Paper Summary

Toward a Pedagogy of Hip-Hop in Urban Teacher Education

Fri, April 13, 2:15 to 3:45pm, Vancouver Convention Centre, Floor: Second Level, West Room 223

Abstract

Hip Hop has become a buzzword in teacher education, particularly as it relates to training teachers for service in urban schools. The idea of borrowing from popular culture to support instruction is not new to teacher education. However, the academic challenges facing urban, and particularly Black male students, has heightened imperatives to find innovative models for drawing more Black men into teaching and for effectively training teachers of all backgrounds to educate diverse student populations. One response has been an increasing focus on Hip Hop and its potential for teaching and learning.
Hip Hop has been both demonized and commodified in the field of education and in broader U.S. society. On the one hand, it has been characterized as hyper masculine, overtly sexual, and criminal and, as such, antithetical to the positive, personal and academic growth and development of urban youth. At the same time, Hip Hop has been sold to young people of all backgrounds by the media and entertainment industry. It has been packaged as an instructional tool for advancing traditional and, often, narrow curricular goals. It is no coincidence that these processes of demonization and commodification reflect parallel practices in schools and society that strip away the value and promise of Black boys and men, who are the primary creators and supporters of Hip Hop.
Given the current context of urban education and the national initiative to increase the numbers of Black male teachers in U.S. public schools, it is an opportune time for teacher education to capitalize on the relationship between Black men, urban youth, and Hip Hop culture, to attract Black male teachers and to captivate the hearts of students from all cultures. This requires a deeper and more authentic understanding of the meaning and value of Hip Hop and its implications for the education of teachers and students.
This paper draws from a qualitative study of ten Black male K-12 teachers from the Hip Hop Generation (born between 1965 and1984) who are closely connected to Hip Hop culture and have been effective in addressing the academic and social needs of, particularly, Black boys. I used purposeful and snowball sampling to identify study participants and conducted 3-5 one-hour in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant over several weeks at various locations. As dictated by Life History and Critical Race Methodology , the interviews were conversational and sought to contextualize their experiences, if any, with racism to understand how those experiences may have shape their pedagogical beliefs and approaches.
Through an analysis of their social, educational and cultural experiences, this paper highlights three organizing principles drawn from Hip Hop Culture—(1) Call to Service, (2) Commitment to Self-Awareness, and (3) Resistance to Social Injustice—which profoundly shaped the teaching identities of these Black men. I discuss the implications of these principles for conceptualizing and creating teaching and learning environments that are supportive for Black male teachers, and that increase the capacity of all teachers to effectively teach diverse student populations, particularly in urban schools.

Author