Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

MUED 273 Book Study:

“For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality
Pedagogy and Urban Education”
By: Christopher Emdin
Emdin, C. (2017). For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood ... and the Rest of Yall Too Reality
Pedagogy and Urban Education. Beacon Pr.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Summaries:

➔ Introduction
➔ Chapter 1: Camaraderie
➔ Chapter 2: Courage
➔ Chapter 3: Chuuuuch
➔ Chapter 4: Cogenerative Dialogues
➔ Chapter 5: Co-teaching
➔ Chapter 6: Cosmopolitanism
➔ Chapter 7: Context and Content
➔ Chapter 8: Competition
➔ Chapter 9: Clean
➔ Chapter 10: Code Switching
➔ Chapter 11: Curation and Computing
➔ Conclusion
➔ Group Reflection

Chapter Summaries:

Introduction

Christopher Emdin grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, describes himself
as an urban youth of color: neoindigenous, similar to indigenous because of their similarities in
experiences. “...Imagined communities that transcend place and time, and connect groups of
people base on their shared experiences.” To start the book, Edmin discusses that there is an
obvious disconnect between the students of “hood” schools and the teachers that want to teach
there. He usually gives his students an autobiography assignment to further deepen what rooted
their interest in education--why do they want to teach in urban communities? This is similar to
our portfolio vision statements. Though this statement usually includes positive addresses, the
students say that their environment in which education occurs is almost always hostile: they can
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

either be themselves, or continue to be silenced. How do we, as music educators, bridge this
gap? On page nine, Emdin continues his discussion of indigenous vs. neoindigenous. He goes
into the discussion that they both will eventually “fade into oblivion” because both populations
carry rich histories, but each of their histories ultimately include silencing. Also on page nine, he
mentions a study that the Association for Psychological Science found which concludes black
students are more likely to be labeled as troublemakers by their teachers. Treating these students
more harshly than others in the classroom make them less likely to engage. In accordance with
treating students harshly, on page 11, Emdin discusses a white teacher admitting that she
sometimes uses the slang of her students to get a reaction out of them. She reconciles slang
language with being language of the “ghetto,” thus holding the perception that it represents low,
anti-academic culture. Wrapping up the chapter, he discusses his definition of the term ‘white
folks’ where he draws from Langston Hughes’ short story collection. In these collections, the
black character always ends up the unfortunate.

Key-terms

● Divide between tradition and culture (pg. 2)

● Standing Bear (pg. 3-4)
● Carlisle Indian Industrial School (pg. 4)
● Make students better (pg. 5)
● Riot mom (pg. 5)
● Tough love (pg. 6)
● School safety (pg. 6)
● Teach for America (pg. 7)
● Neoindigenous (pg. 8-9)
● Cultural artifacts (pg. 10)
● Politics of indigeneity (pg. 11)
● Academic circles (pg. 12)
● Corroboree (pg. 12)
● Music’s messages (pg. 13)
● White folks (pg. 15)

Discussion Questions

1. As educators, how can we make students feel like their learning environment isn’t
hostile?
2. What is the real difference between the terms indigenous and neoindigenous? (Emdin
uses these terms a lot in the book and it’s crucial we understand them)
3. How often should a teacher participate in self-reflection to further deconstruct their
previous biases and perceptions with new perceptions based on realities?
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

4. Music is an aspect of indigenous/neo-indigenous culture that teachers often fail to

recognize or consider...this brings us into the question of should/when/how should we
develop the idea of integrating popular music such as rap/hip hop into our everyday
classrooms?

I. Chapter 1- Camaraderie

In this chapter, Emdin begins the discussion of students in urban America being unable to show
their true selves, the “making invisibile” process. Teachers often render a students own
perception of being prepared and on time, or, whatever the case may be, as invisibile. On page
19, Emdin writes, “...we [teachers] privilege people who look and act like us, and perceive those
who don’t as different and, frequently, inferior.” On page 20, he discusses a Twitter debate he
engaged in with an educator on everything that is wrong with urban education:
1. “The belief that students are in need of “cleaning up” presumes that they are
dirty”
2. “The aim of “giving them a better life” presumes that the life they have is of little
to no value”
3. “The thought that a school can give someone “a life” is ignorant due to the fact
that every student has a wide variety of experiences, emotions, etc:
INVISIBLE…”
On page 22, Emdin recalls the time he was sent to the principal's office because his teacher
determined his association of loud noises with gunfire as a disruption to the class. To fully
understand youth realities, he says, “I argue that educators need a new lens and vocabulary,” (pg.
26). “...wounds that are bigger than the disciplinary issue itself and could be avoided if the
teacher validated the student’s emotion…,” (pg. 27). He begins the discussion of Reality
pedagogy: “meeting each student at their own cultural/emotional turf,” (pg. 27). This approach
focuses on developing approaches of learning after developing a unique understanding to each
student. Most students have a deep desire to learn but often go unrecognized by their teachers
due to a lack of understanding for who they are. In turn, this may make a teacher think their
student is uninterested.

Key-terms

● True-self (pg. 17)

● Invisible-izing (pg. 18-19)
● Perception of the privilege (pg. 19)
● Success, reform, and equity (pg. 20)
● Psychic spaces (pg. 21)
● Gunfire (pg. 22)
● Physical place (pg. 23)
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

● Bored in first place (pg. 24-25)

● Reality (pg. 26)
● Reality pedagogy (pg. 27)
● Perception (pg. 28)
● Recognize your students (pg. 29)
● Classroom experts (pg. 30)

Discussion Questions

1. Why do people feel that there is a certain way to interact with people when they don’t
necessarily share the same background as you.
2. How does Emdin suggest we cultivate active learning through collective effervescence?
What are some hypothetical examples of scenarios that could potentially harm the
classrooms engaging environment?

II. Chapter 2- Courage

In this chapter Emdin further explores the fact that even though he was once an urban
youth, he finds himself scared to the point of shaking to teach urban youth on his first day as a
middle school teacher:

“Somehow, the stories about angry and violent urban youth who did not want to learn stripped
them of their humanity, erasing the reality that they were just children on their first day of
school.” (pg. 32)
The students were so confident, often misunderstood for urban, that the teachers (including
Emdin) almost immediately chose which students were likely to be problematic. So engrossed in
their fears, they found themselves spending their lunch hours trying to one-up each other on who
had the most challenging students. Emdin realized that his own biases of perception and
influence of pressure of teaching in general were ultimately what was causing him to become
distracted from his initial goal to affect change in his students. The type of pressure he discusses
in this chapter is rooted with the pressure of standardized testing: Don’t smile until November.
This mantra is ultimately caused by the fact that the pressure to communicate high test scores
distracts us from teaching, inspiring, and getting to know our students. We let our fears and
biases that “urban youth [are] dangerous and in need of help” (pg. 36) get in the way of sharing
our own personal stories for fear that students may resort to violence. We force students to think
that “acting white”, as originally defined by John Ogbu, and erasing their knowledge of outside-
of-school experiences will result in academic success. Routine comes into play here too:
teachers may think that inspiration hardly matters as long as they’re not yelling every single day
to control their classroom. Emdin suggests that we must first recognize why we are biased (our
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

perceptions vs. our own realities) in order to deconstruct everything else that is impacting our
teaching that is not the teacher and the student.

Key-terms:

● Stereotypes of urban students (pg. 31-32)

● Urbanness (pg. 32)
● Those kids (pg. 33)
● Tales of disfunction/venting sessions (pg. 33)
● Acting white (pg. 34)
● Challenging a teacher’s structure, cat and mouse (pg. 34)
● Proper student (pg. 35)
● Urban=exotic (pg. 36)
● Don’t smile till November (pg. 36)
● Test-prep machines (pg. 37)
● Perceptions vs. reality (pg. 38)
● Their test/your exam (pg. 39)
● Directly to their students (pg. 40)
● Analyze bias (pg. 41)
● Self reflection=deconstruction (pg. 42)

Discussion Questions

1. Where do each of our stereotypes of urban students originate, considering the fact that
each person’s bias are likely different. Is it because of these stereotypes, or in light of
these stereotypes, that teaching in urban schools is often made to seem exoctic, or
“good”?
2. Where/when have you scene cases of “acting white” prove to be either true or false in
your own experiences of lower, middle, and higher education? Is challenging a teacher’s
classroom environment a good display of combating “acting white”, or is it something
entirely different on it’s own?
3. Though the mantra “Don’t smile till November” obviously hinders a student’s
opportunity to true inspiration, is it ok to hold of on teaching growth in order to achieve
higher test scores? In other words, if you’ve been hired by an Urban school to improve
test scores, how would you prioritize this while balancing teacher-to-student motivation?
Would you?
4. How can we further implement these ideas of teacher and student (rather than teacher and
student and test scores and administration) in a music classroom?

III. Chapter 3-Chuuuuch

Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

In this chapter, Emdin was observing a preacher in a church filled with explosive energy. The
saying that stuck with him once he left this church was “Chuuuch.” Part of the reason why this
saying stuck with him was because as Emdin was trying to figure out a lesson plan, he was trying
to figure out how he would keep students involved with that same amount of energy. As stated
on page 48, “In this case, being a model teacher meant being able to develop lesson plans that
could be followed by any teacher across the country, reflecting the language of the newest
academic standards, it had nothing to do with learning” (pg 48). Emdin was trying to wrap his
head around being a model teacher; being a teacher who thinks above and beyond and is able to
engage students.
Over this chapter he was trying to see what engagement as being a teacher looked like,
sounded like or how to inspire youth of color. Emdin found out that Pentecostal
teaching/pedagogy was essentially like a call and response situation. It engaged the students and
allowed them to be reflective. “Pentecostal pedagogy is an approach to teaching that reminds us
that teaching is not just telling students what you know; it is about knowing HOW to share what
you know so that it can be optimally received” (pg 51). Emdin observed a Pentecostal sermon
and was moved by how that teacher was able to move these students so skillfully without
“controlling.” Emdin’s overarching idea about all of this was that if preachers and even rappers
can move young students the way they have, then teachers can have this ability too.
Teaching in the hood requires that teachers must first recognize that these students lack and
how to “train to develop” what they students need.

Key Terms:
● Reflecting the language (pg. 48)
● Structure and improvisation (pg. 50)
● Pentecostal pedagogy (pg. 50)
● Ideal student (pg. 51)
● Reflective (pg. 52)
● Appropriate classroom space (pg. 54)
● Train to develop (pg. 58)
● Space for a voice (pg. 60)

Discussion Questions:

1. What does being a “model teacher” mean to you?

2. How could you use Pentecostal pedagogy in a music classroom? How would you get
students to respond and engage in the ways you want them to without force or “control?”
3. If you had to teach in the hood, how would you prepare to teach? What music would you
decide to teach them?
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

IV. Chapter 4-Cogenerative Dialogues

In this chapter, Emdin describes the discovery and implementation of cyphers/cogens in

the classroom. He first discovered cyphers when he saw students engaging in one in the
cafeteria. He was surprised to see three of his students, with different backgrounds, engaging in it
(a rap cypher, specifically). A rap cypher is essentially a rap battle, where one person raps at a
time while others cheer and give affirmations. Emdin traveled around the world to further study
cyphers, and realized they could benefit teachers who were looking to effectively engage with
students. Cogens, specifically, draw from cyphers and motivate neoindigenous students to
engage with teachers in helping them share suggestions for improving the classroom. Through
this, students feel validated for who they are rather than who the teacher expects or desires them
to be. “Furthermore, teachers who act on the feedback they get from students have reported
improvement in classroom participation and student performances in even the most challenging
academic areas,” (pg. 67). When structuring the cogen, it is important that different
demographics in the classroom are represented. “To begin the selection process, the teacher must
actively elicit information from students,” (pg. 68). This can be done, for example, by having
students fill out a card that answers random questions that wouldn’t come up in the classroom. It
is crucial for the teacher to be deliberate about how they invite the students to participate in the
cogen. It should be done in a way that doesn’t make them feel obligated to participate, but rather
a way that makes them feel comfortable. Once the students are selected, the teacher should focus
on the physical structure of the cogen. It is recommended that music plays in the background and
a meal or snacks are consumed. During the initial dialogue, rules for the cogen should be
established: no voice is privileged over another, one person has the floor at a time, and the cogen
results in a plan of action for improving the classroom. The goal for the initial cogen is to spark
excitement in students and for students to experience positive results from being a part of the
conversation. When the cogen is being implemented in the classroom, nonverbal cues can be
beneficial for the students who participated in letting them know it is occurring, rather than
making an announcement. This also makes students feel connected to their teacher. Continuing
the cogen (or cypher) requires the process to become ritualistic, until the students are more
comfortable. From there, one person from the cogen group should be asked by the teacher to
invite another student from the class to participate. In regards to the opting out of a student, the
teacher may suggest 2 or 3 students help out more in the classroom, while new students are
added to the cogen.

Key Terms:

● Rap Cypher (pgs. 62-63)

● Culture Circle (pg. 63)
● Cypher (pg. 63)
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

● Cogenerative Dialogue or Cogen (pg. 64)

● Educational Cypher (pg. 65)
● Non Confrontational Invitation (pg. 70)
● One Mic (pg. 72)
● Initial Dialogue (pg. 74)

Discussion Questions:

1. How, or how isn’t, a cogen more beneficial than having students anonymously write
down suggestions for improving the classroom?
2. Could a cogen be done in the classroom itself, rather than a small group?
3. What happens if students feel left out from not being in the cogen… can they ask to be
included?
4. Do you think there is an age/grade level at which cogens wouldn’t work? If so, why and
what age/grade level?
5. How would a cypher look in a music classroom?

V. Chapter 5-Co-teaching

In this chapter, Emdin talks about the concept of co-teaching. He asserts that there are
three basic forms of co-teaching. The first of these, and the most popular, is two adult teachers
working together to teach the class. One teacher is usually the dominant teacher for a certain
lesson, and the other is there for support and clarification if the students need help. These roles
switch based on the lesson and the expertise of the teachers. The second kind of co-teaching is
veteran and novice co-teaching. In this power dynamic, the novice usually takes the lead in
teaching the lesson, with the help of the teacher. In this relationship, the novice is often a student
teacher, starting to teach on their own, and the veteran teacher is there for support and guidance.
The third method, and the one Emdin chooses to focus on, is what he calls a hybrid of the other
two methods. In this method of co-teaching, two students are assigned a lesson to teach to the
rest of the class. They are given access to all of the same materials as the teacher would normally
have access to, and they are assigned a section of material to cover. The teacher is there to give
them support, but they should only guide them, not correct them. During the lesson, the teacher
should ask clarifying questions that help the students with their lesson, and make sure the other
students understand the material being taught by the student teachers.

Key Terms

● Co-Teaching (pg. 81)

● Peer to Peer Teaching (pg. 99)
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

● Cogen (pg. 87)

● Effective Educator (pg. 83)
● Neo- Indigenous (pg. 84)
● Inclusion Classroom (pg. 85)
● Altered Curriculum Structure (pg. 84)
● Reality Pedagogy (pg. 87)
● Socioeconomic Environment (pg. 88)
● Educational Cypher (pg. 93)

Discussion Questions

1. Which method of co-teaching would be most effective in a music classroom?

2. How could you have students co-teach in a music classroom?
3. With the clear mentor-student mindset present in current music education settings, would
this be effective in a music classroom?
4. How could these strategies be implemented in an ensemble setting?

VI. Chapter 6- Cosmopolitanism

In this chapter, Emdin shares his most memorable experiences as an educator during his third
year of teaching. He began to form the teaching philosophy that he called reality pedagogy. One
of his practices included him asking students to come in before school a couple days of the week
just to talk. Most of the time only a few students. One student in particular, told Emdin that she
wasn’t going to be in class on a Friday because she was going on a trip with here dad that she
hadn’t seen in 10 years to disney world. Friday came and Emdin walked into the classroom and
found the student sitting writing in her notebook he was very concerned as to way she was in
class and not with her dad. He was coming up with all these ideas as to what could've happened
and finally at the end of class he pulled her aside and asked her If she was ok. She responded
with a smile insisting that she was ok and finally he asked why are you not with your dad? She
said “Oh is that what you were asking about? I’m fine. I had to cancel on him yesterday.” Emdin
was stunned by the students answer and later she said that she was excited and then she forgot
that he was coming however, she realized that is was on a friday and Friday is the classroom lab
activity day. Because she was the Lab distributor she felt that she couldn't miss a class because
no one else would be there to distribute the lab equipment. With this experience Emdin realized
the significance of this students actions. He states that the student had felt responsible for the
learning of the other students. With that being said, a family was formed in the classroom that
she showed that she was more loyal to the students then her father who she hasn’t seen in a
decade. In many ways this way of thinking may defy logic, however, it defies cosmopolitan and
how it plays out in urban classrooms. A young person is emotionally connected to the classroom
as a cosmopolitan space will be willing to learn and is committed to the classroom. This
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

philosophy is traced back to the greek tradition. In conclusion the cosmopolitan idea in the
classroom can be expressed in many different pedagogical ways, however the idea is to make the
classroom feel more like a family to establish priority.

Key Terms

● Reality pedagogy (pg. 103)

● Cosmopolitan (pg. 105)
● Individual’s embodiment (pg. 105)
● Indigenous (pg. 106)
● Neoindigenous (pg. 106)
● Heal divides (pg.106)
● Non Academic responsibilities (pg. 107)
● Non Cosmopolitan classroom (pg 110)
● Communal Practices (pg. 112)
● Call and response (pg. 114)
● Hustling (pg. 114)
● Cosmo duos (pg. 116)
● Posse Programs (pg. 124)
● The handshake (pg. 126)

Discussion Questions

1. Why do we assume that because people decided to do something that benefits others, it
ultimately defies logic?
2. Why is a cosmopolitan classroom environment more effective than a non-cosmopolitan
classroom?
3. Why is the majority ultimately opposed to letting others express their own cultural
aspects around one another? (culture is beautiful)
4. Where have we experience a cosmo duo type of learning in your own classroom
experience.

VII. Chapter 7- Context and Content

In this chapter Emdin shares his experiences with unsuccessful context and applied
content. He begins by stating the fact that the neo-indigenous will always share a social capital
together, a shared cultural knowledge. This aspect of social capital will further define how a
student engages and communicates both inside and outside the classroom. This ultimately leads
to dense networks, tight-knight collaboration that people have with each other. Dense networks
most often facilitate trust within these groups of students, but can also have negative outcomes as
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

it can also strengthen the frustration with the traditional classroom structure. Throughout this
chapter Emdin goes into great detail about how he expanded his own networks of context by
reaching out to his students on the basketball court. Before doing so, he finds himself drained of
dedication, unable to balance the preparation of classroom management with his joy of teaching.
He realizes after just one day of playing basketball with his students, that he could potentially
use this out-of-school context as a pedagogical tool, a spirit of respect and reflection.

“ On street corners, I saw the effect of colorful murals and handshakes that signaled a sense of
community, and everywhere, I saw how different contexts impacted the way that people
interacted with each other.” (pg. 140)

Emdin realized that blurring the lines between in school and out of school contexts provided him
with a new way to develop content. He gives the following steps for applying relevant context to
necessary content:

1. Immerse oneself into their communities, reach out

2. Visit places that are farther away from school, requires a lot of engagement and
assessment of nonverbal cues
3. Make connections, don’t plan without having the contextual knowledge to make it
successful

It is through these layers of outside engagement that a newly refreshed “joy of learning” should
begin within students. A result of fully engaged students, however; further means that the
teacher must know their content stronger than ever now. They must re-spark their own joy of
teaching by learning to welcome nontraditional expressions and creating a positive atmosphere
where both the student and teacher apply their new-found context together through content.

Key-terms:

● Social capital (pg.130)

● Dense networks (pg. 131)
● Expanding networks (pg. 132)
● Draining dedication (pg.132-135)
● Jealousy of joy (pg. 135)
● Court talk (pg. 136)
● Weak ties that can give positive consequences (pg. 136)
● Spirit of memorial (pg. 137)
● Context (pg. 138)
● Blurring the lines (pg. 139)
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

● Nonverbal cues (pg. 140)

● Beyond the classroom (pg. 141)
● Joy of learning (pg. 142)
● Marriage of content (pg. 143)
● Artifacts (pg. 144)
● Know your content (pg. 146)
● Collective effervescence (pg. 147)
● Active learning (pg. 148)
● W board (pg. 149)

Discussion questions:

1. Where have you seen Emdin’s co-worker’s commitment to “draining dedication” in your
own K-12 experiences? Practicum placements? How would you suggest turning that
into ones re-developed joy for teaching?
2. Emdin suggest that once an engaging classroom with relevant context is established, we
can then began to layer on different types of artifacts. How can we integrate music as an
artifact before this classroom environment is established? Should we? How can we
integrate music after the classroom environment established?
3. What happens if our applied content is no longer comprehensive with the classrooms
context?
4. What are some examples of going beyond the music classroom, specifically? How can
we ensure “beyond” opportunities in areas of low affluence?

VIII. Chapter 8- Competition

In this chapter, they begin to talk about a battle and how it has lead toward those groups who
have been lost over the years. Somewhere else, someone is making a profit from sustaining a
divide among those people. This is sustained by gun companies, media conglomerates and local
businesses is where they make profits from these tensions. “The Elders understand that the youth
are pawns in a game to fatten the pockets of those who profit from their divisions, as well as their
academic underachievement” (pg 152). They stated that to deal with these stressors created
outside of their community is to delve deeper into their culture and to utilize it. As stated on page
153, “The facing of an opponent becomes a means to strengthen the physical, spiritual, and
mental self and recognize that the battle is not with the person who stands in front of you but
with life” (pg 153). An example of where this battle is taking place is in competitive dance in
Africa. During these battles, the dancers go through a series of events to see if they are the best
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

of the best to continue in the larger battle. After this person is identified, then that person
continues on in the larger and to the final battle. This was overall to show important steps that
should be applied to teaching and what pedagogical ideas we can bring to the classroom.
The overarching idea of this chapter is to show that teachers can implement ideas from the
competition model to have students become more individualistic and competition driven to
hopefully create more cultural learning experiences. This focus on one individual to be better
than all the others, without relying on anyone else may be foreign to many students who have not
been competitive before. By focusing on this, it allows students to become inspired to do well
and to figure out what they are passionate about, whether it is about something school related or
something they are personally interested in.

Key Terms:

● Neoindigenous (pg. 151)

● Aboriginal populations (pg. 152)
● Power of a battle (pg. 153)
● Individualistic and competition driven (pg. 157)
● Cultural learning experiences (pg. 157)
● Validate (pg. 160)
● One’s brilliance (pg. 161)
● Neoindigenous practices (pg. 162)

Discussion Questions:

1) How do you deal with stressors?

2) Where do you focus all of your energy?
3) When teaching and going through daily life struggles, where do you put/deal with all of
this stress?

IX. Chapter 9- Clean

In this chapter, Emdin focuses on how teachers can begin to connect with neo-indigenous
students by incorporating their culture into the classroom. He begins by telling the story of a
teacher who came up to him, seeking guidance on how to reach one of her students. The student
and his sister always dressed with nice style, but she couldn’t understand how the family could
afford nice clothes when they qualified for free lunch at school. Emdin responded by asking her
“how she thought a family with with so little could afford not to feel good about themselves and
dress well” (pg. 165). It was clear to him that this teacher’s inability to connect with her student
stemmed from her lack of understand neo-indigenous culture. He suggested the teacher buy a
new pair of sneakers to show the students she cared about her style. The teacher initially took
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

offense to this, but then emailed him a few weeks later saying she experienced success from
doing this. She immediately connected with the students more, creating room for open dialogue.
She began to understand the importance of art, style and expression to students. Emdin brings up
the idea of graffiti and explains that it is a way for the neo-indigenous to dress up their
neighborhoods, much like they would their bodies. It is an indicator of them wanting to express
themselves, but not having the space to. He then goes on to discuss the importance of the look of
a classroom and how many students compare the appearance of schools to a prison. This creates
conflict in that students cannot be expected to engage in a classroom when the physical structure
is similar to a place they go when they’re arrested. To further investigate students’ experiences in
classrooms, he gathered a team and conducted research. They interviewed students in different
classrooms and found that students have more in-depth responses when interviewed in
classrooms that had evidence of “inclusion of neo-indigenous forms of artistic expression.” This
discovery led to the creation of some basic principles teachers can implement in order to foster
the neo-indigenous aesthetic in classrooms:
1. Allow youth to express their sense of style or fashion without being reprimanded
for it.
a. i.e. - the allowance of wearing baseball caps so as it doesn’t affect their
learning
2. Creating a graffiti wall in the classroom to create a space for expression
3. Showing respect for neo-indigenous artistic customs by engaging in them

Key Terms:

● Aesthetic expression (pg. 163)

● Economic inequity (pg. 164)
● Neoindigenous culture (pg. 165)
● Teacher bias (pg. 166)
● Reality pedagogy (pg. 167-68)
● Physical adornment (pg. 169)

Discussion Questions:

1. In a music classroom, what are ways the inclusion of neoindigenois culture can occur?
2. How can students in non-art classes (music or art) find ways to express themselves? How
can a teacher create a space for that?

Chapter 10- Code Switching

Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

In this chapter, Emdin discusses a concept which he calls code switching. Now this is just
a way of describing the way in which he says that teachers should be able to switch back and
forth from the vernacular, to street slang, to “proper” (I hate using that word) english. The use of
this is to make students feel more comfortable in the classroom. He talks specifically about the
rising popularity of private schools in urban areas and the way that the teachers try to “whiten the
students”. Teachers at these schools often try to supress the neoindiginous culture rather than try
to strengthen it, and that is the opposite of what Emdin says they should do. One example he
gives is in a private school where the teacher only lets them speak in one kind of dialect at a
time, and they switch between them. In conclusion, the slang that different cultures use should be
celebrated, not looked down on or eradicated.

Key Terms

● Code switching (pg. 175)

● Imagination exercises (pg. 179-180)
● Social Chameleon (pg. 175)
● Reality Pedagogue (pg. 177)
● Neoindiginous (pg. 176)
● Conversational English (pg. 178)
● Traditional English (pg. 178)
● Street Slang (pg. 179)
● Colloquialism (pg. 180)

Discussion Questions

1. In a music classroom, how can we implement code switching using music terms?
2. Are there types of music where using slang is more appropriate to the music than using
the vernacular?

Chapter 11- Curation and Computing

In this chapter, Emdin discussed witnessing students projects in reference to the history
of hip-hop. He states the students were co-curating the history of hip-hop in real time. He first
describes the ideas of how Christian Kreps describes her work within institutions that curate
indigenous artifacts in her book. The book argues the idea about there always being a cross-
cultural phenomena that embraces the preservation of the artifacts that the indigenous groups
learned from and celebrated. They collected these items for a reason. In this chapter there is also
an idea that is discussed about the indigenous culture and how student and our young people are
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

currently express and respecting such artifacts and aspects of the culture at harvard and or at the
institution that has a museum. He also express that when curating subject or aspects of life it is
essential and powerful when they are expressed in a video. The power video is very expressive
and easy to get a point across. Emdin states that video is a powerful tool in all aspect of reality
pedagogy, allowing students to harness technology to validate their experiences both within the
classroom and in their own communities. Which is another reason why social media is so
important for the Neo-Indigenous communities. In conclusion the way technology has expanded,
students really have taken advantage of it and put it to good use.

Key Terms

● Co-curating (p.184)
● Liberating Culture(p. 184)
● Indigenous Artifacts (p.184)
● Cross-cultural Phenomenon (p.185)
● Video (p.188)
● Reality Pedagogy(188)
● Curation (p.188)
● Cyber Ethnography (p.188)
● Twitter (p.196)
● Digital Ethnography (p.196)
● Hiphoped (p.197)
● Metalouges (p.201)

Discussion Questions

1. In the chapter Emdin discussed the idea that metalouges combined social media with
student curated artifacts. How does that express the idea of creating a balance of a
powerful classroom norm?
2. What is a powerful classroom norm?
3. As music teachers, how can we get our students to behave or pay attention when we are
giving specific instruction that has nothing to do with performance?
4. How can we start discussions that students will care about in regards to #musiced?

Conclusion- Completion

In this final chapter, he shares some things he learned on his journey in education:
1. The way that a teacher teaches can be traced back to the way they were taught
2. The longer the teacher teaches, the better they are
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

3. Effectiveness of a teacher can be traced back to what they think of the student
4. How successful a teacher is in the classroom is related to how successful the
teacher thinks the students can be
5. Teachers can’t teach students they don’t believe in to be something greater than
what they are
6. Lesson planning is good, but it’s ok to go astray from that plan
7. You get out as much as you put in
8. You are a product of your environment

Discussion Questions:

1. Should you have a backup plan incase you stray from your lesson plan?
2. To what degree is it ok to go astray from the plan?
3. What are some suggested strategies of community that will ultimately result in a learning
environment that is both enriching and engaging?

Group Reflection:

The goal and purpose of the book was to educate prospective teachers and currents teachers
on how to teach a certain type of student. We believe that a teacher that is teaching or wants to
teach in an indigenous area and or an urban area would find this book very useful. They can use
the book in order to find a simpler approach to reach out to their students. For example, for most
students in urban areas, school is their safe zone because of the many things that go on in their
own households. We believe Emdin had strong examples and methods on how to deal or
understand students that grow up in households that are out of the norm. We believe that the
back cover of the book lives up to the book correctly because it generalizes what the book is
going to be about as well as gives a mini biography on Emdin and all of his accomplishments.
The back cover also gives testaments from people who have read the book. We think because of
all these aspects, the back cover and the book itself go together perfectly. The title is very
accurate, because he doesn't just focus on teaching white folks how to deal with these students
from urban areas. He also provides knowledge on how every single person should teach these
indigenous students. Christopher Emdin is an African American man that has gone through the
experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in his own learning experience. With that being
said, he has a personal connection to these students. This is one of the reasons that makes him
qualified. A second reason that makes him qualified is because he uses examples from his own
teaching experiences as well as states some his research. Furthermore, because he has
experiences, proof and research makes him qualified. Although the author doesn't use graphics,
his resources seem very appropriate for the topic, which made it even more enjoyable to read. In
a way, all these books relate to each because they all give specific ways on how a teacher can
Review Authors: Jamiah Harrison, Emily Gulli, Alton Peters, Erin Dixon, and Sophia Anzalone

improve their teaching and or some suggestions on how to teach in general. This is hard to
answer, though, because we are uncertain on the specifics of the other books. However, in a
general sense, what we can take from these books are ideas to bring to our classrooms and to
implement in our pedagogies. In conclusion, we all enjoyed reading the book!