My parent survey showed a positive attitude to popular
culture being used in the primary classroom. The parent expressed her views on
popular culture, as being important to her child’s daily life. This view was shared with Arthur’s (2005)
research in 2001 that children were passionate about popular culture, and this
interest was extended to a range of texts and toys. However, Arthur’s (2005)
research did highlight that some parents were concerned that their child’s
identity and world views might be affected by popular culture. This view was
not shared by the parent I interviewed. The child’s popular culture ranged from
bags, films and DS games; however the parent informed me that her child would
use popular culture as a context in drawing. The parent expressed her child had
difficulties of sharing ideas in the classroom, and sometimes it seemed the
child lacked motivation in certain subjects. The parent believed popular
culture would motivate her child with her work and to share her ideas in the
classroom. Lambirth (2003) stated that using popular culture in the classroom
can help the child to feel comfortable, as they feel valued. Marsh and Milliard
(cited in Lambirth, 2003) share the same view that popular culture can be used
to capture the child’s interest. As a student teacher this research has influenced
my decision to use children’s interests in my planning.
Merchant (2007) stated that children of all ages should have
access to new technology. The parent expressed that new technology in the
classroom would benefit her child, as she does not have an Ipad at home and
tends to focus on her DS. She believed using new technology in the classroom
would benefit her child, as she would develop new skills. This idea was shared
with other parents that new technology is needed in the classroom, as it
prepares the children for the future demands of new technology (Marsh, Brooks,
Hughes Ritchie, Roberts and Wright, 2005). This research has influenced my
decision as a student teacher to include new technology within my planning to
develop children’s ICT skills.
Arthur, L. (2005) ‘Popular Culture: views of parents and
educators’ in Marsh, J. (2005) Popular Culture,
New Media and Digital Literacy in Early Childhood Oxon: Routledge Falmer
Lambirth, A. (2003) “They get enough of that at home”:
Understanding aversion to popular cultures in schools’ Reading 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 (Section 2.10 p.46; Sections 3.2 &3.3 p48/49)
Merchant, G. (2007) Writing the future in the digital age
Literacy 41 (3) pp118-128
This blog was interesting to me as I did my survey from a student teachers view. However, it is good to see that there are similar perceptions from both parents and student teachers about including popular culture in classrooms. I liked to hear how confident that parent was that she thought her child would benefit from learning through popular culture, and she understands that technology is an essential part of the future.
ReplyDeleteI have found this blog interesting, as it was focused on the parent’s point of view, which was similar to my own blog. There was a similarity between our findings, that parents believe it is a positive that children's interests are being valued in the classroom. This blog has also identified a difference in the parent’s views, as it explains this parent appreciated the benefit of having technologies in school, even though she does not have them at home. Whereas the parent I surveyed felt that not having technology at home would limit the amount she could help her child with homework.
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