One-off workshop: Popular culture

Start your workshop with a question – what do we mean by popular culture? With students in a circle, talk about what the term means. One definition could be: A culture that is generally recognised by members of a society, and includes objects, beliefs and practices that are generally popular at a given point in time – what is fashionable or popular with many people.

Talk about some examples of this definition, and as a group come up with ideas, such as:

Before starting this activity, write a number of different settings on slips of paper and placethese in a small bag. Working in groups of 3-4, one student from each group should pick a slip of paper without looking. Next, instruct each group to create a short, improvised scene with each student taking on the character of someone totally absorbed in a specific popular culture. For example: a mum in the playground who films everything she does so she can put it on social media, or a doctor who isn't at all interested in his patients, and only wants to talk about his new sports watch – setting the scene as shown on their slip of paper.