Popular culture's role in early years literacy learning 

Research suggests that there is a link between cultural norms and literacy practices. As a result of television media in the home, children appear to warm to superhero role-playing in particular.  According to Jackie Marsh of the University of Sheffield, this can be used for educational purposes. This argument reflects the position of other educators in the early years  who have come to recognise the importance of building on children's knowledge and experience in the home environment to develop language skills.  

In a recent paper, Marsh set out to "integrate home experience with schooled literacy," by using Teletubbies. She argues that Teletubbies stimulated interest in young children in literacy learning and she recommended that some elements of popular culture should inform the curriculum. Teletubby mania among the children was channelled into several literacy activities with much success.  

The study was carried out in two nurseries in the inner-city of a northern-English city.  Children from African-Caribbean, Pakistani, Bengali, Chinese, Yemeni, Somali and white British and Irish families participated in the programme. Several literacy activities related to Teletubbies were used: reading and writing Tubby custard recipes, reading and writing comics, writing letters to the Tubbies, and designing advertisements for the comics. 

Because of the level of interest in the Teletubbies, the children proved highly motivated and their attention was engaged throughout the activities. Boys, the subject of much debate of late, were equally interested in participating as were children from other cultural backgrounds. Marsh found that the activities stimulated oral work and improved oracy among children with English as a Second Language.  

Marsh advocates the incorporation of cultural icons such as the Teletubbies into the curriculum so that children can make the link more easily between their home and school environments. She claims that this will be increasingly important as children have greater access to a wide range of printed and televisual texts outside the classroom, which will need interpreting. Moreover, as new forms of media influence the lives of children, educators will have no choice but to make the curriculum more amenable to children's experiences.  

See Jackie Marsh, Teletubby Tales: popular culture in the early years language and literacy curriculum,  Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, vol.1, no.2, 2000

• News report: Teletubbies - research claims Teletubbies aid early learning