When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong” Enacting Critical Pedagogies of Hip-Hop in Mainstream Schools

When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong” Enacting Critical Pedagogies of Hip-Hop in Mainstream Schools

I found the paper “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong” Enacting Critical Pedagogies of Hip-Hop in Mainstream Schools as being intriguing. For many years, Hip-Hop culture and music have been used in classroom settings. I concur with the author that Hip-hop is a powerful tool for engaging with marginalized youths.  While the author points to the exponential growth of Hip-hop, I am of the idea that it is yet to attain a subjective definition (Kelly and Sawyer, 2019). My argument rests on the fact that most of the classroom uses of Hip-hop tend to be contradictory. There is thus the need to view it beyond the music lens. It is also a culture that incorporates different meanings and identities.

It was ingenious of the author to refer to the theories of Hip-hop education. Critical pedagogy approach to Hip-hop calls for an evaluation of social relations, how they develop or limit the expansion of critical thoughts and ways students can become critical actors.  However, I think that the concept of critical pedagogy is not sufficient to examine Hip-hop education. I base my argument on the fact that simple acts, such as rearranging the furniture or the outlook of the classroom also falls under critical pedagogy. The above forms of critical pedagogy are not overly useful in implementing new strategies.

However, the documentation of Kelly’s experience in teaching Hip-hop education is crucial in understanding the topic.  Her experience in teaching Hip-hop Literature and culture class points out that the students were from diverse backgrounds.  However, most of the students primarily identified with the black race. It implies that Hip-hop education is both ethnic-based and gendered. Her observations conform to finding by different scholars who explain that Hip-hop music mainly appeals to youths from coloured groups.  The role of Hip-hop education in understanding different cultural values is thus yet to be attained in many societies.

I can define the move by Kelly to restructure the class as having been wise as it is part of critical pedagogy. Such changes allow students to control the discussion process better. In promoting democracy, she changed the arrangement of the desks to circles from rows. I believe that this changed the atmosphere and made the students more willing to share their insights on Hip-hop education (Kelly and Sawyer, 2019).  However, it was later observed that the students grew tired of rearranging the desks each day. It means that there are reduced chances of having transformative education in a confined area.  The shortcoming is a call to examine ways that Hip-hop education can be made more practical.

I can define the relevance of Hip-hop education as being based on the fact that minority and youth voices are often underrepresented in conventional class settings.  While there are many studies on Latino and Black students as research subjects, I realized that there are rarely regarded as experts in any field. Their experiences, voices and knowledge are not considered in such studies. The limitations increase the risk of highs school dropout rates among members of the minority groups.  The move to counter the negative trend by increasing the number of Latino and Black teachers is practical.  I view these teachers as being in a better position to understand the plight of coloured students.

James Braxton’s work “Rewriting the Remix” College Composition and Education Elements of Hip-hop also support the need to intertwine the genre of music with classroom activities. I support the classification of knowledge as one of the educational elements of the music culture. Hip-hop music allows for the replication of cultural norms and values. An example is that Hip-hop is widely seen as a way black people express their views and interest. The use of Hip-hop music in composition classes can boost the creativity of the students. The argument rests on the fact that Hip-hop culture and music allows for the articulation of both space and place.

The core of Hip-hop music is awareness of the immediate surroundings such as the values of other groups or the political trends. I view this from of awareness as being an equal commitment to social justice. The use of Hip-hop music by the minority African-American community help support my position. The group use the culture to fight the discriminatory policies and values by the white race (Peterson, 2013). The other essential educational element is participation. Hip-hop can be defined as being a participatory culture that brings together different individuals and groups. Consequently, there is a requirement to change the classroom settings as a way of promoting constant discussions and interactions with the learners.

Active participation of students in defining this culture will helps shift the rigid definitions. Increased knowledge in Hip-hop culture may help address many social problems and inequalities. It is a distinctive teaching approach that view students as both observers and participants. Its strength is the fact that it brings together people from diverse backgrounds. The consciousness requirement means the students will be solution-oriented. Maintaining a touch with the surrounding makes it identify areas that need improvements. It further leads to respect and upholding of the values that are held by other communities. One of the primary themes that are featured in Hip-hop music is social justice (Peterson, 2013).

After going through the two writings, I can define them as informative and well researched. The authors are not biased but seek to support their positions using sufficient proof.  The two writing agree on the need to change the way of teaching Hip-hop education in classroom settings. Their positions are in line with critical pedagogy which calls for changes such as rearrangement of the classroom settings. The purpose of these changes is to ensure that the students have fruitful discussions and interactions with one another. Nonetheless, more studies are required on Hip-hop culture, music and education.

References

Kelly, L. L., & Sawyer, D. C. (2019). “When Keeping it, Real Goes Wrong”: Enacting Critical Pedagogies of Hip-hop in Mainstream Schools. IASPM Journal, 9(2), 6-21.

Peterson, J. B. (2013). Rewriting the Remix College Composition and the Educational. Schooling hip-hop: Expanding hip-hop based education across the curriculum, 47.