My argument to Parents:
Parents…..When did you first witness MTV? Where were you when you first saw your first music video on MTV? How did this impact your life, family, and friends? Since the formation of MTV, society found new way to relate with and identify with music. When the Buggles deputed the first ever video, “Video killed the Radio Star” in 1981, music videos became a new genre that influenced the lives of our youth. Generations have imitated Michael Jackson’s famous Thriller dance moves and kids have been influenced to “Rock the Vote.” MTV has become the definition of youth through elebrity interviews, fashion, trends, and reality TV. Rather than denying that music and MTV has played a role in students’ lives, we should embrace it and use it as a tool and strategy in the classroom to analyze society. Students individual experiences with music and popular culture can help define and understand history. Elvis and the 1950s; Beatles and the 1960s; Michael Jackson and the 1980s; Alternative Grunge bands and the 1990s; Hip Hop and today. Each generation can be define by music that helped shaped their era. The learning opportunities from using music and popular culture in the classroom provide an asset to undrestsand history and society.
Newsweek Editor and Princeton Professor Evan Thomas recently stated that students in today’s college classes rarely understand the significance and meaning of historical events and the events and themes that have created the foundation of our country. He stated, “I don’t see kids who are interested in history. I also do not need kids who know anything about history. More trouble….they don’t know the history of what makes this county special and qualities that make democracy and freedom special around the world. They have little grasp of the meaning of the essence of government by the people.” Please view his youtube video here:
With this in mind, how can we bring “more life” to history and help students understand and engage with history? A classroom should connect popular culture with history and our world because in reality, popular culture has become away to define our culture among today’s youth. Classrooms should promote academic understanding within the context of today’s world.
More than just music
In addition to music, other forms of popular culture influence our students. Today’s youth are exposed to more technology than ever before through facebook, video games, twitter, myspace, ipod, and texting. Rather than downplay the influence of these, I can use them as a tool to help students better understand society. We can use these as strategies to understand and critically analyze academic content. In doing so, help them realize their place in society and come to better understand our world. According to Thomas Fein in “American Pop Culture, “It would be irresponsible of us as educators not to study and embrace this culture because the result will be our youth will learn more, return more be better motivated, and most importantly, they will obtain an education that is relevant to the “real world” and that is meaningful to them.” Bringing popular culture forms into the classroom allows students to critical analyze issues through the lens of an artist and understand new meanings behind history and societal events. “Popular music has successfully usurped the system and affected society change. If nothing else, it often provides a context for connections to the world and sense making of them world,” stated White and Walker in Tooning In (7). It is my hope that using popular culture as a teaching tool will help involve students in the world around them and produce active, thoughtful citizens.
The new era of activism
While many can place a negative connotation on technology and popular culture in the classroom, it IS our young people, so we must view pop culture and students as one in the same. Our country as seen the most socially-minded youth since the 1960s, so we can use this desire for social change coupled with the force of popular culture to understand history and their place in it. Today’s youth are practicing active citizenship and embracing social change through technology (think facebook ‘causes” application). We can combine their idealism, desire for social activism, and technology savy skills to teach history and important social studies topics and make it meaningful and relevant to their lives. Rather than turning to a protest or march, younger students will declare their support or activism through ‘clicks” on the internet. Studies indicate that today’s millennial generation is the most active and most likely to volunteer since the Baby Boomers. The youngest members of our society, the Millennials, utilize new technology for civic purposes the most. For example, they are far more likely than older generations to use the Internet, blogs, web-contents, text messaging and social networking sites to gather civic-related information and express their opinions on various issues. (National Conference for Citizenship; http://www.ncoc.net/) If our youngest generation is embracing technology and popular culture to make their voice heard and become active citizens, I believe this has a strong place in the classroom to foster citizenship and a ‘social activism 2.0’ among youth.
I strive to create a classroom which is a reflection of the real-world. I want my students to be prepared to enter a society as active, engaged, and civic-minded people. So in order to do this, I foster citizenship and utilize popular culture as a means to teach them about history and society.
Parents…..When did you first witness MTV? Where were you when you first saw your first music video on MTV? How did this impact your life, family, and friends? Since the formation of MTV, society found new way to relate with and identify with music. When the Buggles deputed the first ever video, “Video killed the Radio Star” in 1981, music videos became a new genre that influenced the lives of our youth. Generations have imitated Michael Jackson’s famous Thriller dance moves and kids have been influenced to “Rock the Vote.” MTV has become the definition of youth through elebrity interviews, fashion, trends, and reality TV. Rather than denying that music and MTV has played a role in students’ lives, we should embrace it and use it as a tool and strategy in the classroom to analyze society. Students individual experiences with music and popular culture can help define and understand history. Elvis and the 1950s; Beatles and the 1960s; Michael Jackson and the 1980s; Alternative Grunge bands and the 1990s; Hip Hop and today. Each generation can be define by music that helped shaped their era. The learning opportunities from using music and popular culture in the classroom provide an asset to undrestsand history and society.
Newsweek Editor and Princeton Professor Evan Thomas recently stated that students in today’s college classes rarely understand the significance and meaning of historical events and the events and themes that have created the foundation of our country. He stated, “I don’t see kids who are interested in history. I also do not need kids who know anything about history. More trouble….they don’t know the history of what makes this county special and qualities that make democracy and freedom special around the world. They have little grasp of the meaning of the essence of government by the people.” Please view his youtube video here:
With this in mind, how can we bring “more life” to history and help students understand and engage with history? A classroom should connect popular culture with history and our world because in reality, popular culture has become away to define our culture among today’s youth. Classrooms should promote academic understanding within the context of today’s world.
More than just music
In addition to music, other forms of popular culture influence our students. Today’s youth are exposed to more technology than ever before through facebook, video games, twitter, myspace, ipod, and texting. Rather than downplay the influence of these, I can use them as a tool to help students better understand society. We can use these as strategies to understand and critically analyze academic content. In doing so, help them realize their place in society and come to better understand our world. According to Thomas Fein in “American Pop Culture, “It would be irresponsible of us as educators not to study and embrace this culture because the result will be our youth will learn more, return more be better motivated, and most importantly, they will obtain an education that is relevant to the “real world” and that is meaningful to them.” Bringing popular culture forms into the classroom allows students to critical analyze issues through the lens of an artist and understand new meanings behind history and societal events. “Popular music has successfully usurped the system and affected society change. If nothing else, it often provides a context for connections to the world and sense making of them world,” stated White and Walker in Tooning In (7). It is my hope that using popular culture as a teaching tool will help involve students in the world around them and produce active, thoughtful citizens.
The new era of activism
While many can place a negative connotation on technology and popular culture in the classroom, it IS our young people, so we must view pop culture and students as one in the same. Our country as seen the most socially-minded youth since the 1960s, so we can use this desire for social change coupled with the force of popular culture to understand history and their place in it. Today’s youth are practicing active citizenship and embracing social change through technology (think facebook ‘causes” application). We can combine their idealism, desire for social activism, and technology savy skills to teach history and important social studies topics and make it meaningful and relevant to their lives. Rather than turning to a protest or march, younger students will declare their support or activism through ‘clicks” on the internet. Studies indicate that today’s millennial generation is the most active and most likely to volunteer since the Baby Boomers. The youngest members of our society, the Millennials, utilize new technology for civic purposes the most. For example, they are far more likely than older generations to use the Internet, blogs, web-contents, text messaging and social networking sites to gather civic-related information and express their opinions on various issues. (National Conference for Citizenship; http://www.ncoc.net/) If our youngest generation is embracing technology and popular culture to make their voice heard and become active citizens, I believe this has a strong place in the classroom to foster citizenship and a ‘social activism 2.0’ among youth.
I strive to create a classroom which is a reflection of the real-world. I want my students to be prepared to enter a society as active, engaged, and civic-minded people. So in order to do this, I foster citizenship and utilize popular culture as a means to teach them about history and society.
Gina, Great chatting with you these past few weeks! I loved your opener of asking parents when they first saw MTV...turn pop culture back on them noting they have already experienced it! Nice touch :) And your closing statements...making learning real world, or else, why learn it?! Stong argument that will be hard to knock down!
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