Popular culture in the literacy curriculum: A Bourdieuan analysis

This article discusses data arising from a longitudinal study of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of preservice teachers regarding the use of popular culture in the primary literacy curriculum in England. Eighteen Students took part in a series of interviews throughout their three-year initial teacher education course. Data were inductively coded. The responses of three students are analyzed using a number of the theoretical concepts developed by Bourdieu in order to explore how students' agency was limited in relation to their use of popular cultural texts. Findings indicate that consideration needs to be given to the way in which habitus, capital, and field interrelate if preservice teachers' decision-making processes with regard to the curriculum are to be understood, rather than examining any or all of these concepts in isolation. In addition, challenges to dominant practices can occur when there is tension between habitus and field. It is suggested that preservice teachers need opportunities to explore the relationship between structure and agency if they are to understand the limitations on their practice and challenge traditional models of the literacy curriculum. Implications for teacher education and future research are addressed.