Pop Culture & Media in Education

After reading Paulo Freire earlier this week, this article was a smooth transition, for it connects the oppression the Freire refers to in connection with the media. The media perpetuates oppression because it is not representative of everyone’s experience. It continues to keep the dominant in power because neglects the point of view of the oppressed. As teachers, it is our responsibility to work to prevent this from happening in our classrooms.

One way to do this is by teaching media literacy. I think that this is so important, especially in our current cultural climate. We have unlimited access to sources- reliable and not- and social media causes news to spread like wildfire. We have to teach students what makes sources credible and how to get the objective facts from media so that they can have informed, individual stances. The study states that students need to learn how to “critically interrogate the mass media” because the media is always going to be biased. It is our job, as consumers of media, to be critical of what we are taking as fact.

The hip-hop portion of the article seemed to point out that teachers need to tailor education to meet the experiences of their students or else the cycle of inequality will only continue. I immediately connected this to our article on Common Core State Standards. One of the opposing arguments is that CCSS (especially the standardized tests) are not made with the unique needs of minority students in mind. Because of this, those students are stuck in the systematic oppression of our society. By using teaching methods and materials, like hip-hop, which students can identify with, we are giving them an opportunity to learn in a way that is more authentic to and connected with their lifestyle. Students will feel understood because they can relate to the material.