Media and Popular Culture as An Area of Education Research

When defining the term education we tend to narrow its meaning to something that takes place only in school. This point of view makes us unable to understand much of what is going on in contemporary education. On the other hand, contemporary media and popular culture seem to play an important role in education and processes of defining individual and collective identities. Not only do electronic media “pass on information” but also influence our life attitudes, lift boundaries between nations or social groups, and bridge the difference between what happens in and out of the school classroom. In the 1960s electronic media were perceived as “the third sphere of culture”. Nowadays they are “the first sphere of culture”, which means that they belong to “direct” or immediate culture where the participants have the opportunity to contact “face to face”. In other words, we our surrounded by the world of media and they are part of our culture. The increasing audiovisualisation of the present day changes society and provides broader perspectives on education. The separation between the sender and the receiver (teachers and students) seems to have become unimportant. Global knowledge offers the same information worldwide, no matter where we are or where we live. Modern media offer entertainment but also are an area where people live, create and negotiate meaning. This can be observed in various surveys taken, for example, on groups of soap opera fans, music or computer-games enthusiasts and others who take part in contemporary pop culture. The internet offers unrestricted communication to different subcultures and communities who thanks to it have the ability to express their opinion on a variety of issues like social events or texts that are a part of audio-visual culture. Communities nowadays originate in the context of popular culture.30911075Studia Edukacyjn

Fifty Years After, or a Few Reflectionson Today’s Teenage Culture

The article discusses the problem of recent changes in so-called “teenage culture”. Theoretical bases of the cultural anthropologic conception were provided by Margaret Mead. According to the author, “teenage culture” is different in each type of Mead’s culture types. Insignificant in the post-figurativstage, “teenage culture” is definitelydistinct in configurativetype in terms of separate aesthetics. This is exemplifiedby teenage subcultures, whose members contest dominant culture patterns (associated with adults). The main question concerns the role of “teenage culture” in the pre-figurativeculture – the modern world. Is the difference between the adults’ and young people’s perspectives evident in “teenage culture”? Moreover, is there a real “teenage culture” nowadays

Film as an Educational Medium

Traditional thinking about applying films in educational activities was based on treating them as “didactic vehicles”. Thanks to that approach, it was possible to “smuggle” desirable values, create attitudes or to model pro-social behavior among students. That approach of using art as an education tool (not only films but other forms of art, too) should be understood and associated with the dominance of a communication model in education that is seen through the prism of three basic elements: sender – medium – recipient. Such a view neglects the recipient’s activity in constructing the sense of the work, assuming that the recipient has to “read and acquire” what the sender has offered him. The article, by referring not only to theoretical pedagogical positions, but also to media studies, film studies and cultural studies, considers the possibility of pedagogical application of film from the hermeneutic perspective

Wychowanie filmowe versus film w wychowaniu, czyli o możliwych strategiach wykorzystania sztuki filmowej w edukacji

Autor przedstawia rozważania dotyczące związku sztuki filmowej i wychowania. Wskazuje na trzy możliwe relacje: edukacja do filmu (strategia „tradycyjnego filmoznawstwa”), edukacja w filmie (strategia „antropologiczna”) oraz edukacja przez film (strategia „hermeneutyczna”). Odmienne są przy tym w każdym przypadku oczekiwane kompetencje odbiorcy – i także z tego powodu nowoczesna edukacja filmowa nie powinna sprowadzać się do uzupełniania wiedzy odbiorców z zakresu teorii i historii filmu, choć jest to niezwykle ważny jej aspekt.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Bactericidal properties of experimental dental composites based on dimethacrylate resins reinforced by nanoparticles

The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of replacing a part of the filler in experimental dental composites by nanoparticles with antibacterial potential. Experimental dental composites containing silver nanoparticles deposited on titanium and silica dioxide of different size were analyzed in terms of antibacterial properties. The depth of cure and mechanical properties of composite surface layer were examined. Bactericidal properties were tested according to the LIVE/DEAD cell viability assay. The mechanical properties were determined with a NanoTest 600 instrument. Composites containing silver nanoparticles deposited on titanium dioxide and nanosilica carrier exhibit the strongest antibacterial properties. High content of TiO2 causes strong absorption of light irradiation, which makes their curing process more difficult. Hardness of surface layer increases but the deeper layers of the samples remain uncured. Composites containing nanosilver on titanium dioxide and nanosilica carrier exhibit the highest antibacterial activity. High content of TiO2 causes strong absorption of light irradiation impairing their curing process. The presence of nanosilver changes composite color causing limited light penetration and lower surface hardness

Effects of Short-Term Storage Method on Moisture Loss and Weight Change in Beech Timber

Timber harvested from fresh-felled trees has high moisture content and relatively high mass. During storage, the timber dries out and its weight decreases with the loss of moisture. The main objective of this study was to determine how the method and conditions of short-storage in summer affect weight changes and moisture loss in beech timber (not used for fuel). The study was carried out in a stand located in the north-eastern part of the range of beech. The age of the studied stand was 47 years. A total of 60 model trees were selected and divided into two groups. In the first group, 30 whole trees (WT) were left in the stand after felling. In the second group, 30 trees (CT) were delimbed and crosscut, and trunk sections (logs) were obtained (2.5 m). The timber (CT) was stored in a pile, and the weight of each log was measured daily. After 14 days, the trees from the first group, which had been left in the stand (WT), were delimbed and the trunks were cut into 2.5 m sections and weighed. It was assumed that timber intended for mechanical processing is stored in the forest for a short period of time, unlike energy wood. Therefore, the period of storage was not longer than two weeks. A more effective method of drying is to leave whole trees after felling, called transpirational drying. The timber stored in a pile (CT) lost moisture more slowly than the timber from trees that had been left whole after felling (WT). Comparing the weights of the logs stored in a pile, on days after harvesting, a statistically significant difference was found only between the first and the last day. It can be concluded that two weeks is the minimum period of storage in a pile (CT) required to obtain a significant degree of weight change and moisture loss

Kultura popularna jako przestrzeń edukacyjna – obrazy utopii w tekstach popkultury

The aim of the text is to discuss the educational potential of popular culture. The firstpart focuses on theoretical opinions on the relationships of culture and education. Pedagogical thinking about culture is dominated by its humanistic understanding, in which a special sense of culture has been understood as one of the top of human achievement. In traditional pedagogical reflection,there is noticeable concentration on culture as “valuable for educational interactions”. In such a perspective, the space of popular culture is ignored. Perceived as a bad Mr. Hyde of cultural space, it is treated as an area of threats to the development of children and youth. But culture is not only a canon of the achievements of past generations. In the anthropological sense, these are simply the ways of living a life in a society. Popular culture is the space where various aspects are commented on. Popular art plays a special role here.The second part discusses the pop cultural texts that illustrate the characteristic elements of utopia: burial of the “old world”, establishing a “perfect” order, protection against external destruction and against destruction from inside. Formed at different times and based on different means of expression, they address the dilemmas associated with thinking about a “better world”. They present the mechanisms and consequences of building a new society “with their own language”.724