The Impact of Popular Culture on the Social Identity of Young Adults: Harry Potter and the Search for Belonging
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1 The Impact of Popular Culture on the Social Identity of Young Adults: Harry Potter and the Search for Belonging A thesis presented by Lisa Jenice Scheeler to The School of Education In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education In the field of Organizational Leadership Studies College of Professional Studies Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts September 2017 2 Copyright 2017, Lisa Jenice Scheeler 3 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my family for their support throughout this process, beginning with my grandfather, Paul Sanford, who recognized education as one of the three pillars important for survival and success. His wishes were carried out and exceeded by my mother, Laurel Sanford Scheeler, in her continued role as my chief cheerleader, no matter the costs. I would also like to express my gratitude to my family of Slytherins who supported this Hufflepuff in her journey through academia, recognizing her dual Ravenclaw nature. Further thanks go to my friend and colleague, Nicole Houle, who helped to start me on this journey. Watching her success gave me confidence that no matter the bumps in the road, I too could reach the finish line. Additional thank yous go out to my other friends and colleagues who stepped up or stepped back as necessary as I proceeded from start to finish. At Northeastern University my dissertation process was not without some struggles, but each step made both me and my final product stronger. Thus, thanks go to Dr. James Griffin who began as my advisor and took me through the first half of my dissertation writing process. Your insistence on taking my out-of-the-box ideas and surrounding them with strong academic documentation made both my writing and my dissertation stronger. Dr. Tova Sanders took me over the finish line as my final advisor. Her enthusiasm of my work made all the difference in the world, even as she strongly encouraged me to change major pieces, such as my theoretical framework. Both the final document and I am stronger for both of your support. Further strengthening my work was Dr. Sandy Nickel, who almost ended up my advisor, but was always meant to be a strong contributing committee member. As a person who had never encountered the Harry Potter books, you made me communicate more clearly and made 4 my work stronger for it. Also stepping up the plate was Dr. Phil Neurnberger. Despite not having seen me in class for more than a decade, you answered the call to serve on my committee. As an educator who recognizes the power of thinking outside of the box, I have continually pulled on your lessons in my life and in my studies. Having you present to take me over my doctoral finish line was a gift and a pleasure. A final thank you goes to Dr. Sanders’ son Tayon, who left me the note below, showing that my work may be greater than my millennial participants: Go slitherin’! Malfoy rules! Gryffindor is an awful choice Hi – I love harry potter! I have a broom and quittich googles and a wand. I would love to talk to you sometime! 5 Abstract Popular culture has provided consumers with symbols and tools to make sense of the world. Developmentally children’s literature specifically provides the bases for emotional and psychological growth. Studies connecting popular culture and social identity theory (SIT) have demonstrated that popular culture supports social identities, however, research has not explored how or if popular culture creates social identities. Using the Harry Potter books, due to their popular culture dominance during the youth of the millennial generation, this study investigated the lived experience of young adults who had read all of the Harry Potter series. The findings of this study emerged around the usage of the participants of the Harry Potter books to make connections to their own life and their peers, to identify and label themselves and those around them, and to use both the Harry Potter books and other popular culture artifacts to navigate their world. Implications and recommendations are discussed for educational and workplace settings filled with Harry Potter readers, the Harry Potter readers themselves, and for future research. In the classroom, workplace, or individually, the study recommends that knowing the Hogwarts House that someone identifies with can expose their perceived strengths and weaknesses, which is helpful in both individual and teamwork settings. Keywords: popular culture, children’s literature, social identity theory, Harry Potter 6 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH ...................................................... 9 PROBLEM OF PRACTICE .................................................................................................... 9 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE ........................................................................................ 12 POSITIONALITY STATEMENT ........................................................................................... 15 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTION .............................................................................. 18 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................... 18 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 24 SOCIAL COGNITION ........................................................................................................ 24 CULTURAL PEDAGOGY ................................................................................................... 28 POPULAR CULTURE AS A LEARNING TOOL ..................................................................... 30 STORYTELLING & NARRATIVE ....................................................................................... 33 THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS AS LESSON AND LESSON PLAN .......................................... 37 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 41 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 42 QUALITATIVE STUDY REASONING .................................................................................. 42 INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ......................................................... 43 Historical Development of Phenomenology ............................................................... 44 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ................................................................ 46 RESEARCH DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 48 Participants and Recruitment..................................................................................... 49 Data Collection .......................................................................................................... 50 Data Management ...................................................................................................... 51 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 52 Trustworthiness .......................................................................................................... 53 Protection of Human Subjects .................................................................................... 54 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 55 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS .............................................................................................. 56 HARRY POTTER AND THE SEARCH FOR BELONGING ......................................................... 58 What If I Went to Hogwarts? ..................................................................................... 58 Friends in the Forbidden Forest ................................................................................ 60 Wizards, and Muggles, and Quidditch, Oh My! ......................................................... 63 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORTING HAT OF LIFE ............................................................ 64 Who Am I? .................................................................................................................. 65 Is That All There Is? ................................................................................................... 68 Who Are You?............................................................................................................. 71 HARRY POTTER AND THE POWER OF POPULAR CULTURE ............................................... 75 The Reality in Fantasy................................................................................................ 75 The Search for Role Models – Female Role Models .................................................. 77 7 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ................................................................. 80 DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS .................................................... 80 What If I Went to Hogwarts? ..................................................................................... 83 Friends in the Forbidden Forrest..............................................................................