View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Online Research @ Cardiff This is an Open Access document downloaded from ORCA, Cardiff University's institutional repository: http://orca.cf.ac.uk/85474/ This is the author’s version of a work that was submitted to / accepted for publication. Citation for final published version: Power, Sally and Smith, Kevin 2017. ‘Heroes’ and ‘villains’ in the lives of children and young people. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 38 (4) , pp. 590-602. 10.1080/01596306.2015.1129311 file Publishers page: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1129311 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1129311> Please note: Changes made as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing, formatting and page numbers may not be reflected in this version. For the definitive version of this publication, please refer to the published source. 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DISCOURSE: STUDIES IN THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF EDUCATION, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1129311 5 ‘Heroes’ and ‘villains’ in the lives of children and young people Sally Power and Kevin Smith School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK AQ1CM1 ¶ 10 ABSTRACT KEYWORDS This paper explores the responses of nearly 1200 children and young Heroes; villains; role models; people in Wales who were asked to identify which three famous curriculum; celebrity; people they most admired and which three they most disliked. stereotypes; critical Analysis of these young people’s responses reveals a number of pedagogy sociological and educational issues. Their selections confirm other 15 research which has highlighted the importance of celebrities in the lives of young people. Their ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ are drawn mostly from the worlds of popular music and sport. Their choices are also highly gendered and ‘raced’. Of particular interest is the finding that someone’s ‘villain’ is more than likely to be someone else’s ‘hero’. Our young people’s selection of heroes and villains reflects the broader landscape of celebrity culture, where female fame is as 20 much about appearance as talent and Black and minority ethnic celebrities are to be found largely in the fields of sport or popular music. The paper concludes by discussing the chasm between our young people’s ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ and those which are ‘officially sanctioned’ within the school curriculum and considers what schools and teachers might do about it. 25 Introduction CE: QA: MSK Coll: RV This paper explores the responses of nearly 1200 children and young people in Wales who 30 were asked to identify which three famous people they most admired and which three they most disliked. While these questions may initially seem trivial, analysis of these young people’s responses reveals deeper sociological and educational issues. ‘Heroes’ and ‘villains’ are important figures that represent and reflect personal and socio-cultural values (Freedman-Doan, 1996; Porpora, 1996). Heroes reflect ‘desired possible selves’ 35 (Gash & Conway, 1997, p. 351). The nature of children’s heroes and villains has come under increased scrutiny as com- mentators from both left and right fear young people today are too heavily influenced by ‘popular culture’ and in particular the ‘cult of the celebrity’. There is a growing amount of research to suggest that the increasing attachment of young people to celebrity ‘heroes’ is 40 shaping their identities and aspirations in damaging ways (eg Boon & Lomore, 2001; Brom- nick & Swallow, 1999; Caughey, 1984; Lockwood, 2002; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997; Ward, 2005). There are worries that the constant association of success with unattainable ‘perfect’ bodies and often overtly sexualised imagery is particularly damaging for girls (Curry & Choate, 2010). Elliott (2011) claims that celebrities are increasingly admired not 45 CONTACT Sally Power [email protected] © 2016 Taylor & Francis 2 S. POWER AND K. SMITH for their personalities but for their bodies – and even their ‘body parts’ (p. 464). These often artificially ‘enhanced’ celebrity bodies then become ‘key sites of identification, imitation and desire’ (p. 464). For those involved with education, there are additional concerns that children and young people look up to individuals who should not be looked up to 50 – individuals whose short-lived fame is based on luck, physical prowess, or limited talent, rather than more enduring and socially beneficial achievements. Relatedly, it has been claimed that the ‘cult of the celebrity’ is creating a climate in which young people seek to realise themselves through ‘fame’ and reject the more traditional pathway to success – academic achievement, hard work and educational qualifications (eg Association 55 of Teachers and Lecturers [ATL], 2008).