Popular culture
refers to the cultural products mass-produced for mass consumption, such as popular television
programmes, music, blockbuster movies and magazines. It is culture that is well-liked and
accessible by many people (Griswold, 1994, p.102).
William
Reynolds, series editor of Cultural Studies Toward Transformative Curriculum
and Pedagogy, wrote the article
"Why popular culture in education matters". In this article, he argues that in schools, what is taught to
students –" testable, discreet forms of pre-packaged information – has
become irrelevant to them. Students "suffered through, memorized, recalled
and promptly forgotten" what has
been taught .(Reynolds, 2012, p.24). He
cited from Giroux, "television, music, movies, video and computer games, and the Internet
have transformed ‘culture, especially popular culture, into the primary
educational site in which youth learn about themselves and the larger world’"
(Giroux, 2000, p. 108). The importance
and implications of popular culture with pedagogical practice is stressed.
Theorists have
often questioned the value of culture produced for mass consumption and especially so when culture is created for commercial gain. Popular
culture exerts such a great influence on youth
and this is why popular culture is a useful tool to interest and engage
students in learning.
From my
experience as a student, I also feel
that the way lessons in schools are traditionally taught can be boring
and do not capture the interest of the student and motivate student learning. In my opinion, we should remind
ourselves that our students are living in the digital age and that popular
culture including the media exert a great influence on their lives. The
majority of their information comes in visual forms. We should think about
increasing students' learning by making such media accessible in the classroom.
Therefore, education today should be expanded to include popular culture.
Traditional
methods of teaching stem from the notion that if something is fun or
entertaining, then it cannot be educational. However, more and more teachers
are exploring non-traditional
methods of teaching that have benefitted
students in today's schools. Students
are exposed to edutainment and infotainment. Although movies, theatre, and
films are more accepted in the classroom, many studies suggest that video
games, comic books, graphic novels and other popular culture can be added to
our existing curriculum with positive results. To interest and motivate our
students, we can find movie trailers, online videos, visual cartoons and comics
related to the topics we are trying to teach. As teachers, one of our greatest
weapons against students' waning desire to learn is harnessing that which
interests them most: popular culture.
References:
Giroux,
H. (2000). Popular Culture: Schooling and Everyday Life (Critical Studies in
Education Series)
Griswold,
W. (1994). Cultures and
Societies in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press
Reynolds, W.
(2012). Why Popular Culture In Education
Matters.
Hi Elina,
ReplyDeletePopular culture is absolutely an important part in our everyday lives that cannot be neglected. The form of education is also changed or affected by popular culture. I agree what you wrote that we are living in the digital age, so our learning and teaching are shaped by the new technologies. It is shown that the use of movies, pictures or music are generally helpful for students to memorise the knowledge compared to traditional learning, as it can increase the working memory capacity, which is crucial for one’s memorisation. (Roda, 2011)
But on the other hand, have you ever thought about that popular culture has its disadvantages as well? Different students have different learning characteristics, and the differences will require new and innovative strategies to meet their unique needs. (Mears, 2012) So not all students are suitable to be educated by popular culture. For example, what if a student does irrelevant things on the computer but in the name of studying? And there is another negative effect that I could think of. If the teachers fairly rely on the media for the whole lesson, say, a movie, what if the computer or the projector isn't working sometimes? Although students can do other things instead, the quality is highly decreased as they are less engaged by not watching the movie and do the other “boring” work instead. Therefore popular culture is a double-edged sword, and educators need to consider both sides of the use of popular culture.
Reference:
Mears, Derrick. (2012). The influence of technology in pop culture on curriculum and instruction: the iGeneration of children has a unique set of learning characteristics that must be taken into account when teaching.(From Zumba to Yoga to Reality TV: Using Pop Culture to Teach the Sciences). Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 83(8), 15.
Roda, Claudia. (2011). Human attention in digital environments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.