Interrogating the Use of Popular Culture Mediums in School Education
| Published date | 01 January 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120140113 |
| Author | Jaya Virat |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NOTE
INTERROGATING
THE
USE
OF
POPULAR
CULTURE MEDIUMS IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
JAYA VIRAT
THE PRACTICE
of
teaching is evolving not just with inputs from research
in the discipline but through the introduction
of
several innovative teaching
techniques primarily borrowed from popular culture, media and technology.
These new media such as television, radio, video conferencing, cyber-
media, etc. do contribute to the improvement
in
the quality and reach
of
education but they are often considered largely Western in their orientation.
However, it is not necessary that everything Western has to be seen
as
a
means
of
oppression or viewed suspiciously by post-colonial nations even
though writers like Michael
J.
Apter continue to view Britain
as
example
other countries must emulate and learn from. The Western approach to
'less developed nations' might still be rooted in colonial mentality but
if
their teaching techniques prove to be effective then others can adopt/adapt
them, albeit with caution, for their own enhancement and development.
What one is referring to here
is
the intelligent and creative use
of
media
and technology for education dispensation but at the same time being alert
to one's own context while employing such tools. Education system must
constantly introspect and interrogate everything that it invents and borrows
from other nations and their successful experiments
as
the results certainly
differ and vary
in
different contexts. This article proposes to dwell upon
the problems that technology might encounter in the effort to improve the
quality
of
education owing to different kinds
of
the teaching methods
employed. The article specifically analyses use
of
modem communication
media
in
education in NCERT curriculum and its future proposals. It also
concentrates on questions such
as
-is media,
as
part
of
popular culture,
popular amongst students? On the one hand education system always
proposes to introduce students to new technological advancements but
is
it feasible to always make available to them what the system imagines and
proposes, i.e., a controlled access?
It is often argued that to fill up the gap
of
what
is
being taught and
what is being understood by students, we may require the use
of
media and
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