Using TikTok to Talk Stereotypes
Start your class period with some quick pop culture analysis this year!
Welcome to From the Teacher’s Desk, where we take turns further reflecting on our episodes and applications to the classroom.
I’m going to keep this week’s blog post sweet and simple: we need to analyze stereotypes in our classroom, and TikTok can help.
Why stereotypes?
In our latest podcast episode, Sarah and I talked about some important connections between archetypes and stereotypes. Ultimately, it’s great to acknowledge the patterns we see in literature. It can be a helpful and important step of analysis. However, the problem arises when we stop at the surface level. This is how we miss out on all the beautiful nuances of an individual story, instead of the great monomyth we all live every day.
Conversely, when we refuse to look beyond one formula we’ve been handed about a specific genre of literature, we fall into the trap of stereotyping.
Getting the conversation started
Talking about stereotypes in our current world can be tricky. As Sarah and I discussed recently, every piece of literature we put in front of students is guaranteed to have some sort of landmine for someone - either through the content, the author, or the time period when it was written (or sometimes all three).
But our job as good educators is to create citizens of the world who can communicate well and practice empathy in their daily lives. How better can we do that than by challenging the general assumptions we make of others on a daily basis? As a dear friend of mine once pointed out - the first thought in your head is the one you’ve been taught to believe. The second thought is the active practice of compassion.
Why TikTok?
I’ve really come to love TikTok recently for its wide variety of content and quick, easily digestible transportation of information. And on top of that, it’s not as age-specific as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have become. It’s why there’s the meme that says “I was today years old when I learned…” and why the hashtag #ilearneditontiktok is so popular.
Don’t believe me? Check out my top 7 TikToks that are guaranteed to start a conversation in your classroom when you share them with your students. Each of these not only names a specific stereotype in our world; they also do intentional work to turn that stereotype on its head:
The original source of the song “Victoria’s Secret” (perfect timing along with the Hulu documentary release)
TEDTok includes some great easy resources about social-emotional learning (like this one about emotional exhaustion)
This TikTok content could inspire some powerful conversations about creativity (like what would students use as an instrument to make music if they could?)
This video points out the implicit racism in initial news reports about the war in Ukraine
Washington Post’s TikTok is actually pretty great - including this one about working at a post office in Antarctica
Talk to kids about which Guinness world record they would break after watching this video
And always the best kind of throwback is when Levar Burton talks about banned books
Not sure how to get the conversation started? You can always use this Pop Culture Analysis Worksheet from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Already using TikTok in your classroom? Make sure to comment on this post, or tell us on our social media how TikTok is helping you engage with your students this school year!
And if you haven’t checked out our episode on Abbott Elementary season 1, you can listen here.
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