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Ben 10, superheroes and princesses: primary teachers' views of popular culture and school literacy
Author(s) -
Dickie John,
Shuker Mary Jane
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1741-4369
pISSN - 1741-4350
DOI - 10.1111/lit.12023
Subject(s) - curriculum , literacy , interpretation (philosophy) , pedagogy , reading (process) , christian ministry , psychology , primary education , popular culture , mathematics education , social studies , sociology , political science , media studies , linguistics , philosophy , law
The introduction of national standards for reading, writing and mathematics for children aged 5 to 12 years in New Zealand schools raises the question of whether this will lead to narrower interpretation of the school curriculum. Although Ministry of Education guidelines for teachers interpret literacy as social and cultural practice, national standards indicate a more skills‐driven, teacher‐centred approach. This research explored how primary teachers of children aged 5 to 7 years can reconcile this apparent difference by asking them about their views on incorporating children's funds of knowledge of popular culture into the school literacy curriculum. The findings from a survey and teacher case studies are reported here. Although a small number of teachers viewed popular culture negatively, most positioned it within the official curriculum and drew on it particularly for use with writing activities. In this paper, we aim to illustrate how teachers can avoid a narrow interpretation of literacy curriculum by drawing on children's expertise in popular culture.