'Seeing from a different angle': the role of pop culture in teaching for diversity and critical media literacy in adult education

Entertainment media is a part of everyday life for most adults, including adult educators. This paper reports on a mixed method study, informed by social constructivism and critical media literacy, exploring US adult educators' consumption of entertainment media, how it affects their thinking about group identities, and how they draw on it in their teaching and learning, particularly in regard to teaching about diversity issues. 215 adult educators from the US responded to the survey and 15 were interviewed. The results of the survey indicated that adult educators both consume media and use it in their teaching. The findings of the qualitative portion of the study focused on how the 15 qualitative participants use of media can facilitate: finding alternative narratives for themselves; expanded thinking about 'others' of a different race, gender, or sexual orientation; further interaction and analysis of social relations both in their own lives and in their teaching.