Let’s Talk Pop. Culture
When thinking about popular culture
we often think of memes, videos, movies, magazines, and anything that you can
possibly think of. What we often forget or even something that we do not think
about is that popular culture can be used to learn. I know it may seem a bit
confusing, but this is something that I have attempted to do in my classroom.
For example, when explaining Group
Conflict I often find myself showing "The Office" clip “Stress Relief,” which most
is commonly known as “The Fire Drill” scene where Dwight starts a fire on
purpose which spirals out of control when it comes to what they should do for
safety. What I do usually is show the video and I have them break into their
groups and write down/talk out the problem they saw in the video as well as
give me a way the situation could be handled differently. The video is one of
my favs and it one that I have used twice now and both times I get a good
response. The students enjoy it and they are learning in a way that makes the
concept stick.
If you have not seen the video, I have embedded the link!
I have also used another "The Office"
clip to explain Stereotypes and the problems they can cause. I also address “ethnocentrism”
in the video as well. I have them watch the video together as a class and in
their groups they point out the stereotypes they saw and how stereotypes are hurtful
or impactful to the group they are referencing. Although stereotypes are normally
geared toward negativity against other groups it is helpful to look into the impact
of the stereotypes that they cause. The class seems to be engaged with the
material and this is one of the fun class sessions that I hold. I wish I could
make every class that fun, but sometimes it is not always possible. However,
with a little bit of hard work and searching I believe it could be done. I am
not the best at implementing pop culture in the classroom, but I am willing to
learn. I feel that I need more guidance when it comes to prep work for class in
order to connect the pop culture example to the concepts in class.
Also, if you have not seen the
Stereotypes episode from "The Office" I have attached the clip below! Enjoy! (:
No comments:
Post a Comment