Introducing LCT

Welcome!

‘LCT’ stands for ‘Legitimation Code Theory’, a framework for exploring social practices. LCT is the basis of an international and multidisciplinary community of scholars, educators and practitioners who use the approach to shape their research and practice.

LCT concepts reveal the ‘rules of the game’ shaping different arenas of social life. These bases of achievement are often tacit, so those whose social background equipped them with the keys to these ‘legitimation codes’ enjoy advantages over others whose social backgrounds are characterised by different codes. By making codes visible, LCT enables the ‘rules of the game’ to be taught and learned or changed, advancing social justice. The social impact of this work has been most evident in education but increasingly shapes fields as diverse as law, museums, the media, theatre, the armed forces, and dance.

The framework is organized into sets of concepts known as ‘dimensions’. Each dimension explores a different set of organizing principles underlying practices, dispositions and contexts.  So far the three most elaborated dimensions are Specialization, Semantics, and Autonomy. 

Learning LCT

This undergraduate textbook includes a brief introduction. Two interviews (in a Chinese journal and in a Japanese journal) offer brief overviews. 

Key founding texts in LCT are:

LCT can be complex but as Karl Maton often says: ‘You only need as much theory as the problem demands, you or the audience can handle, and for which you have time or wordcount’. So don’t overdose on theory.

This website offers a host of resources to help you.

Community includes information on:

Practice includes examples of how LCT is being enacted in practices, such as curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.

LCT Database includes LCT papers and postgraduate dissertations for free download.