Explore the outcomes of your parental/student
teacher survey. Did any responses surprise or challenge you? What might be the
subsequent implications for your future practice? Make links to the in-session
discussion and to any relevant readings.
Should popular
culture and new media be promoted in the classroom? From conducting research
into this area, I have found that there are many positive and negative views regarding
the role and impact of new media and popular culture, on the learning of both
children and teachers.
Firstly, my survey
suggested that teachers may be anxious and worried about keeping up to date
with new media and popular culture. It was also discussed in our seminar that
teachers think it is important to keep expanding and developing their knowledge
in order to ‘keep up’ with their students. Marsh (2003) suggests that teachers
may lack confidence
due to lack of own experience and lack of knowledge. Therefore, teachers need opportunities to explore and
discover new literacies (Dean, 2010) & access to training and the
technology (Marsh et al 2005). I was also surprised
to read from Marsh (2003), that popular culture is seen as ‘taboo’ in schools
and student teachers do not want to use it in case it reflects badly on them.
This shows that student teachers are unsure of whether or not using popular
culture in the classroom is seen as a good thing. The survey and seminar discussions also implied that teacher’s think popular culture and new media can be very engaging and interesting for children. Dyson (1997:2002) suggests that children’s popular texts within the classroom, can be used to value children’s out-of-school experiences including home life. If children’s attitudes & values are respected, then the use of popular culture becomes a way of building on their ‘funds of knowledge’ (Moll et. al, 1992). This is supported by Marsh (2000) and PNS/UKLA (2005) who highlight that children don’t seem to reject introduction of popular culture in the classroom, rather they respond enthusiastically to work related to their interests. This has shown me the need to bring popular culture into my own practice. On the other hand, Lambirth (2003) suggests that some teachers may find these materials intellectually inferior & feel that children are exposed to unregulated films, computer games & ‘they get enough of that at home’ (Lambirth, 2003). In relation to this, a question proposed in a seminar session that challenged my thinking was ‘Is using real game in the classroom more engaging than education games?’ This is something I would like to explore throughout the module.
One implication and something that
challenged my thinking for my own practice is that children may not be learning rich vocabulary
through the use of new media, therefore are they just learning colloquialism? As
mentioned in my survey, teachers may need to ensure children are benefitting in
an educational way. There is a concern that an introduction
of digital communication into the classroom is at the expense of the
‘traditional’ view of English (Merchant, 2001; Crystal, 2001). This is supported by Palmer (2007) who suggests
that it can promote poor language and social skills, leading to slower progress
in literacy.
Dean (2010) ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in
Bazalgette, C (Ed) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London:Sage
Dyson, A.H. (1997) Writing
Superheroes: Contemporary childhood,
popular culture and classroom literacy.
New York: Teachers College Press
Lambirth, A. (2003) ‘”They get enough of that at home”:
Understanding aversion to popular cultures in schools’ Reading 37(1) pp.9-13
Marsh, J. & Millard, E. (2000) Literacy
and Popular Culture: Using children’s culture in the classroom. London:
Paul Chapman
Marsh, J. et al, (2005)
‘Digital beginnings: Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new technologies’
Literacy Research
Centre, University of Sheffield
Merchant, G. (2001) ‘Teenagers in cyberspace: language use
and language change in Internet chatrooms in Journal of Research in Reading
24 (3) pp.293 - 306
Moll, L., Manati, C., Neff, D. & Gonzalez, N. (1992)
Funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes
and classrooms. Theory into Practice. 31 pp.132 – 141
Palmer, S. (2007) Toxic Childhood: How the modern world
is damaging our children and what we can do about it London: Orion Books
PNS/UKLA (2005) Raising Boys’ Achievement in Writing. London: HMSO
I agree with your point about the possibility of teachers feeling anxious about keeping up-to-date with technologies and the need of training. On SE3 my teacher tutor also felt this way, however she allowed children to teach her how to use these resources. This developed her knowledge of how to use the technologies as well as the children's. As a result of this, the children felt like 'experts' and were really engaged within her lessons.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of popular culture and the reduction of rich vocabulary, I agree with you on how it depends on what the popular culture is and how it is used with children. For example, using a short, popular child's movie clip as a stimulus for writing may not necessarily result in a decreased vocabulary choice.
Within my survey I also found that the use of popular culture can make learning more interesting as it provides a context and enhances children’s learning both inside and outside of the classroom. I think that by using children's interests within a lesson, teachers can make lessons more motivating and engaging for children which would ultimately have a positive impact on their learning.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also found that often the use of technology promotes a 'game mentality' therefore teachers should educate children about the different purposes of technology and how it can be used to promote learning and not just to play games.