Leff, B. J. J. (2017).

"Popular Culture as Historical Context: Using Mass Media to Teach

American History." Society of History Education, 50 (2), p. 227-254. Retrieved from
http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/F17_Leff.pdf.
A history class can use popular culture texts such as movies, music, TV, periodicals,
fashion, sports events and more, to illuminate American culture in various historical periods. Pop
culture texts are produced for, and consumed by a mass audience, and they often give insight to
widespread cultural understandings in a certain time period. Benjamin J. J. Leff from the
University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois explains that a popular culture text
should never be viewed as an accurate representation of how people lived in a given historical
moment. He lays out a series of questions that need to be examined before truly gaining cultural
understanding. Without answering those questions, the students still cannot know exactly how
things really were. He also outlines the downfalls to teaching with pop culture. Leff labels this
as the impression of mass consciousness generated from the widely produced and consumed
texts that help shape the public's views, generalizations, and opinions in society and history.
These perceptions, however, are often false, which is why Leff examines the "correct" way to
utilize popular culture in the classroom, including analyzing these biases.
For each unit, Leff starts with Historical Background, giving historical context and laying
out themes for his students. Next, he supports his students through Textual Analysis by
scaffolding before, during, and after text routines. He provides his students with a graphic
organizer to use during reading/watching texts and then spends at least 30 minutes discussing it
with his class. Then he leads the discussion to synthesize the information they have learned from
the pop culture sources and make connections to the historical context. Leff provides a detailed
chart and outline of his methods and questions used for guiding the synthesis. For example, one
synthesis prompt may be to look at modern comparisons for gender studies, so he asks the
question, "are women still depicted that way in popular culture and media?" He then ends the
unit with a written response, usually 3-4 pages, to gage student comprehension where they are
required to list evidence and explain the importance of historical context in popular culture.
At the end of each semester, the final project is a research paper. The students get to pick
their own popular culture texts and perform their own historical exploration they have done with
each unit they have already learned, following the process stated in the previous paragraph. They
are supposed to write about what pop culture can uncover about "something bigger" in American
society. Throughout the process Leff provides a ton of support by meeting one-on-one with
students several times, providing detailed feedback on a prospectus and at least one draft. He
also gives between 10-12 class days each semester, specifically to work on the project.
Ultimately, Leff wants students to learn how to analyze pop culture as a historical
resource, how to use evidence from pop culture alongside more traditional sources, to draw
conclusions about history. To achieve these goals, he scaffolds student learning. In addition to
providing background and graphic organizers, Leff gives students clue while they are viewing a
text, he has them describe images, and stops periodically for discussion about the text. He
predetermines certain sources, like Casablanca for World War II and Rocky for the working
class and Reagan Revolution. Popular culture is a vital resource for classrooms that keep
students engaged and thinking about outside connections across disciplines.