"Is not... Is too!"  "Is not... Is too!"  “S...not...S...tew!”  “Snot Stew?”  From the kitten’s point of view in Bill Wallace’s book, Snot Stew, the children’s confusing argument of “is not” and response, “is too!” sounds like dinner.   "Is not...Is too!" could also be the cry of teachers, administrators, parents, and students in the debate concerning the practice of using popular culture and media in the classroom.  In the world of the elementary classroom, young children will always bring relevant experiences from everyday lives with them to the “official” world of school literacy.  The real question might be who's in charge of the cultural resources and knowledge that include popular media and to what end?

Popular culture is the student’s turf and also stretches the notion of "what counts" as literacy work in our classrooms.   Anne Haas Dyson’s work as an early childhood researcher emphasizes how popular media shapes children’s lives. Young children’s use of popular culture informs both academic and social action in the classroom.  The difficulty lies in the appropriation of this valuable way of knowing.

The teacher’s stance is critical when incorporating popular culture/media in the classroom to make sure the young student’s knowledge is respected.  Jesse Gainer, an educational researcher at Texas State University, considers three roles the teacher might assume that seem helpful in our teaching dilemma of what to do with this broad notion of literacy.  The roles are learner, guide, and authority. 

Teacher as learner.  Most importantly, as teachers we must be willing to learn from the students as they share and use their engaging worlds of outside interests. Listening to the students as they talk about what they care about and asking questions about why particular “texts” are important to them builds this kind of relationship. Being respectful of students’ interests and tastes, even when they conflict with our own, is challenging when teachers are concerned and questioned by the public about what counts as learning in our classrooms.

Teacher as guide. The teacher acts as a guide in assisting students to look critically at these popular culture texts, facilitating, not dictating students’ learning.  Sharing our own interests as literacy user to literacy user is powerful and models how to critically discuss and share knowledge that builds a community where we all are  inquirers.

Teacher as authority.  The third role isn't one you might consider as a traditional role of teaching authority. We must use our own authority to protect our students’ pleasure associated with popular media texts.  Our sensitivity to and respect for children’s interests will determine if the literary practices they bring will be meaningfully integrated into school practices.  Gainer’s (2007) comment that “the teacher of critical media literacy must be careful not to appropriate or co-opt, children’s everyday texts for the purpose of an adult-centered critique.  Rather the teacher should incorporate children’s interests into curriculum as a means to connect to students’ lives and show the relevance of class work to their lives” (p.112).   

Popular culture is not just a “hook” or as a way to hold interest, popular culture is necessary to teach how to use literacy in current times. Popular culture becomes a place to experience pleasure, to explore identities, as well as for negotiation and struggle. Children are valued when their own knowledge and interests are valued and at the center of using multiple literacies to make sense of the world.

Work cited:

Dyson, A. H. (2003). Popular literacies and the “all” children:  Rethinking literacy development for contemporary childhoods. Language Arts 81, 100–109.

Gainer, J. (2007). Social critique and pleasure: Critical media literacy with popular culture texts.  Language Arts 85(2), 106-114.

Wallace, B. (1990/2008).  Snot Stew. Aladdin Books.