David Buckingham

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Category Archives: Media Studies

Media bans and ‘media literacy’: a dissenting view

This entry was posted in Children Youth and Media, citizenship, Digital media, Education, English, fake news, Information literacy, internet safety, media education, Media literacy, Media regulation, Media Studies, Policy, social media and tagged Curricuulm and Assessment Review, First Dog on the Moon, MILA, Ofcom, Social media ban, UNESCO on December 13, 2025 by dbuckingham2015.

Should we ban mobile phones in schools?

Reviewing arguments for and against – and proposing a media education approach.

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This entry was posted in Children Youth and Media, Education, media education, Media literacy, Media Studies, Policy, Technology in education and tagged Cell phones, cyberbullying, Distraction, Education, Jonathan Haidt, media panics, Mobile phones, Moral panics, news, privacy, school uniform, teachers, Technology on January 27, 2025 by dbuckingham2015.

Rumours of our demise…

The numbers of students opting for specialised courses in Media Studies and English Literature in the UK have been in decline for several years. How might we explain this, and how can we respond? Continue reading →

This entry was posted in Education, English, Literature, Media Studies, Policy and tagged Education, English, Media Studies, Policy, teaching on January 21, 2025 by dbuckingham2015.

PAW Patrol and neoliberal hegemony: misreading the politics of toddlers’ TV

Is PAW Patrol just authoritarian capitalist propaganda? Such accusations may tell us more about adult critics than they do about children…

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This entry was posted in audiences, Children Youth and Media, children's television, Media Studies, parents, politics and tagged Disney, Ideology, Liam Kennedy, Nickelodeon, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Teletubbies, Thomas and Friends on July 30, 2023 by dbuckingham2015.

Adult fans, children’s culture: the curious case of My Little Pony

What’s going on for adult fans of children’s culture? Some thoughts about the bronies, and other adult fans of My Little Pony.

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This entry was posted in audiences, Childhood, Children Youth and Media, children's television, gender, Media Studies and tagged adulthood, bronies, Ellen Seiter, Ewan Kirkland, fan studies, fandom, Henry Jenkins, media merchandising, My Little Pony, Ponycon, toys on May 18, 2021 by dbuckingham2015.

Teaching Culture: The Missionary Position

The attempt to civilize the uncultured masses is coming back into style. I look back to the Leavisite approach to popular culture, and its place in the history of English teaching.

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This entry was posted in audiences, criticism, Cultural Studies, culture, Education, English, History, Literature, media education, Media Studies, media theory, publishing and tagged Bethan Marshall, Christopher Hilliard, Denys Thompson, F.R. Leavis, Francis Mulhern, Q.D. Leavis, Raymond Williams, Scrutiny, Simon Gibbons on February 22, 2021 by dbuckingham2015.

‘Powerful knowledge’, Media Studies and technology

What are the problems with theories of ‘powerful knowledge’, and how might they apply to teaching about (and with) media and technology?

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This entry was posted in Digital media, Education, Information literacy, Media Studies, pedagogy, Public knowledge, Technology in education and tagged E.D. Hirsch, Frank Furedi, John White, Lev Vygotsky, Michael Gove, Michael Young, Powerful knowledge, Steve Connolly on November 3, 2020 by dbuckingham2015.

The changing currency of ‘cultural capital’

The English schools inspectors are apparently looking for schools to teach ‘cultural capital’. But what does cultural capital mean, and how is it changing?

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