Today, I read the article below and it really spoke to me; the ideas spoken of here are KEY to relating to students and getting them involved in “active learning” in the classroom, especially in urban settings but in rural places as well. This article describes the effort of one professor to teach his students African-American history by utilizing the large popularity and influence of hip-hop. This professor, Reiland Rabaka, points out to major areas that teachers have largely overlooked: the Civil Rights Movement and the hip-hop influence. He says, “Hip hop has the potential to be a vehicle for powerful social and political change.” I firmly believe this to be true. That is, hip-hop music has become the voice of this up-and-coming generation, even more so than our generation. His lecture is to be one part of a series of lectures during this month for Black History Month.
However, what if this concept was taken one step further? Instead of only one lecture, what if a teacher used hip-hop daily to help the students learn? Surely hip-hop music can be used to as a teaching tool for something other than Black History Month, although the ties there are strong. Opposers can argue that not every student identifies with this culture and music; but this type of music is so mainstream that it is almost impossible to get away from! Not that I personally want to get away from it- I happen to be a HUGE fan. But that’s besides the point. Even students in rural communitites can name hip-hop artists and can probably sing the lyrics to more than a few songs.
Many different possible teaching tools could be effective in combination with this hip-hop culture. What if they memorized a poem to the beat of one of Jay-Z’s or Beyonce’s songs? Many children are auditory learners; putting words to a beat and melody can often help them. So, if they learn a sonnet of Shakespeare’s or Poe to the tune of “Irreplacable” by Beyonce (a current top-40 hit), they are more likely to remember it and may even recite the poem when the song is played in other places besides the classroom, establishing an auditory form of recall.
Yet another aspect of this article that I enjoyed was that Rabaka encourages the evaluation of the hip-hop culture: viewing the good along with the bad. He also stresses the major impact this subculture has had on our culture as a whole. In combining “old history” (typical African-American studies) along with “new history” (current hip-hop culture), he revolutionizes the way in which history is taught. And it seems to be working! The article states that Rabaka’s class at the University of Colorado-Boulder was increased to one hundred students due to the overwhelming interest. Students are actually bargaining and begging for seats in this man’s classroom! Imagine if students were that enthused about middle school or high school…
University of Colorado
See the University of Colorado article here.
Feb. 1, 2007
I agree that Rap and Hip Hop music could be used to teach students differnt things in every area of academic spectrum. I think that music in general is a really good way to get children/students to learn things. It is something that makes learning more interesting and the more interesting something is the better it will still in your mind and there for it is eaiser to learn about. I agree that useing rap and hip hop in teaching would be a great tool and teachers should find more ways to incorperate it into their teaching. I think that finding new and interesting ways to teach things to students is a very good thing!
Your blog idea is so cool! I have always thought that music is a great way to connect with kids. When I was in high school it was fun to listen to music as a way to help learn a concept or to spark a debate. In one of my classes we were talking about heaven and hell and whether they were literal places and the teacher played “Imagine” by the Beatles to start conversation. I think that using hip-hop as a way to help kids learn/talk about issues is awesome. 2pac is one of my favorite artists; in fact I am listening to him right now as I type this. Not all of his stuff could be used in the classroom, but he does have some songs devoted to helping women, keeping one’s head up in the midst of trouble, and to breaking stereotypes that people have about him. I think that using rap, raggeton(Spanish rap), and other music types can be very beneficial to students, you will just have to be careful about what songs you choose, and how you choose to talk about them. Good Luck!
Hey, I just finished his class, today was our final actually. It really opened up my eyes to a lot this semester and I do think differently about things now. It was an amazing class and he is a profound professor. I was lucky to take his class. There should be more like that out there.
Thanks for the post