University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

“Kids like us would know it!”: Learning from children’s appropriation of transnational popular culture

Nam, Yoon Jin

Content Files
NAM-DISSERTATION-2021.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114095

Description

Title
“Kids like us would know it!”: Learning from children’s appropriation of transnational popular culture
Author(s)
Nam, Yoon Jin
Issue Date
2021-12-03
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Dyson, Anne Haas
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Dyson, Anne Haas
Committee Member(s)
  • McCarthy, Cameron
  • Dixson, Adrienne D.
  • Nuñez Cortez, Idalia
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2022-04-29T21:58:36Z
Keyword(s)
childhood, transnational popular culture, sociocultural theory, Critical Race Theory
Abstract
This dissertation studied children’s appropriation of transnational popular culture and how it figured into peer talk, and how it was mediated by the teachers at school. Through sociocultural theory, I viewed the classroom as a place where students and teachers utilized their own agencies as they co-constructed the culture of the classroom. Through Critical Race Theory (CRT), I looked at the racial microaggressions that Asian American students were experiencing at school and in their appropriations of popular culture. This study was an ethnographic case study in a fourth-grade classroom in the Midwest. Data was collected for period of five months and included a variety of data sources: audio recorded observations, field notes, informal conversations with teachers and lesson plans. Through sociocultural theory and CRT as the theoretical framework, data was analyzed initially through open coding and eventually to the finding themes. Findings revealed: (1) children’s appropriation of transnational popular cultural materials were mainly sourced from their usage of social media which permeated through peer talk at school, (2) children critically navigated through their racial identity in their appropriation of pop materials, and (3) teachers’ perspectives on popular culture as curricular resource reveals their sensitivity to district guidelines. Implications for practice and research are shared and a call for a permeable curriculum (Dyson, 1993) to acknowledge children’s appropriation of transnational popular culture as funds of knowledge (Moll et. al, 1992) is recommended.
Graduation Semester
2021-12
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114095
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 Yoon Jin Nam

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois