As an approach to literary study, critical literacy is not a widespread practice in New Zealand secondary schools. This article draws on a major project on teaching literature in the multicultural classroom that take place over two years in 2008-2009. In it we report on a case study where a Year 13 English teacher designed and tested a novel…

The post-apartheid Dance Studies curriculum in South Africa is attempting to offer school learners both an education and training in dance as an art form. The outcomes-based syllabi are intended to ensure that learners come to respect the diversity of South African society, and therefore a range of dance styles and genres are offered in order to…

The explanations of 101 adolescents and young adults, who are fans of popular culture narratives and make art inspired by these phenomena, provide insight into why these youth were drawn to create fan-based artworks, how they learned to make these art forms, and what the creative activities mean to them. Emergent themes highlight (a) the…

This book offers ideas that secondary teachers, university content faculty, and teacher educators can use to challenge traditional literacy practices and demonstrate creative, innovative ways of incorporating new literacies into the classroom, all within a strong theoretical framework. Teachers are trying to catch up to the new challenges of the…

Over the past decade, numerous literacy researchers have investigated the multiple literacies of adolescents. Connecting with adolescents' multiple literacies, including digital texts and high interest print-based texts, holds promise as a way to build bridges to subject area content and academic literacies. Although pre-service content area…

Draws guidelines from the promotional programs of popular performers and products to aid in the advancement of school publications. (MS)

A rationale for using film in the language arts classroom and suggestions on how to use it. (DD)

Describes cultural studies as a framework for analysis and critique, not a political agenda. Shows how the author has used cultural studies as a way to get his students to write intelligent, reflective papers about topics that interest them. (SR)

Presents seven strategies to bridge the gap between the English classroom and the pop-media culture, including "the photo-lit poster,""the perceptual trivia quiz," and "the dust-jacket blues." (KS)

Shows how adolescent femininity is constructed in 34 adolescent romance novels written from 1942-1982. Most feature the "good girl" characterized by filial obedience and adherence to male-dominated romantic conduct, although sixties and seventies novels showed strain in gender relations. Narrative versions of femininity are fictional…

Pre- and post-exposure testing of normal-hearing secondary school students (N=20) and adult chaperones (N=7) exposed to live rock music indicated that almost all subjects experienced at least a five-decibel threshold shift, with most also reporting tinnitus. Of six subjects retested three days later, four demonstrated partial recovery. (Author/CB)

Points out that song lyrics are poetry that has moved people to love, march to war, march against war, and respond to religious impulses. Suggests that studying the lyrics of popular songs can help students develop an awareness of language and the power of poetry. (TJ)

Analyzes popular culture as it relates to the expression of universal human values, namely the desire and struggle for freedom from tyranny and oppression. Examines popular culture as the everyday social experience of marginalized students as they confront, make sense of, and contend with social institutions such as schools, the mass media,…

Asserts that using popular music to introduce such concepts as irony, artistic influence, or the appropriation of cultural materials is a logical way to interest students and help them make connections and understand new material quickly, efficiently, and pleasantly. Outlines an approach to teaching English that uses music as a chief source of…