Oct 25 | Week 7
I grew up playing piano, memorizing and practicing famous classical songs by Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven and Schubert. I recall asking my music teacher if we can play some of the more “popular songs”, the songs I would suggest were the ones I would hear on the radio and see in the music videos. My teacher was not very happy with my request. I quickly grew to recognize that Hip Hop songs are not for “good white girls”. It is unfortunate that society more so academia has divided what is considered proper music versus inappropriate without fully understanding the history and background behind it. Hip Hop can have a very positive effect on student learning and when we allow students to engage in music and education, we capture more of their attention. I started to think back to my music lessons, maybe if I was allowed to play some of the songs that I listened to, then I would have continued playing piano even today. For teachers to feel comfortable implementing Hip Hop into their lessons, proper training must take place, there needs to be a recognition of the student body and there needs to be an effort to incorporate it by all staff involved. Hip Hop allows for great discussion around social classes, race, discrimination, family challenges, financial situations and much more. Petchauer's (2015) reading provided excellent example of how Hip Hop was implemented successfully into the high school ‘Hip Hop High’. A lot can be learned by reading the article, it definitely provides a good base for educators to start considering using Hip Hop in their lessons. References: Petchauer, E. (2015). Starting with style: toward a second wave of hip-hop education research and practice. Urban Education, 78-105. |
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