We have all had those moments, whether it be while quickly closing a poorly vetted Youtube clip or during a difficult behaviour management situation, when you are just hoping that the principal doesn’t pick that very moment to stroll by your classroom. For a very long time, this was how I felt while teaching with popular culture.
I can remember tutoring a particular maths student who had a brain like a Casio fx-82, but not much interest in his maths homework. Luckily for both of us, what he did have was an interest in gaming. Having played a fair amount of video games in my own life, I was able to convey many different maths concept to him using games as vehicle for his learning. In one instance, I remember having a very in-depth discussion on calculating the intercept points of linear equations, all from a question he had on ‘weapon scaling’ in a game we were both playing. I knew that having these discussions were helping him, but it still felt like cheating to me. Somewhere in my brain, there was a vestigial connection between talking games and wasting time. As a result, I would worry about parents walking by during our discussions in the same way that a teacher thinks about the principal walking past the door. Now, that worry might be justified when you’re wasting time with something totally irrelevant, but neither you nor I should feel that when using a piece of Popular Culture to deliberately teach something.
If you have access to something that increases student interest in maths and science, you should use that tool. Especially if that interest is born from such a positive place. Whilst you may be able to elicit engagement from a student by letting them know that the contents of a lesson will be on an exam, that is a different ‘flavour’ of interest you are peaking. It’s the same kind of interest that comes from a job that needs to be done, not from one that you want to do. That brand of interest works to an extent; but its lacking in that creative drive that comes from something that you are genuinely passionate about. Teacher Joyce Hurt has a written a great article on the power of drawing from students’ passions and I encourage you to give it a read (Hurt, 2015).
On an even more basic level, teachers exist to prepare students for the world that they live in. I think this is especially true for science and maths teachers. Scientists are in the business of decoding the Universe, and mathematicians study the code that the Universe is written in. We cannot ignore the fact that our students live in a Universe where movies about astronauts are seen by millions (scientific accuracy not necessarly included); over 60% of Australian teens are gathering their news on social media rather than the papers(Notley & Dezuanni, 2017); and the President of the United States is making major political announcements on Twitter. This is a Universe where being scientifically and mathematically literate can greatly increase a society’s ability to thrive rather than struggle when faced with the wealth of information that is available (Tyson, 2017). We as teachers have the ability to cultivate that literacy in our students.
Of course, if you are a teacher trying to justify incorporating Popular Culture, you can always pull out the big guns….I’m talking about going all Curriculum on this sucker. Both the maths and science sections of the Australian Curriculum contain sections that can help you in this regard. If you are a science teacher, the Science as a Human Endeavour content descriptor is the place to start (ACARA, 2014a), as it discusses student understanding of how the methods of science are used to justify public debate. For maths teachers, the ‘Numeracy’ skill actually specifically addresses investigating claims made in the media (ACARA, 2014b). The connections are there to be made, and we all know the bureaucratic punching power that comes from having the curriculum on your side.
What I am trying to say is that when the principal comes knocking, and you are in the middle of debating whether the latest Avengers film respects Newton’s third law; just invite them in. There is nothing that you should be worried about, and plenty that you can say.
References
Australian Curriculum, A. a. (2014b). Mathematics. Retrieved from https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/mathematics/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2014a). Science. Retrieved from https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/science/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2014c). Literacy. Retrieved from https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy/
Hurt, J. (2015). Utilizing Students’ Passions and Interests to Create a More Meaningful Research Experience. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 37-40.
Notley, T., & Dezuanni, M. (2017). Most young Australians can’t identify fake news online. The Conversation.
Tyson, N. D. (2017, April 19). Science in America – Neil deGrasse Tyson. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MqTOEospfo
A STEM Teacher's Guide to Popculture 
A highly interesting read and a great reminder of how vital it is to use pop culture stimulus, such a gaming references to encourage learning, engagement and motivation in the classroom. Alverman et al (2018) believes pop culture is young peoples reality and therefore classroom lessons should be filled with links to pop culture. I recommend this read, as it further backs up your argument.
I learned from your blog how gaming can be linked to mathematics and engage young males in the classroom. I was encouraged to see that students with low maths motivation can motivated to learn through linking curriculum to pop culture references. You have really proven Allander ‘s (2004) argument that pop culture indeed has significant academic value.
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