How We Gonna Win When We Ain't Right Within? Mindfulness, Social Justice, and Hip-Hop Literacies

• In Event: Critical Perspectives in Hip-Hop Theories, Praxis, and Pedagogies

Abstract

For more than a decade educational researchers have demonstrated how Hip Hop pedagogy, trauma informed mindfulness practices, and culturally sustaining pedagogies can be employed to improve educational outcomes for students, especially from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, few studies have considered how these theories can be combined and offered in an effective teacher professional learning context so that school leaders feel prepared to incorporate these important pedagogical practices. This project seeks to examine two fundamental questions:

How are trauma informed mindfulness practices being used within Critical Social Justice Hip Hop pedagogical frameworks for effective teacher professional learning?
In what ways, if at all, are trauma informed mindfulness practices effective in teacher professional learning?

Authors

• K.C. Nat Turner, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Itoco Garcia, Sausalito Marin City School District