Cheerleaders, jocks, nerds and "the man": popular representations of schooling in modern television

In recent years, the availability of media has increased and adolescents are engaged with some type of media for most of the day. However, television remains one of the most popular mediums in America, despite increases in time spent on other forms of electronic media. Scholars have studied movies and their potential as "equipment for living," a central theme in Burke's Philosophy of Literary Form that asserts that fictional works inform our values, experiences, and expectations. This study aims to prove that television is also equipment for living for adolescents, and that they learn school-specific lessons from programs depicting a schooling environment. By analyzing three popular and current television programs and looking for school-specific character archetypes within those narratives, this study aims to determine what lessons secondary students learn about the purpose of school and the schooling experience. The results show that current television programs reflect broad cultural views about education and include fears about bullying and school shootings, as well as assumptions that secondary schools do not meet the needs of all of their students. The study also revealed cultural perceptions on school staff as uninterested in serving student needs. However, some programs challenge stereotypes and present more realistic representations of students, teachers, and administration in secondary schools.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Authors dc:creator

• Solem, Allison, author
• O'Donnell-Allen, Cindy, advisor
• Sloane, Sarah, committee member
• Mao, KuoRay, committee member

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018462

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/189318