Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education

CEP 953 Teachers and Technology Summer 2013 Dr. Ralph Putnam

Mini Literature Review: To What Extent Does the Hip-Hop Culture Influence the Field of Education? Joel Berrien, Jr.

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education Introduction Statement of the Problem The school-aged population is becoming increasingly more diverse each school year and in each school system around the country. In sharp contrast, the teaching force remains predominantly White and female. In order to effectively serve the present and future population of diverse students, teachers must search for ways to connect with these students of diverse backgrounds who often come from communities and have life experiences that are completely foreign to their teachers (Irizarry, 2009). Theoretically, an educational disconnect has occurred and still persists in the present day. This disconnect is severe for economically underprivileged students, who often lack the support, experience, or resources to fully engage in traditional classroom instruction, and for students of color, particularly Black and Latino/Latina. Communal Critiques Each school year, students of color spend much of the year learning about the language, history, and culture of White America, but White students are rarely introduced to or required to learn the language, history, or culture of the minority populations that also reside in the

United States. As a result, students have a myopic view of cultures other than their own or the ones represented in the classroom. This unfortunately diminishes their ability to connect globally with others on a personal and academic level. It also reinforces ethnic and racial inequalities that have existed and been promoted for decades (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin, 2002). In the same vein, Rose (1994) would characterize the cultural expressions of the aforementioned students myopic view, their inability to connect globally with others, and the

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education reinforcement of ethnic and racial inequalities communal critiques. According to Rose, these communal critiques can be defined as communal bases of knowledge about societal conditions, communal interpretations of them and quite often serve as the cultural glue that

fosters communal resistance (p. 99). The five communal critiques Rose discovered in her study were summarized as follows: Schools do not provide content deemed worthwhile. Schools do not teach the skills necessary for economic survival. Schools are associated with enforcing/teaching whiteness. Schools do not pedagogically engage or interest students. The school curriculum is full of racist lies and miseducation. Inception of the Hip Hop Culture into the Field of Education For the past three decades, researchers and teachers have sought ways to bridge the disconnect between students of diverse backgrounds and the teachers who, in many cases, seem disconnected to them. During this period of time, several researches began to publish studies regarding the novel idea of experimenting with the use of hip-hop music and culture to improve students empowerment, cultural responsiveness, and skills of literary analysis and critical literacy (Petchauer, 2007a). Similarly, Morrell and Duncan-Andrade (2002) posited that hip-hop pedagogy has the potential to serve as a bridge between urban cultures and the literary canon (p. 89). Origins of Hip-Hop Culture The origins of the hip-hop culture began in the post-industrial Bronx of the early 1970s as a source of identity formation and social status by and for Black and Latino young people (Chang,

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education 2005; Rose, 1994). During this precarious period of time, Petchauer (2009) argued that youth and young adults sampled earlier Black and Latino cultural forms such as mambo, funk, and Jamaican sound clash--music, dance, and creative spirits included--to create a rich, complex, and interwoven set of expression that gang-leader-turned-social-organizer Afrika Bambaataa

termed hip-hop (p. 946). In an effort to effectively express all aspects of hip-hop, the pioneers of the culture developed the four elements of hip-hop, include emceeing (i.e., rapping), DJing (i.e., turntablism), forms of dance such as breaking (i.e., breakdancing), and writing graffiti (Chang, 2006; Perkins, 1996; Rose, 1994). Recently, the expressions of hip-hop have expanded to include other creative activities such as spoken word poetry, theater, clothing styles, language, and some forms of activism (Chang, 2006). Perceived Positive Influences of Hip-Hop Culture Hip-hop is preeminent in todays overall popular culture (Pough, 2004) and has become the language, fashion, and music of the majority of our students, regardless of ethnicity (Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002). Data collected during prior studies have indicated that students in general, and especially minority students, tend to engage more with lessons that include hiphop texts and tend to feel more included in a classroom that uses such texts (Stovall, 2006). The aforementioned studies have documented the potential of using hip-hop culture to engage students in more formal learning processes aimed at acquiring academic skills and critical literacies. These findings position hip-hop as an element of youth popular culture and highlight the benefits of integrating it into the curriculum to make schooling more culturally responsive to the needs of urban students of color. Kirkland (2007) argued that students can learn as much about language and literature from reading Tupac as [they] can from Shakespeare (p.

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education 130) underscoring that hip-hop merits its own space in the curriculum and is a subject that is worthy of study in the classroom. Hip-hop has become relevant to the field of education and educational research in at least three distinct ways. First, at an increasing rate, teachers are centering rap music texts in urban

high school curricula, often in the name of culturally responsive teaching and critical pedagogy, to empower marginalized groups, teach academic skills, and educate students about how aspects of their lives are subject to manipulation and control by capitalist demands. Second, hip-hop exists as more than a musical genre. The creative practices of hip-hop and the messages constructed in the music are woven into the processes of identity formation by which youth and young adults conceive of themselves, others, and the world around them (Chang, 2006; Dimitriadis, 2001 ; Ginwright, 2004; Petchauer, 2007a). This includes not only Black and Latino youth in the United States but other ethnicities as well (Iwamoto, Creswell, & Caldwell, 2007), including White youth (Kitwana, 2005). Processes of identity formation have the potential to be intricately woven into teaching, learning, and nearly all things educational. Finally, more and more higher education institutions around the world, particularly in North America, are engaging hip-hop in an academically rigorous manner through courses, research, conferences, and symposia. Currently, more than 100 institutions offer courses on hip-hop, with many universities offering multiple courses in various departments (Walker, 2006). Several scholars have explored ways that teachers can use hip-hop as a bridge to help students engage in the standard curriculum (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2000; Ginwright, 2004; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002; Stovall, 2006). Thurman (2011) posited that there exists principles of hip-hop for urban teacher education at the intersections between hip-hop

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education music, critical pedagogy, and the teaching orientations of the Black male educators in his study. Thurman proposed the following three principles as a foundation for teachers developing a hip-hop pedagogy to best serve students: (a.) call to service; (b.) commitment to self-awareness; and (c.) resistance to social injustice. Several teachers have been able to successfully maximize the positive influences of the hiphop culture in their English/Language Arts classroom activities due to the comparability of the hip-hop culture to the historical periods of the past (Newman, 2001; Morrell and DuncanAndrade, 2002). Newman (2001) suggests that hip-hop is best understood as a peer culture and aesthetic sensibility, comparable to the classic European-based movements of romanticism, modernism, and so on. Morrell and Duncan-Andrade (2002) conducted an ethnographic study to examine a curricular unit that was designed to use rap texts as a bridge

to canonical works of literature in an urban English/Language Arts classroom of ethnic minority students. The goals of the unit were (a) to utilize students' involvement with hip-hop to scaffold their critical and analytical skills, (b) to provide students with the awareness and confidence needed to transfer these skills onto canonical texts, and (c) to enable students to critique messages of popular culture media. The researchers concluded that students were able to make meaningful connections between the rap texts and Romantic and Elizabethan poetry, as well as make connections between the poems and the larger social context. Kelly (2013) posits that hip-hop texts offer students many valuable pathways to improving their English/Language Arts content and skills. She states that hip-hop literature provides a powerful way to teach skills and concepts in literature that students struggle with when studying canonical texts that are distant from most students generationally and distant from

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education minority students culturally. She also believes that students can improve their vocabulary knowledge and decoding skills, and they are able to engage in discussions about the context and connotations of the words themselves. Stovall (2006) conducted an ethnographic study exploring the use of rap lyrics from socially conscious and progressive artists such as Black Star, OutKast, and Talib Kweli as prompts to discuss social issues relevant to the students' lives. Stovall developed and completed a thematic unit within an urban high school social studies class consisting of 19 African American and Latino students. After playing a song he selected from the above artists, Stovall would facilitate a discussion that connected to issues such as the meaning of a just society, the misrepresentations of celebrity lives in the media, and how schools promote deception. After the discussions, students often completed writing assignments. Stovall concluded that the use of rap lyrics from socially conscious and progressive artists may be effective in motivating students to engage in discussions about social issues relevant to their lives. Perceived Negative Influences of Hip-Hop Culture There have been some negative influences of the hip-hop culture historically, and some of these negative influences have persisted into the present day. The media often portrays the negative aspects of hip-hop culture that conflict with the values of the school. Kunjufu (1990)

argued that gangs and negative media promote immediate gratification and materialism, while parents and teachers promote long-term gratification and qualities such as moral integrity and honesty. Kunjufu (1993), as quoted in Stovall (2006, p. 3), also stated that there is a concern about some hip-hop artists misogynistic and violent messages. Kunjufu then believed that students obtained certain values from this segment of hip-hop culture and television media and

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education subsequently brought those values to the school. Resultantly, a conflict of value systems was manifested, which sometimes resulted in discipline problems and lack of communication between students and educators. Evelyn (2000) wrote an editorial on the hip-hop subculture on college campuses voicing concern that college students were identifying with negative components of the hip-hop/rap music culture. Evelyn indicated that college and university officials claimed that this culture was eating away at the morals, and ultimately classroom experience, of todays college student (p. 24). Some faculty members and students occasionally had differing views of the influence that the hip-hop culture had on the collegiate learning experience. The students stated that they could listen to the music, even party to it (p. 25) and still have an engaging and critical response when in the classroom. Hikess (2004) made markedly critical and seemingly cynical comments about the potential visit of then popular rap artist to the campus of Spelman College and indicated that some rap

music imagery was instrumental in driving respect for Black culture to an all -time low (p. 40). She also said that some rap music provides for non-Black children gross misrepresentations of the Black experience, for Black girls an unrealistic and harmful images of Black womanhood, and for Black boys a glorification of the thug life and its perpetual cycle of violence (p. 40). In the same way, Stewart (2004) reported on the negative influences of the hip-hop culture and rap music on many historically black colleges and universities but also suggested that one can enjoy the culture and music without letting it control oneself. Circumspectly, even though there has been an indication of negativity regarding undergraduates and the hip-hop culture, Kitwana (2002) encouraged others to take the good

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education

with the bad, so to speak, and claimed that the messages within hip-hop lyrics could be utilized to inspire students, especially students of color. Students were effectively able to make connections to their coursework in areas such as history, art, and language. Summary There is an old African proverb the states, It takes a village to raise a child. This premise is immensely relevant to the field of education. However, according to Irizarry (2009), the reality is that the majority of teachers in urban schools are rarely members of the villages in which they teach, nor do they spend a significant amount of time with the members of the community outside of school, where teachers are often in positions of power over the families with whom they interact. Unfortunately, an educational disconnect has occurred as a result and still persists in the present day. Over the past 30 years, researchers and teachers have sought to bridge the aforementioned disconnect, and several studies were conducted examining the positive and negative influences of hip-hop culture on the field of education. More research needs to be conducted to better understand these influences in urban, rural, and private school settings.

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education References

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Bridges, T. (2011). Towards a pedagogy of hip hop in urban teacher education. The Journal of Negro Education, 80(3), 325-338. Chang, J. (2005). Cant stop won't stop: A history of the hip hop generation. New York: St. Martin's. Chang, J. (2006). Total chaos: The art and aesthetics of hip-hop. New York: Basic Books. Dimitriadis, G. (2001). Performing identity/performing text: Hip hop as text, pedagogy, and lived practice. New York: Peter Lang. Duncan-Andrade, J., & Morrell, E. (2000, April). Using hip-hop culture as a bridge to canonical poetry texts in an urban secondary English class. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Evelyn, J. (2000). The miseducation of hip-hop. Black Issues in Higher Education, 17(21), 24-29. Ginwright, S. (2004). Black in school: Afrocentric reform, urban youth, and the promise of hiphop culture. New York: Teachers College Press. Gurin, P., Dey, E.L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 33066. Hikes, Z. L. (2004). Hip-hop viewed though the prisms of race and gender. Black Issues in Higher Education, 21(13), 40. Irizarry, J.G. (2009). Representin' : Drawing from hip-hop and urban youth culture to inform teacher education. Education and Urban Society, 41, 489-515.

Influences of Hip-Hop Culture on Education Iwamoto, D. K., Creswell, J., & Caldwell, L. (2007). Feeling the beat: The meaning of rap music for ethnically diverse midwestern college students - A phenomenological study. Adolescents, 43(166), 337-351.

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Kelly, L.L. (2013). Hip-hop literature: The politics, poetics, and power of hip-hop in the English classroom. English Journal, 102(5), 51-56. Kirkland, D. (2007). Teaching hip hop in secondary English classrooms. In K. Keaton & P. R. Schmidt (Eds.), Closing the gap: English educators address the tensions between teacher preparation and teaching writing in secondary schools (pp. 129-145). Charlotte, NC: Information Age. Kitwana, B. (2002). The hip-hop generation: Young Blacks and the crisis of African American culture. New York: HarperCollins. Kitwana, B. (2005). Why White kids love hip-hop: Wankstas, wiggers, wannabes, and the new reality of race in America. New York: Basic Books. Kunjufu, J. (1990). Countering the conspiracy to destroy black boys (vol. III). Chicago: African American Images. Kunjufu, J. (1993). Hip-hop vs. MAAT: a psycho/social analysis of values. Chicago: African American Images. Morrell, E., & Duncan-Andrade, J.M.R. (2002). Promoting academic literacy with urban youth through engaging hip-hop culture. English Journal, 91(6), 88-92. Newman, M. (2001). I represent me: Identity construction in a teenage rap crew. Texas Linguistic Forum, 44, 388-400.

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Perkins, W. E. (Ed.). (1996). Droppin' science: Critical essays on rap music and hip- hop culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Petchauer, E. (2007a). African American and hip-hop cultural influences. In A. P. Rovai, L. B. Gallien, & H. Stiff- Williams (Eds.), Closing the African American achievement gap in higher education (pp. 20-38). New York: Teachers College Press. Petchauer, E. (2009). Framing and reviewing hip-hop educational research. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 946-978. Pough, G. D. (2004). Check it while I wreck it: Black womanhood, hip-hop culture, and the public sphere. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and Black culture in contemporary America. Hanover, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Stewart, P. (2004). Whos playing whom? Overwhelming influence of hip-hop culture, rap music on HBCU campuses concerns students, faculty. Black Issues in Higher Education, 21(13), 26-29. Stovall, D. (2006). We can relate: Hip-hop culture, critical pedagogy, and the secondary classroom. Urban Education 41(6), 585602. Thompson, R. E (1996). Hip-hop 101. In W. E. Perkins (Ed.), Droppin' science: Critical essays on rap music and hip-hop culture (pp. 211-219). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Walker, M. A. (2006). Enrolling in hip-hop 101 [Electronic version]. Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://www.diverseeducation .com/artman/publish/article_6539.

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