Benefitting from popular culture through education in enhancing social cohesion in multicultural Canada
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Authors
Dilmurat (Maihemuti), Mahmut (Dilimulati)
Date
2016-02-22
Type
Language
en
Keyword
education , popular culture , elite culture , high culture , lifelong learning , social cohesion , multicultural Canada
Alternative Title
Abstract
Social cohesion has been one of the core concerns of various nations in the
world. Globalization and international migration is making this concern increasingly
paramount for many contemporary multicultural states including Canada. In
Canada, some perceive the diverse cultural values of immigrants as a threat to social
cohesion. This article, based on a synthesis of existing literature, argues that
emphasizing elite culture or high culture in various educational contexts and
processes could be harmful to maintaining and enhancing social cohesion, as this
cultural form is highly sophisticated, specific to some elite groups, and sometimes
exclusivist. This article also contends that intelligently employing popular culture in
various educational contexts and processes could prove to be very effective in
enhancing social harmony in Canadian multicultural context. As popular culture is
more accessible than high culture, popular culture may be more easily internalised by
diverse peoples. This process may facilitate mutual understanding and harmony in
multicultural societies. This article proposes specific ways to employ popular culture
elements in lifelong learning contexts, namely, schools, workplaces and social media
platforms in order to achieve that goal. In the information age, benefiting from
popular culture through both formal and informal education could turn out to be
conducive to creating and enhancing social cohesion and harmony, especially in
multicultural nations like Canada.