A parent’s perception of the use of popular culture in the classroom

In reference to the outcome of my parent survey regarding attitudes towards the use of popular culture within the classroom, many valuable viewpoints and experiences were apparent. My survey was carried out with a mother of two boys; ages 7 and 9 years.

Interestingly, the mother initially expressed a change in her own attitude regarding technology and popular culture, in which she stated that she would not have accepted or allowed it to become such a vast part of her children’s lives in the past, however she explained that this has changed since becoming employed by a digital media company, as well as seeing the benefits that these interests present to her own children’s happiness, well-being and social development. As Luke (1999) reiterates, children’s popular media culture is part of children’s social repertoire and generates cultural capital that is valued within children’s peer groups. This I found extremely valuable, as it highlighted to me the importance of parent’s attitudes as an influence on child’s exposure to popular culture within the home and how this can pose a significant influence, upon the acceptance of popular culture within the classroom. Equally it demonstrated the significance that popular culture has upon children’s social development in which to foster social interactions and establish peers groups when at school. This lead me to consider the importance of teacher- parent partnerships, in which a joint understanding is constructed and employed to support learning as well as to appreciate the child’s home experiences. Cairney (2000) supports this and called for the development of effective partnerships between the home and the educational setting that would enable parents and educators to engage with dialogue and develop a shared understanding.

Overall, the parent felt that popular culture should be used within the classroom, as she believed it created stimulating and engaging learning contexts, whilst valuing children’s out of school experiences which would motivate, capture and enthuse learning. This is supported by Marsh (2000) who asserts that using ‘’popular culture and the media in the literacy curriculum can be very motivating for many children and can offer them the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise in the classroom’’. However, a valuable and relevant discussion that arose from our seminar this week, was the issue of children’s out of school experiences losing value if over used within the classroom. This I believe to be a significant factor and a possible implication for my own teaching, in which the importance of establishing a balance between traditional forms of literacy and the use of new technologies and popular culture within the classroom should be a significant consideration when constricting, a well-planned and engaging curriculum.

Overall in response to this survey, I feel i have gained insightful knowledge surrounding the valuable perspectives of parents, which will form an importance component when planning my own popular culture themed lessons. Additionally I feel that having the knowledge and creativity to plan such engaging lessons, will require experience which I hope to gain and explore during my next school placement.  

Cairney, T. (2000) Family Literacy: Challenges for early education, in J. Hayden (ed.) Early Childhood Landscapes: Cross national perspectives on empowerment and restraint (pp. 355-367). New York: Peter Larg.

Luke, C. (1999) Media and cultural studies in Australia. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 42.8, 622-626. 

Marsh, J. (2000) Popular culture in the classroom, Literacy today available at http://nationalliteracy trust.org.uk/Pubs/marsh.html, accessed 26 May 2007.