Summary of the module identifying the implications for my future role as an English subject leader.

This module has been inspiring and relevant to current educational issues. It has allowed me to explore with my own anxieties on teaching media, language and technology, in a classroom where I am likely to find that the children know more about it than I would as the teacher (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008). The practical seminars have allowed me to gain a first-hand experience with the types of software I may use on my future practice, whilst the theory-based seminars have metaphorically opened my eyes into the advantages of integrating popular culture into the classroom.

I particularly found the debate on advertisement inspiring. This is because, on reflection, I now understand that my stance had changed due to a deeper understanding, through discussion and reading the relevant literature. I now appreciate that there are benefits and negatives to teaching children about advertising, however the underlying factor which determines the effectiveness is the teacher’s commitment and willingness to experiment (FutureLab, 2010). This is an implication that has been continuously highlighted throughout the blogs, which suggests that in order to achieve a classroom that welcomes popular culture I should, as a future teacher, improve my own knowledge so that I feel comfortable in using it with children.

The school experience, at Shirley Warren Primary school, has been effective in concluding the module and allowing us to put to practice what we have learned. The teacher’s passion for media has inspired me to be creative, within my own practice. The ideas that were put forward have provided me with a bank of resources, to use in my future practice. I particularly found the idea that media needs to be cross-curricula and not surplus to curricular useful. This view is echoed by the UKLA (2004), who further explain that using technology, to make links with various subjects, enforces the skills employed by technology and allow children to frequently become engaged in the technical process whilst applying the theory of other subjects. On reflection, I can understand how this is achievable, and look forward to “discover the digital world” (21^stCFP).

Bibliography

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the curriculum: (sections3.1-3.4 Digital literacy in practice) (See online). 

The 21^st century Fluency Project Understanding Digital.

Palfrey, J. & Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives New York: Basic Books.

QCA/UKLA (2004) More than words: Multimodal texts in the classroom London: QCA.