Academic Reading and Pop Culture
Comments(3) This week we discussed multiple readings and explored many topics in class. There were a number of parts that stood out for me.
In chapter seven of our text (Zwiers, 2008), we learned about language for academic reading. One of the most interesting parts of this chapter, which is reiterated in other chapters, is the need for a delicate balance between simplifying and/or translating language for students and challenging students to do the deciphering themselves. There is a fine line between challenging and frustrating a student. However, I found that the strategies that Zwiers presents are encouraging and have been well crafted in a careful and balanced way. The key concept to help create challenging, and yet not frustrating, situations is to help students learn how to deconstruct and unpack the meaning of texts before getting them to attempt it on their own. This way the students learn how to do it along with the teacher and therefore, possess the tools to do it themselves. This mitigates the frustration, as students are more equipped to do the work.
The optional reading (Duff, 2002) presented an interesting point of view on the use of pop culture as a teaching tool. We have been encouraged a great deal to utilize pop culture to make our lessons more relevant, yet this cautionary perspective was not provided and I think that it should be noted by all teachers. The presentation on the reading reminded me of instances when I was alienated and left out by pop culture references in school. For instance, I was not allowed to watch The Simpsons as a child and, because it was very popular, there were numerous times when my teachers would refer to it in class, in relation to what we were learning. I knew vaguely what it was about but I did not understand how it related to the material because I did not know the “inside jokes” and specifics of the show. It definitely made me feel excluded from the discussion and like there was something wrong with me for not watching the show. It was an uncomfortable feeling and it was counterproductive to my learning. It would have been more helpful for my teachers to give more information on the show, so that I could more easily follow and participate in the instruction. In this technological age, I think that it is easier than even to use pop culture in the classroom and it is also easier to use it more inclusively. Teachers can use projectors to show clips of scenes or You Tube videos before discussing the ideas involved. This way, the students have a shared experience of the media being discussed so that all students can participate. Some students will always have more background knowledge of the media than others but it is a step towards a more equitable discussion.
Melanie Reich
References:
Duff, P. (2002). Pop culture and ESL students: Intertextuality, identity, and participation in classroom
discussions. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 45, 482-487.
Zwiers, J. (2008). Language for academic reading. In Building academic language: Essential practices for
content classrooms (Ch. 7, pp. 163-194). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
I agree that one of the unspoken problems bred by using pop culture references in the classroom is that while attempting to relate to our students, we can inadvertently alienate groups of them. Although the Duff article highlighted the difficulties that are faced by ELL students who might be new to the popular media of their school community, no insights were offered to support a situation like yours Melanie: when access to certain media isn’t available or allowed at home. I agree that in this “technological age,” teachers have more opportunity to include pop culture while providing context and clarity to their students of all backgrounds. However, now I’m curious about how to negotiate the “rules of the home” vs. access in the classroom. As a teacher, should I be concerned with the potential objections of parents or guardians when I’m utilizing media in my classroom? Obviously, I’m not talking about R rated material, or wildly inappropriate/questionable resources – but using your example of The Simpsons, how can I be sensitive to a student/parents who might feel uncomfortable with my utilizing that in the classroom? If I were to clips from a television program that wasn’t allowed at home, while some students may feel liberated by the opportunity to engage with that resource, others might feel a sense of conflict or distress to have disobeyed the house rules. And in such a case, if the student didn’t speak up – how would I know that I had caused such a conflict in the first place? Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, should I treat my classroom as a public space where it is expected that students might be exposed to media that challenges them or makes them uncomfortable? Is there some sort of balance between the two that I can achieve? These new questions regarding using pop culture inclusively in my classroom, as well as balancing the needs of my students (and possibly their families) in the process will have to be something I continue to reflect upon.
I definitely felt the same way when the teachers used pop culture references to spice up the lessons in high school. From the perspective of an immigrant, I had a hard time relating to my teacher’s “western” or “North American” humour. I often found myself pretending to laugh with everybody when the truth was I had no idea what was so funny. I wanted to feel included and so I put on a façade. I was afraid of being judged as being weird or ignorant for not knowing pop culture references. I feared people would say to me or think to themselves “Where have you been? How could you not know that?” Adding onto your point about using technology to catch up on current mainstream pop culture, the teacher could use the students’ cultural capital as a starting point. Instead of digging for pop culture featured in YouTube or Buzz Feed, a more student-centered approach to pop culture would be to do a survey at the start of the class to see what is considered popular among the students. Since our students may come from very different cultural backgrounds and different grades may enjoy different pop cultures, it would be interesting to see what they believe as pop culture. Pop culture could thus be a site of debate and of struggle for “common knowledge”.
Melanie, I appreciate your input on this. When I was young, I too was very ‘out of the loop’. It’s important to remember how powerful that feeling of alienation can be. I think as teachers, we definitely need to be careful of casually referencing pop culture that not everyone is necessarily familiar with as a way of engaging with our students. On the other hand, if we take the time to bring that material into class and perhaps play clips, then perhaps the content could engage out students as well as help to build class connectivity. For example, if we bring in and show a Simpson clip, then the students who are unfamiliar with the Simpsons get to see what everyone is talking about.
I also think it is important to bring in a variety of materials and references. Sticking to our example of the Simpsons, what if a student simply really dislikes The Simpsons and does no get why it is funny. Relying on Simpsons clips would still alienate that student. Perhaps a small ongoing assignment for students could be a kind of pop culture show and tell. We could inform students of which topics would be covered in the future and ask them to submit youtube clips, web sites, or music that could help explore discussion of the designated topics.