{"id":27807,"date":"2021-12-05T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=27807"},"modified":"2021-12-06T19:46:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T19:46:45","slug":"how-hip-hop-in-the-classroom-is-raising-the-volume-of-learning-4-essential-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-hip-hop-in-the-classroom-is-raising-the-volume-of-learning-4-essential-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"How hip-hop in the classroom is raising the volume of learning: 4 essential reads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alvin Buyinza<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em> and Jamaal Abdul-Alim<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scholars trace the origin of hip-hop<\/a> to a \u201cback to school jam\u201d that DJ Kool Herc threw in an apartment in the South Bronx in 1973. Today the music genre is one of the most popular in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2021, Congress formally designated November as Hip Hop History Month<\/a>.\u201c In recognition of the first year hip-hop history has a monthlong spotlight, The Conversation gathered four articles from its archives that highlight how educators and rappers alike are using hip-hop to educate and engage students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Rappers critique the education system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From Jay-Z vs. Nas to Drake vs. Meek Mill, there\u2019s no shortage of beefs among rappers<\/a>. But one of the biggest feuds in hip-hop may actually be between rappers and America\u2019s education system. Rappers have never been shy about using their lyrical skills to point out how U.S. schools miseducate students. As rapper Scarface plainly puts it in “Black Still,\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[O]ur kids educated by the enemy \/ And they don\u2019t know sh-t about their history \/ Cause they ain\u2019t teaching that in school.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, some rappers who initially turned their back on education have also invested money into education for others. Nolan Jones<\/a>, an associate adjunct professor of education and a specialist in hip-hop education, writes about this paradox in an article about hip-hop\u2019s complicated relationship with education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jones, rap artists\u2019 criticism of formal education serves to \u201chighlight frustrations with mainstream education\u2019s lack of a viable ethnic studies curriculum<\/a>, which has proven to foster cross-cultural understanding<\/a>, self-respect and diverse perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Hip-hop inspires interest in science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Edmund Adjapong<\/a> \u2013 who refers to himself as a \u201chip-hop science educator\u201d \u2013 says he used to think science wasn\u2019t for him. That was until his high school physics teacher incorporated hip-hop into her teaching. In one lesson, his teacher used rappers\u2019 chains to illustrate the motion of pendulums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjapong, now an assistant professor of STEM education at Seton Hall University, writes on how to use the five elements of hip-hop<\/a> \u2013 MC’ing, graffiti, break dancing, DJ’ing and knowledge of self \u2013 to get more students interested in STEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile most studies focused on using hip-hop in science focus on Black students, I believe that using hip-hop can support all students, as hip-hop is the most popular genre of music in America,\u201d Adjapong writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Promoting entrepreneurship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hip-hop producers Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are planning to open a school in Los Angeles that will focus on teaching students skills in entrepreneurship. Set to open in the fall of 2022, in a district that is 74% Latino and 10% Black<\/a>, the school will provide a learning opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in the classroom to real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hip-hop scholars Nolan Jones<\/a> and Edmund Adjapong and career and technical education scholar Shaun M. Dougherty<\/a> weigh in<\/a> on the new school and what it represents for the American high school experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIovine and Dre\u2019s proposed high school appears to embody knowledge and entrepreneurialism, which are considered two elements of hip-hop culture,\u201d the scholars write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf this is successful, it is a great way to help students uncover their potential and hidden talents through experience and formal education. It is also a possible way to provide education that can be applied in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Thinking about social issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hip-hop artists have spoken about space exploration since the early days of hip-hop \u2013 from Sugarhill Gang\u2019s \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight<\/a>\u201d to more modern songs like \u201cReach for the Stars<\/a>\u201d by will.i.am. However, these lyrics about exploring the final frontier also deal with the lived experiences of African Americans on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in A Tribe Called Quest\u2019s song \u201cThe Space Program<\/a>,\u201d space exploration is used to talk about how America\u2019s space program may exclude poor people and people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation\u2019s newsletter to understand the world.<\/em> Sign up today<\/a>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.D. Carson<\/a>, assistant professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia, lists some of the most interesting examples of rappers\u2019 references to space<\/a>. He argues that using these lyrics can bring cultural relevancy to the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking off to Mars, got the space vessels overflowing \/ What, you think they want us there? \/ All us n-gg\u2013 not going.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alvin Buyinza<\/a>, Editorial and Outreach Assistant, The Conversation<\/a><\/em> and Jamaal Abdul-Alim<\/a>, Education Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alvin Buyinza, The Conversation and Jamaal Abdul-Alim, The Conversation Scholars trace the origin of hip-hop to a \u201cback to school jam\u201d that DJ Kool Herc threw in an apartment in the South Bronx in 1973. Today the music genre is one of the most popular in the U.S. In July 2021, Congress formally designated November […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":27808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[2783,453,1996,2275,1427,6596,5355,2545,10953,682,4563],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27809,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807\/revisions\/27809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}