Blog 1: Popular culture and its place in the primary classsroom

There is controversy surrounding the use of popular culture within the primary classroom, and due to children being increasingly ‘exposed to new technology’ (Blake, Winsor and Allen 2012; 26), ‘the concept of literacy has broadened’ (Rose 2008; 37). Marsh, Brooks, Hughes, Ritchie, Roberts and Wright (2005) found that ‘parents were generally very supportive of the role that popular culture, media and new technologies play in their children’s lives’ (Marsh et al 2005; 46), however, Lambirth (2003) found that some practitioners hold an opposing view stating that ‘they get enough at home’ (Lambirth 2003; 9). On the contrary, other educators believe that popular culture is ‘very prominent and […] has a big impact’ (Arthur 2005 cited in Marsh 2005: 175) in children’s lives.

When conducting a survey on student teachers, I found that they also held diverse views on the inclusion of popular culture in the classroom. Each of the three students I surveyed, said that popular culture should be used in the classroom however, student A held the view that they should be used with caution as some aspects of popular culture could influence children and distract them from the task in hand, this is supported by Buckingham and Scanlon (2001) as they state that ‘popular culture icons penetrate every aspect of children’s lives’ (Buckingham and Scanlon 2001 cited in Marsh 2005; 167).

With popular culture increasingly involving the use of technology, it is fundamental that ‘all children are taught to read and write in conventional ways’ (Dean 2010; 52). Student B and C supported this however, believed that the use of popular culture being introduced within the classroom context would benefit children and motivate them to complete a task. Conversely, Dean (2010) suggests that the use of popular culture and the new medias that are readily available in the classroom is ‘capable of distracting […] from classroom studies’ (Dean 2010:54).

Word Count: 311

·         Blake, S. Winsor, D. and Allen, L. (2012) ‘Technology and young children: Bridging the communication- generation gap’ Hershey: IGI Global

·         Dean, G. ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching media in primary classrooms London: Sage

·         Lambirth, A. (2003) ‘”They get enough of that at home”: Understanding aversion to popular culture in schools’ in READING Literacy and language 37 (1) pp. 9-13

·         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 pp.46-49

·         Marsh, J. (2005) ‘Popular Culture, new media and digital literacy in early childhood’ Oxon: Routledge Falmer

·         Rose, J. (2008) ‘The Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum: Interim Report’ London: Department for Education