Pop Culture

I don't remember much about pop culture or being taught it when I was in high school. All I can really remember is one day during my 11th grade English class, my teacher had us read lyrics from songs that were popular at the time. She had us try to analyze what we read like analyzing a poem. Then, she had us analyze it again while we listened to the song because when people are singing the lyrics, you can feel what they are feeling by the way they sing. You can tell whether they feel angry, sad, happy or excited. It was one of my favorite days that year because it was fun. I think pop culture is important to bring into the classroom because it's another way to make learning fun for students.

I like the way this article used a couple different projects to explain why pop culture is important for students in secondary education. The article gives a quote directly from the student report from the hip-hop project. The students who conducted the project said that it is important to understand the world you live in, your ideology changed. When your ideology changes, your actions will change and then it is possible to change the world you live in. I personally think it's a stretch to say that you'll change the world you live in by changing your ideology, but I don't think it's impossible. I just think that someone has to be motivated to try to make changes in their world. Just because someone's eyes are opened and their views change, doesn't mean that they will do anything about it around them. It's one thing to be sympathetic, but another to be active.

I want to use pop culture in my classroom, but I want to use it to make learning more fun for my kids. I don't want them thinking because they learn something new, that they are obligated to do something about the way that they feel. If so, that's great, but my main objective is to make sure my students are learning and having fun while doing so.