Essay on Pop Culture in the Classroom - 1148 Words

If you were a child in the late 1970s, its likely you will recall one or more of these superheroes. Or, if you are currently working with elementary school-aged children, its likely they will be able to identify essentially the same set of characters, and maybe even their successors. Three years ago, Donna was part of a research team (Alvermann, Moon, Hagood, 1999) interested in exploring the uses that teachers and children make of popular culture in classroom settings. We provide a description of four approaches to using popular culture in the classroom, attending to the tensions created when teachers try to develop students critical awareness of the very things the children find most pleasurable about popular culture. We then share†¦show more content†¦The first and most important step for teachers to integrate students popular culture interests into literacy teaching and learning is to learn about their own and childrens experiences with popular culture. This knowledge can help teachers better appreciate the entertaining and pleasure-providing functions that various forms of popular culture serve. Such an understanding may also assist teachers in planning instruction that takes into account the importance of popular culture texts to childrens everyday literacies. Teachers can use a survey to learn more about their own experiences with popular culture and their assumptions about their students popular culture interests. They can then give the same survey to students to find out if there is a match between their assumptions about students popular culture interests and what students actually say.Teachers in the primary grades may want to conduct a class survey to tally the results for each item based on the students oral responses. After conducting the surveys, teachers can share their own experiences with popular culture and also talk with students to learn more about their popular culture interests. Students often appreciate that teachers show some interest in what students care about. Tables 1 and 2 are examples of teachers and students surveys. As noted in the sample surveys, large differences exist between teachers and students in terms of their popular culture interests. Culturally responsiveShow MoreRelatedVideo Games And Its Effect On Society1171 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is pop culture? Popular culture is defined in the dictionary as the culture based on tastes of ordinary people rather than an educated elite. Pop culture should be taught in schools. By teaching pop culture to students, it will help them know what’s going on in the world and helps them pay more attention in class. There are different types of pop culture such as, entertainment, music, video games, and sports. Teaching pop culture can benefit any classroom. 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