Pop culture literacies: Engaging students in critical analysis

Pop culture literacies: Engaging students in critical analysis

Author: Ethical Schools January 13, 2026 Duration: 36:41

We speak with Dr. Mia Hood, author of  Pop Culture Literacies: Teaching Interpretation, Response, and Composition in a Digital World, about analyzing popular music and films along with more traditional literature. Dr. Hood talks about helping students to think about their ethical perspectives while engaging with "entertainment," and the importance of  educators'  resisting the temptation to impose their own “expert” interpretations in favor of modeling the process. We also discuss how teachers can resist imposing their views while teaching for democracy and social justice.

Overview

00:00-00:48 Intros

00:48-02:48 Pop culture literacies

02:42-04:22 Schools’ ethical duty to help young people navigate the world as it is

04:22-06:23 Helping students to thin about their ethical perspectives

06:23-11:58 Students’ responses; Intersection of pop culture literacies and schools

11:58-15:01 Critical literacy and text analysis

15:01-19:09 Power operating within and through texts

19:09-21:56 Piercing the veil of “entertainment” to encourage critical analysis

21:56-26:25 Impact of AI

26:25-30:48 Kathy Hytten’s article, “Ethics in teaching for democracy and social justice”

30:48-33:55 Parental pushback?

33:55- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

Resources

Book Pop Culture Literacy: Teaching Interpretation, Response, and Composition in a Digital World by Mia Hood

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear


Conversations about education often focus on test scores and curriculum, but there’s a deeper layer that truly shapes a student’s experience. Ethical Schools digs into that layer, exploring what it means to build a learning community grounded in integrity and care. Each week, hosts Amy and Jon sit down with educators and innovators who are actively reimagining schools. You’ll hear specific, grounded discussions about the practical work of creating environments where every student feels safe and respected. The dialogue frequently addresses how to support young people dealing with trauma, moving beyond theory to share actionable strategies that teachers are using right now. More than just problem-solving, this podcast highlights how to empower students themselves to become advocates and changemakers in their own communities. It’s a series that connects philosophy with daily practice, looking at the social and cultural structures within schools through a lens of ethics. For anyone invested in the future of education-whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or simply a concerned community member-this podcast offers a thoughtful and necessary perspective on the foundational values that make education meaningful.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 240

Ethical Schools
Podcast Episodes
Opening up: Recreating schools as a community [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:00
Drs. Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran, co-authors of “The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy,” talk about co-creating and co-producing school initiatives with parents and community members. “Op…
Surveillance in school: Invasive technology, junk science [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:00
We speak with Albert Fox Cahn and Sarah Roth of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, or S.T.O.P., about the increasing use of surveillance technology to track students. Claiming their technology can predict who…
Inquiry and interpretation: Learning US history from primary sources [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
We speak with Lee Schere, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Office of K-16 Initiatives of CUNY about the Debating U.S. History Program, an inquiry-based curriculum and teacher learning program. Students learn that…
School district battles: Protecting education from bans [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:50
We speak with Mike Gottesman, founder of New Jersey Public Education Coalition (NJPEC), a grassroots organization that educates and activates NJ citizens in school districts to protect the integrity of schools from conse…
Towards the school you want to see: Plan, Act, Reflect, Repeat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:28
We speak with Justin Cohen, whose work focuses on the intersections of education, race, privilege, and public policy. Cohen’s recent book is Change Agents: Transforming Schools From the Ground Up. He looks at ways a facu…
Challenging credentialism: An alternative vision of education [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:30
We speak with Arlene Goldbard, writer, visual artist, speaker, social activist and consultant, whose most recent book is “In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: What does it mean to be educated?” An autodidact from a working-…
Restorative Justice: Cultivating cohesive communities [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:00
We speak with Sarah Eblen and Reginald Berry Jr., former middle school teachers and now district coordinators for the restorative justice program in the Kansas City Public Schools. Eighty percent of RJ is community build…
Intersections: Supporting Black LGBTQIA+ students [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:27
We speak with Dr. David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, NBJC, about the challenges faced by Black LGBTQIA+ students. Most young people at this intersection live in the South among other…