"At times, adults position themselves as more knowledgeable about the meanings adolescents make of popular culture, and assume they already know what those meanings will be."I choose this quote because it is something that I have to keep in-check within myself. I do this, and I know that I do this, and every time I do, it surprises me. I appreciated that this paper went on to describe the ways that the researchers/writers did this in response to Ned's interest in Goodie MOb. To their credit, they were flexible in adjusting their approach to better reflect Ned's personal interest in Goodie MOb. I think recognizing that you are doing this, and being flexible with your instruction is key to overcoming this.
The writers go on to say:
"we implicitly believed that any and all texts we shared about the band would interest him.... adults assume that when we match a text to a child's interest, he or she will find pleasure in that text... pleasure in texts is often individually defined."I found this true with my Media Ecology case study, who is also my 9 year old son. Obsessed with Minecraft and trying to get him to write something (anything!) this summer, I assumed that if I got him to write about Minecraft, he would engage. As I found out the other day - not so :(
I'm varying my approach and I didn't push it because it would quickly turn into a power struggle that would lessen my ability to get him to write. But, I did find a strategy that worked.... he created a schedule for the typical summer day and designated an "educational hour" that I was responsible for. I got the book "How to be an Explorer of the World"(which we read about a couple weeks ago in this class) and the first exploration is to WRITE 10 things that you notice sitting in your chair right now. I got him to WRITE!!! I think it was because he had control over the space by designating the time that I would be responsible for the activity. I also credit that text and the excitement it builds about exploring space in an uncoventional way.
He clearly engages in Minecraft as a build/play/creative space but that didn't translate into writing on paper about it. I think I need to find another way to utilize that resource.
Questions:
1. What is your stance on using popular culture texts in school?
I feel that there is nothing wrong with using popular culture texts in schools. I enjoy popular cultural texts myself and also enjoy teaching with them. I also think that these texts are particularly important to learn how to approach in a critical way because they are the primary texts a person interacts with in most cases. and should be used to teach those skills.
2. What are your concerns about using popular culture texts in school?
The distraction they can sometimes cause - all the side conversations and strong preconceived opinions about the texts. I also think there is an additional layer of education a teacher has to do on the administrative and parental levels about the legitimacy of using popular culture texts in schools that sometimes seems like just too much work.
3. How can popular cultural texts support school-based writing?
There already is a wealth of resources about how fan-fiction can support school-based writing. Also - writing character sketches or summaries of plots that requires a complex knowledge about a text (which is gained from long exposure to the text and not possible in time and subject limits of school).
4. Find and link to a web-based popular culture text you might use to support writing in your teaching context.
22 storybasics I picked up in my time at Pixar
Found this while doing a search for ideas related to Pixar films. It was originally a series of tweets put out from this author using the hashtag #storybasics. I thought it could be interesting to go through and for certain ones brainstorm a pixar move that matched the item. Students could then choose a Pixar character and one item to help them write a short story to learn about characterization.
22 storybasics I picked up in my time at Pixar
Found this while doing a search for ideas related to Pixar films. It was originally a series of tweets put out from this author using the hashtag #storybasics. I thought it could be interesting to go through and for certain ones brainstorm a pixar move that matched the item. Students could then choose a Pixar character and one item to help them write a short story to learn about characterization.
Additional Resource:
Using Pop Culture to Develop Critical Media Literacy in Adult Education
This article highlights a professor's work in adult education and how to teach critical media literacy skills using pop cultural texts. The professor argues (and rightly so!) that adults are influenced by pop culture as much as children and teenagers are. It was interesting for me to discover that there is research in this field and I'm interested in reading this professor's book about the subject.
Sources:
D.E. Alvermann, M.C. Hagood, & K.B. Williams (2001, June). Image, language, and sound: Making meaning with popular culture texts. Reading Online, 4(11). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=/newliteracies/action/alvermann/index.html
I think it is great how you are taking what you are learning and using it to help motivate your son. I thought your "educational hour" was an interesting way to help your son take responsibility for his learning during the summer. Your expectation is still fulfilled but it gave your son some flexibility by allowing him to schedule when he would accomplish this goal. What a great way to instill planning and organizational skills necessary for school, work, and life
ReplyDeleteI checked out the link you included, because I am an adjunct for an introductory class. I need to develop tactics to keep the attention of the young adults I have. The article points to a qhote by Paulo Freire, the late Brazilian adult educator, activist, and educational theorist. “Freire argued that we need to teach people not only to read the word, but also to read the world,” says Tisdell. “So part of helping people read the world is helping them examine what is a part of their everyday world—and media and popular culture are part of that everyday world.” Relevance, relationship, and putting information to work in the real world is so important, but a skill that is hard to develop. (I feel like I'm still learning that.) So, I think it's important we reinforce that type of critical thinking as much as possible. Not easy to do, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased you brought up Paulo Freire! He is very relevant to adult literacy and one of my heroes! He taught poor illiterate people in Brazil to read in 8 weeks. He was ultimately imprisoned for his work and eventual exiled.
DeleteI never thought about it, but popular texts could be a distraction without limitations and guidelines. I'm impressed that your son even allowed you to do a whole hour of education time. I'm also glad that you found something fun to entertain him during that hour, so that it wasn't the part he dreaded to do every day in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI love the activity you had your son do. I also love that the idea of having him create a schedule and adding "education time." It seems that he is on board with "school stuff" when he chooses the when, where, and how:).
ReplyDeleteYou do have to be sneaky when using popular culture texts in school. Kids can smell education and that will quickly diminish any enthusiasm they might have for the text you are trying to appropriate for learning in school
ReplyDeleteI like that you use pop culture texts in school. It adds a new view to the education being administered. I also feel that the students might be better involved if more teacher did this.
ReplyDeleteI really like your "educational hour" idea. What a great way to keep him engaged with school during the summer. I wish all parents would do this; it might help them to retain information when they move into the next grade after summer break.
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