This article explores the normative representations of higher education students in seven films and television series from four European countries. Drawing on the concept of the 'independent learner' as an 'ideal construction', I demonstrate how these texts offer complex and at times paradoxical representations of who gets positioned as the…

This activity provides students with a way of understanding expectancy violations theory (EVT) by examining incidents that occurred during televised award shows. In this activity, in small groups, students will delve into well-known award-show incidents, such as Will Smith's slapping of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, to understand the…

Studies show the importance of non-cis-heteronormative referents for LGBT+. The object of this paper is to explore LGBT+ referents for teenagers on the basis of the results of the "Survey on Adolescence and Sexual Diversity," which was distributed to Spanish high school students in the fourth grade of compulsory secondary education The…

This article discusses the urgent issues and concerns about anti-Asian racism in our society and provides several pedagogical strategies to counter anti-Asian racism. We begin by discussing the history and context of anti-Asian racism in the US, from which we trace the historical origins and contexts of anti-Asian racism, violence, and stereotypes…

Framing sports culture as a viable site for research and inquiry in the English language arts classroom, this article documents an investigation into the opportunities for research and inquiry teachers provided for students in selected secondary sports literature classes. Data collection involved gathering teacher- and student-generated artifacts,…

Many of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an immediate impact on individuals' behaviors and…

This study examined weight concerns and body dissatisfaction among female kindergarteners and assessed their relationships to body mass index (BMI) and parental, peer, and media influences. A total of 90 girls in South Korea were recruited and two-step cluster analysis was used to examine body image concerns and their association with diverse…

Parents of gifted children are often faced with challenges as to how to process images, labels, and stereotypes of youth with special abilities. Just as books can provide healing for the troubled soul by reflecting on the stories of people experiencing similar challenges, cinema and video can help examine one's strengths and weaknesses while…

Historical novels, films, and other media can disrupt or reinforce dominant narratives about the past. Educators must be careful that when they attempt to select material from a range of seemingly diverse perspectives, they do not choose content that nevertheless maintains problematic depictions of people, places, and events. Time travel stories…

Most western countries face either existing or looming teacher shortages. No doubt there are many and varied reasons for this and no simple remedy. Contemporaneously, film and television can have profound, often unintended attitudinal and behavioural consequences. As reflectors and creators of societal values, axiomatically, they provide insight…

Mathematicians are often inimically portrayed in popular culture, resulting in an abundance of non-mathematical identities in the classroom. Various tropes are propagated by the media that dominate our mental schemas of what makes a mathematician: the eccentric Einstein-like old man; the young, tortured genius; and the "genetically…

In the United States, rape culture is a prevalent phenomenon that has contributed to desensitization to scenes in popular media that might have been considered unacceptable in the past. This paper explores the proposal of a model (Rape Culture and Violence Legitimization Model, RCVL) to understand the factors that prompt a society's focus and…

This qualitative study utilizes feminist media analysis to examine the depiction of college women in the U.S. TV show "Greek." Overall women engage in and graduate from higher education at rates greater than men, but representations of higher education in popular culture tend to minimize women's intellectual engagement within the…

This qualitative case study utilized critical media literacy to guide the analysis of the depiction of racially and ethnically diverse college students in contemporary popular films. Participants in this study were racially and ethnically diverse undergraduate students enrolled at a private, predominantly White institution in the United States.…

The "New York Times 1619 Project" materials on American popular culture were presented to college students at a Historically Black University & College (HBCU) and a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Guided by Critical Race Media Literacy, we employed quantitative and qualitative analysis to explore the knowledge-based and…