen as preparation for studying Jekyll and Hyde at GCSE?

The project frames Jekyll and Hyde as part of a wider Gothic canon. Teaching the genre more broadly gives students a “way in” and reduces the need to cover genre context during the GCSE course.

What teaching methods and resources were used to support engagement and access?

The unit uses six Key Stage 3 lessons with short GCSE-skill-focused tasks, scaffolded reading of extracts, evolving student definitions, and exposure to both Victorian and modern Gothic texts, including a popular “modern Gothic book box” for the library.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag