I surveyed a student teacher on their views of the use of
popular culture within the primary classroom. Their overall opinion was that
popular culture could be a great way to teach children in an engaging,
motivating and interactive way. This view is held by Marsh and Millard (2000) who
suggest that popular culture can capture the interests of children and should be
used and valued by teachers (cited in Lambirth, 2003).
Whilst the interviewee would be keen to use popular
culture in their classroom, they were not sure how parents and digital immigrant
teacher tutors would view the use and subsequently makes them wary of using it.
Palfrey and Gasser (2008) claim that digital natives ‘study, work, write and
interact with each other’ (p.2) in different ways to digital immigrants. This
could suggest that some parents and teachers may not see the value of using
popular culture in the classroom, as they are not as reliant as digital natives
are. I agree with the interviewees view and I am also cautious of how parents and
my teacher tutor may feel about popular culture being used in my practise. However,
research has highlighted that generally, parents are supportive of the role
that new technologies, media and popular culture can have on children (Marsh, Brooks, Hughes, Ritchie, Roberts, Wright, 2005).
As a result I am becoming more confident about using popular culture in my practice,
as this module is highlighting the benefits that technology, media and popular
culture can have on children’s overall motivation and learning experiences.
The interviewee challenged my views when they made an
interesting point suggesting, “Why does teaching have to be interactive- is pen
and paper not enough?” Whilst this is a valid point, McDougall l (2006)
highlights that technology provides experiences in which engaged and inquisitive
children take the place of passive, disinterested children of the past. Therefore
whilst I will make sure children are still taught in traditional ways, I will
also use popular culture, media and technology when appropriate, in order to enthuse
and engage the digital natives in my class.
Bibliography:
Lambirth, A. (2003)
‘”They get enough of that at home”: Understanding aversion to popular cultures
in schools’ Reading 37(1) pp.9-13.
Palfrey, J. & Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives New
York: Basic Books
Marsh, J. Brooks,G.
Hughes,J. Ritchie, L. Roberts, S. Wright, K (2005) Digital beginnings: Young
children’s use of popular culture, media and new Technologies University of
Sheffield.
McDougall,S. (2006) One
tablet or two? Opportunities for change in educational provision in the next 20
years. Futurelab:
http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/discussion_papers/One_tablet (Accessed: 23/01/14)
http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/discussion_papers/One_tablet (Accessed: 23/01/14)
I really like the reference made to digital narratives and digital immigrants. I hadn't thought of that being a reason why parents may not agree with technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really like the question posed by the student about the use of pen and paper not being enough. I think it is important to continue to value and regard traditional forms of literacy as well as to seek the benefits that new forms of digital technology bring to literacy. I feel that using technologies such as animation to support children's creative writing, whilst using a pen and paper can create just as engaging and exciting learning opportunities and develop an enthusiasm for literacy then just using one form other another.
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