How hip-hop has enhanced American education over the past 50 years, from rec rooms to classrooms
Retrieved on:
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
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I smile thinking of us all jumping around wild, crazy, happy and free.
Key Points:
- I smile thinking of us all jumping around wild, crazy, happy and free.
- Today, as a professor of higher education, I still carry the fondness I had for hip-hop as a child into my professional work.
- Drawing from my research exploring the educational benefits of hip-hop culture, what follows are four ways that hip-hop has changed education in America.
1. Made the classroom more engaging
- Some teachers started incorporating hip-hop into lesson plans by using music and rhymes to teach subject matter.
- This includes not only the classroom environment, but also teaching techniques, student-teacher relationships and subject matter.
2. Inspired new schools and community organizations
- The High School for Recording Arts is a public charter school that teaches dance, music, art and entrepreneurship to students who have been expelled or pushed out of other schools.
- Several new hip-hop community organizations have also been developed.
3. Expanded academic fields and jobs in higher education
- Since then, colleges across the country, including Harvard, Duke and New York University, have developed hip-hop-related courses.
- In 2012, the University of Arizona began offering a hip-hop studies minor – the first of its kind at a four-year public university in the U.S.
- There are also hip-hop research conferences hosted at The Ohio State University, Columbia University, Rutgers University and the University of Buffalo, to name a few.
- At Harvard, the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship, named after the legendary New York rapper Nas, funds exceptional hip-hop scholars and artists.
4. Fostered new mindsets
- With mental health now a priority in education, some experts are exploring how to use hip-hop culture to support student mental health.
- Ian Levy, an associate professor of school counseling at Manhattan College, developed a hip-hop-based counseling framework for schools and other educational settings.
- These characteristics are valued in many different settings, but hip-hop culture adds a unique flavor and intensity.
Continuing to evolve
While hip-hop has left an indelible imprint on the field of education, it is not done yet. Hip-hop continues to evolve and gift us with possibilities for what culturally relevant education might look like in the next 50 years. As the saying goes, “Can’t stop, won’t stop.”