So where does all of this leave you with regard to how you think about schooling, education, and their purposes? Note: Here I am particularly interested in how/whether this course has helped you to think about where your ideas about school and education come from and whether they have changed.
I think it is interesting to think about the blurred lines between school, education and pop culture. Oftentimes schools do take pop culture into consideration based on what is popular at specific times. This course hasn't really changed my idea of schooling and education only because I am in elementary education so all of my classes are talking about things like making sure everyone in a classroom is comfortable and has community within the class. Because of this, this class just taught along the same theme as the rest of my classes which I personally think its sad that needs to be taught and its not simply common sense and human decency.
ReplyDeleteElena Here: This course has definitely helped me see how interconnected pop culture and schooling are. Pop culture is connected to everything in some ways. Before this class I wasn't sure exactly what pop-culture was, and after this class I have decided that it is impossible to exactly determine what pop culture is and where the lines stop blurring and become something else entirely. Before attending college I had an Idea of what it would be like from the movies and social media. Those ideas influenced how I acted and expected college to be. That was the influence of pop culture on my ideas of schooling. I think that this class has helping me think a little bit more deeper into where my ideas of education come from.
ReplyDeleteThis course made me realize that most of my ideas about school came not from really thinking about why things are done in a particular way but rather from what I grew up with. It also made me pay more attention to how schools reflect the beliefs and habits of the society around them. This course made me realize a lot of what feels "normal" in education is really just tradition. Overall, it really helped me think more critically about what school is supposed to do and what it can do better.
ReplyDelete- Presley
This course has helped me think about the purpose of schooling. I thought education was a path to getting a good job. This class has shown me how schooling shapes identity and how issues like race and representation affect how students learn. It also has shown me how pop culture also is integrated with education. Learning about inequality in schools and the importance of being in diverse environments has helped me realize that schools are spaces that can educate students on the society around them.
ReplyDeleteAlyson: This course has helped me explore the actual purpose of education as well as the influence of pop culture. I have never really looked into school systems like we have inside this classroom. This course allows me to understand how schools can shape our identity and how learning inequality is seen all around. I also enjoyed the talks about different schools, such as private, public, and the different locations. It is clear that no school is alike, and it can determine how you may end up. Overall, this class allows me to actually think more about education than I previously did.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, when schooling is so questioned, this course helped me realize that many people do not understand its intended purpose. I have always been pro-school or pro-higher education, but some people think it is a waste of time. The way we school is deeply rooted in how we move as a society. Regardless of what is taught inside classrooms, it is put in place to expand society in different ways. Now, as I have realized, I hope others will also see that. I genuinely don't think we would flow the same as a large society without schooling because of how deeply rooted it is in pop culture. The effects of how we communicate, style, self-express, employment, thinking process, etc, would all disappear. - Jayla Alston
ReplyDeleteI think that many people's perceptions of education in the modern day are completely skewed. Education is consistently underfunded and underdeveloped in America, and stereotypes of education from media refuse to change after decades passing. I believe that TV and social media help in a large part to move people away from these destructive concepts of education to better portray education in a new light, with shows focusing more on the children affected, for example. I believe this course helped me shift my understanding of what it takes to be a teacher and/or academia in general, and it helped me better empathize with struggling teachers and the problems that plague twenty first century education.
ReplyDeleteThis course has helped me learn that pop culture and schooling/education are way further connected than I realized. It let me dive further into what parts if pop culture and the purposes of it are the most influential and how it effects different aspects of education. Before this class I vaguely knew on a surface level how pop culture effects people's views, but now I realize that a lot of my ideas of school were affected by the media or what I heard about it growing up. This course made me realize that school shapes our mindsets and our place in society more than any other influence. - Kayla
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest takeaways from this class is that pop culture delivers the subconscious messages we use to understand school, teachers, and learning. When I think about Billy Madison (one of my favorite movies) through Bulman’s framework, the tropes I’d always seen as harmless suddenly appeared as exaggerated cultural constructions: the mystery-meat lunch, the caricatured lunch lady, the goofy teacher, the incompetent principal. The absurdity exposes how artificial and inherited these images of schooling really are. I also came into teaching wary of the “white savior teacher” trope. This course helped me name and dismantle it, but Billy Madison had actually offered a counter-narrative years ago. Veronica Vaughn is not a hero, and she’s not a joke. She doesn’t fix Billy or sacrifice herself to make him better. Instead, she simply sees him. She believes he can grow, sets boundaries, holds him accountable without humiliating him, and supports him without centering herself. Analyzing the film through Labaree’s framework begins when Billy enrolls in school for the purpose of upward mobility (to inherit his father’s company) but what he gains is far more meaningful: community, humility, belonging, emotional maturity, and an appreciation for literacy and connection. His transformation suggests a purpose of schooling that can extend beyond Labaree’s categories.
ReplyDeleteBy the end of this course, I realized how much I’ve learned now that I think about Billy Madison today. I can recognize school stereotypes, challenge heroic teacher tropes, and critique educational purposes. And in a strange, comforting way, Billy Madison mirrors my path: returning to learning for career reasons and discovering joy, identity, and agency. So this post is my offering to Adam Sandler: a thank-you for a film that made me laugh as a kid, feel seen as an adult, and now reflect critically as a future educator. Billy Madison taught me something long before I had academic language for it, and this course helped me finally articulate it.
I think my view on schooling and education is pretty much the same. I always thought urban public schools to be underfunded. Many of the schooling government depending on where you stay only teach kids the "Good" parts in history leaving out what really happened and is still prevelant within black and brown people today. This class has definitetly opened by eyes to think about how racial status affects how we are treated within small scenarios. -Yasmin
ReplyDeleteWhat we learned in class about education is different than what I think about regularly. We go over topics such as race, sex, class, teacher relationships, education accessibility, etc. I do care about these topics, and they are important, but the aspect of education I'm focused on is how modern-day day is trying to change education in K-12, and how higher education is becoming less possible. Education is being manipulated, and the government is trying to force people into trade work or the military.
ReplyDelete- Joaquin Spille
Deletematt - I think this class has changed my overall perspective and view on education. Seeing how many different topics go into affecting education was the most surprising part to me. We learned a wide variety of factors, such as the stigma around those who teach to the demographics of a classroom, and the different levels of education that are received. Education is overall a very unique thing, and I am glad to have gained more knowledge about the topics involved with it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I realized how much pop culture worked to shape my view of school growing up until I took this class. I never considered the cultural significance of the way so many of the shows I cherished growing up centered around school, or even the wide societal conceptions of education that we all seem to carry. I feel like this course has increased my awareness of society's views towards education, and I can see myself carrying this awareness with me outside of the class. - Autumn
ReplyDeleteBefore this class, I thought the purpose of education was to provide students the opportunity of a stable future (being able to live comfortably in this world on your own). Although I think my statement is still true, I realized there are a lot of factors that play into education outside of just being taught information in a classroom. For me, I never thought my teachers’ race or gender affected how I learn, but hearing other students in my class talk about how impactful it is to see a teacher that looks like them showed me that education isn’t as straightforward as I thought it to be. I’ve also learned how a school is funded plays a big part in education. It’s not new to hear that teachers across the nation get underpaid, but knowing that if a school is in a lower class area, their education won’t be as well rounded as others. This meaning little funding to sports, tutoring, arts, overall extracurriculars...
ReplyDelete-Alpha
Amiya: This course made me see school differently. I used to think it was just about grades, but now I realize my ideas came from teachers, family, and culture. It helped me question those influences and notice how education shape's identity and growth. My view of its purpose has definitely changed over time.
ReplyDeleteThis course made me look at schooling completely different. As in school isn’t just school, I thought teachers aren’t just teaching. There are things taught in class that need to be taught differently or not taught at all. This class has just increased my knowledge of pop culture in school and learning that school isn’t just about school.
ReplyDelete-ziyen
DeleteI really liked this course because it opened my eyes to schooling that I haven’t thought of before. You would think school is just a personal experience but it's shaped by culture, media, and social expectations you didn’t realize were affecting you. School is about access, opportunity, identity, and power. Different discussions about films and issues about censorship showed me schools are where social inequalities play out and critical thinking and self-expression can be developed. I also like how you taught and showed how we should take a double take on how we’re being taught and question if this is the right way; if we’re being persuaded to think like this based on a certain belief.
ReplyDeleteIf I am being completely honest, I chose this class, just for fun, but it has genuinely opened my eyes so much. I guess I never really thought about how education has so much relation to popculture. Seeing the way things are represented in media, the good and the bad, has really made me think about my life as a student and the type of citizen I want to become in the future. This class has truly made me become a deeper thinker and a greater appreciator of education and media.
ReplyDeleteI think this class really pushed me and allowed me to dig deeper and really think about education and how it forms us as a society on the daily. It helped me realize how much not just pop culture and everyday things impact and influence our education, but also how the generational shifts and age ranges are all the backbone of how our education system is and will continue to be. School is a gateway to our past, present and future- it truly does hold all the power. When used & done correctly, our education system is more influential than anything else in the world. Not only does it help students gain their own thoughts & individuality but also shows them all of the possibilities and outcomes of the world, if they really put their mind to caring about it. This class really showed me, how we as the younger and future generation have the power to do better than those before us. To achieve more, to be more patient & empathic with those around us, to be truthful & just, to truly be the society & overall community that we were always meant to be. I thoroughly really enjoyed and respect this class in all, and am excited to see how I carry what I learned and took away from this class in the future.
ReplyDeleteAll of this has made me rethink and relearn what school and education, before this class I used to see it as a place to get assignments done and move on. But learning about to bans, censorship, and how knowledge get controlled (a part of this course that really interested me), I realized that education isn't neutral, but it is shaped by who finds what important and appropriate. The class pushed me to think about where my beliefs about school came from. I was taught not to question who created the rules. Now I see education as something that should challenge us. It's made me more aware of how important access to information is and how easily it can be limited.
ReplyDelete- Alana "Ana"
This class hasn't really changed my thoughts on schooling and the system; My family members always had very loud opinions about school that they would share with me, and they're all things that we've been taught about in this class. I think this class more so made me think about the system a little harder and look at it from a different perspective,
ReplyDelete-Taylor
By Mohammed Alhamadani
ReplyDeleteTaking this course has honestly made me rethink what I always assumed about school and education. I used to see school in a very straightforward way: you go to class, you get your grades, you move on. I never really stopped to question where my ideas about schooling came from or why I believed certain things about what education should look like.
But throughout this course, I started noticing how many of my beliefs weren’t actually based on my own experiences—they were shaped by things around me: media, culture, teachers I had, and even the way society talks about “success.” For example, I used to think school was mainly about individual effort, proving yourself, and standing out. Now I see that this focus on individualism is something we’ve been taught to value, not something that automatically makes education better.
The readings made me realize that schooling is not just about academics. It’s also about systems, expectations, and the messages we learn about who we should become. When we break those ideas down, it becomes clear that education is a social and cultural experience just as much as an academic one. This course pushed me to think about why we assume school works the way it does, and who those structures really serve.
Now, I’m starting to view education with more awareness and more questions. Instead of seeing school as something fixed, I see it as something shaped—by society, by history, by media, and by power. And that has changed the way I think about its purpose. It’s not just about getting through assignments or preparing for a career. It’s about learning how to understand the world, how to think critically, and how to see the bigger picture behind the systems we grow up inside.
So where does all of this leave me?
More reflective. More aware. And more open to rethinking what education could be not just what it has always been presented as.