"But it's just a dialect that I select when I hang..."

This week, I was interviewed for a Guardian 'Comment is Free' article on the banning of slang in a school. Today I was invited to give an interview for a Canadian radio show.

My own thoughts are that slang/language bans are problematic but I don't know all the details around the school in question and wouldn't want to comment on it directly. It's easy to launch into a criticism of something without taking the time to find out more about that which you are criticising. I have experienced that more than once with regard to Hip-Hop Education and it achieves little more than boosting numbers of blog views and twitter followers.

I view the current obsession on slang in the UK within the broader context of the return to a narrative of the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor and the argument that social inequality can be eradicated by working class people becoming more 'respectable'; modifying their speech, clothes and cultural practices. I find it interesting that there are so many stories about the undeserving poor at this particular moment in history. I note also that this same narrative is prominent in the US, where a discussion about the ethics of killing an unarmed working-class Black teenager soon descended (in some quarters) to a discussion on how working-class Black teenagers dress.

Whilst I place great emphasis on teaching the language of power, I would argue that secondary school is a place where the question of what counts as 'Standard English' (and why) can be explored through poetry, literature, grammar studies and historical enquiry. I do not think that teaching 'Standard English' is at all oppressive to working class students (I say this only because many of the comments seem to assume that this is the position of anyone who doesn't favour banning slang). Recognising that different language registers are used in different contexts is important. Enabling access to higher education, whilst not the only purpose of educating children, is an important one. However, I am unconvinced that listing banned words is the way forward.

3 Criticisms of UK #HipHopEd

-->

Last month, we held the 3rd UK #HipHopEd Seminar, which, it was widely agreed was the best yet. In attendance was UK Hip-Hop legend Ty (@TyMusic ) whose recent Jazz Cafe gig was itself a lesson in Hip-Hop and featured support from fellow HipHopEders Breis (@mrbreis ) and KMT (@KMT_MAY ) amongst others.

To get a sense of how our Hip-Hop Education conversations are progressing, please read this excellent write up by @unseenflirt

Whilst response to the post by UnseenFlirt has been overwhelmingly positive, there have also been a few criticisms of our Hip-Hop Education work. Below I list 3 such criticisms and offer a brief response to each.

1. "Education should not be about students' own lives but rather about extending their horizons."

I think the 'own lives' vs 'wider culture' issue is a false dichotomy. Many would argue that good learners make connections between these two realms and that Hip-Hop Education is one of many approaches that can help learners to do this. When I used lyrics from Immortal Technique withstudents, they were able to draw links with Marx's historical analysis and Plato's simile of the cave, before reflecting upon the choices that were afforded them in their own lives. Akala's Hip-Hop Shakespeare work encourages students to make connections between the language, concepts and themes in two seemingly disparate art forms. The implicit message in some mainstream education that students bring little of cultural value to the educational encounter is often cited as a reason for 'disengagement'. Nobody at our UK HipHopEd seminar suggested that Hip-Hop be the sole content or method for instruction.

2. "Allowing slang in the classroom will be detrimental to students' language development."

I think concerns about literacy development rest on a second false dichotomy, namely 'Standard vs Non-standard English'. A pedagogy that accepts and interrogates 'Englishes' can not only teach the language of power but also can place it in a socio-historical context. There is a body of research that supports the claim that explicitly discussing 'code-switching' with students can not only aid the learning of standard forms of a language but also have additional broader benefits related to valuing students and their families and communities.

For more on the subject of 'Englishes' have a read of this paper by Dr David E Kirkland, who some of us heard speak at the Institute of Education, London last year.

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/006/176/English%28es%29%20in%20Urban%20Contexts.pdf

3. "Hip-Hop Education is the latest desperate attempt to be 'down with the kids'".

Finally, the  'down with the kids' argument, whilst a familiar one, quite possibly betrays a particular vision of an ideal educator. Those of us engaged in Hip-Hop Education are immersed in, or at least very familiar with Hip-Hop culture having grown up with it. We recognise its educative potential and see that even modern, negative aspects of it can be analysed to help students make sense of the wider world. To us, and to many of our students, it makes far more sense for Hip-Hop to be included in the classroom rather than excluded.

Clearly there's more to say on all 3 points - it's quite likely we'll discuss one or all of them at the next UK #HipHopEd seminar! If you'd like to participate in the next seminar, let me know via comments of twitter! @rapclassroom

-->

*The UK #HipHopEd Seminar Series is a space for Hip-Hop Educators.
Artists, Teachers, Activists and Academics to come together to present, discuss, support and challenge each other, in a spirit of democratic learning.
UK #HipHopEd was recently featured on BBC1Xtra's 'When Words Collide', and Chris Emdin, our key-note speaker at Seminar 1 has been featured in the British press for his science education work with GZA.
Future plans discussed include a book, blog and open conference.
In Seminar 1, we had a chance to share our routes into Hip-Hop Education however we might define it.
In Seminar 2, we began to identify key principles and practices in our work.
In Seminar 3 we began to consider 3 key questions:
 
1. What do we do and why do we do it?
2. What are the main criticisms of Hip-Hop Education and how do we respond to them?
3. What would a UKHipHopEd Manifesto look like?

Seminar 4 is scheduled to take place in June 2013 in London. If you're interested in participating, hit me up! @rapclassroom

World Book Day - A Teacher's Dilemma

World Book Day is coming up on March 7th. I like World Book Day and I love books.

In the run-up to World Book Day few years ago, I received a phone call from a colleague. He asked me for suggestions for Black male characters from children's books as he wanted to dress as one. We came up with a depressingly short list and got to talking about why this might be, whether it was important and what we could do about it.

Together with another colleague of mine, we created the resource below. It is grounded in a real-life situation but raises some philosophical issues. I have used it with teachers, teacher-educators and with Year 6 pupils. People have responded to it in a range of ways, some very positive, some quite hostile. Either way, it has generated some interesting discussion.

The point of it is not merely to suggest a Black character from children's literature - but please feel free to do so - but rather to identify and discuss the issues that this seemingly mundane e-mail (based as it is on a real-life phone call) raises.
 

10 Thoughts after 2nd UK #HipHopEd Seminar

Much was discussed, debated and noted down yesterday. We are moving closer toward a UK #HipHopEd Manifesto, a collaborative enterprise that will drive, but not limit, our individual and collective work in Hip-Hop Education.

In the meantime, here are 10 thoughts I came away with after 6 hours of discussion that were so engaging nobody seemed to want to break for lunch!

1. Hip-Hop Teachers are activists. We are offering alternative ways of educating and as such are 'rocking the boat'. There is a need to be excellent and to be able to point to evidence that substantiates our claims.
2. HipHopEd is about building community. Relationships are key. 
3. HipHopEd is much more than doing hip-hop  in educational sessions. 
4. Hip-Hop was created by people of colour. Whilst anyone can participate in hip-hop this fact should not be lost.
5. Hip-Hop can be a context for education. But we must also examine the context in which hip-hop exists.
6. HipHopEd may bridge the gaps between school, road and home identities. Often education systems construct barriers rather than bridges for these gaps.
7. Cultural ownership and appropriation are ideas that hip-hop educators should explore with each other and their students.
8. UK hip-hop educators need to consider what is particular about UK HipHopEd. 
9. We should be alert to how power operates in hip-hop and education and interrogate this.
10. The DIY ethos of early hip-hop is alive amongst UK Hip-HopEd educators!

The Hip-Hop Debate - My two-pence worth.

I don't really do newsy posts. I'm too slow at writing for one thing.

Here's an already too-late attempt...

Tuesday at the Barbican.
Fascinating, funny but mostly frustrating.
A very effective viral campaign by Google for google+.
Race, Class and Gender. But not enough investigation.
A US event in the UK?
Where were the young speakers?

We could take a certain tabloid and point to racism, sexism and homophobia. We should. But we know better than to use that as a claim that journalism is a bad thing.

Hip-Hop is a dialogue. Discussing the state of Hip-Hop has always been part of Hip-Hop.

Who is getting amplified? Who are you amplifying?

"Living in the hole, looking at the world through a crack"

• Who is the  ‘I’ of the song? (How) can we tell?

• If he doesn’t believe in God, why reference religious things?

• Who is the ‘you’ of the song?

• Why does he use the word ‘Nigga’?

• Could the song be read as a justification for gang culture / victim status?

• (In what ways) could Australians be termed ‘criminal minded’

The questions above were created by members of  ‘The Dead Historians Society’ a voluntary group of A-level History students at BSix College, Hackney that includes their teacher. I met the group a few days before at an exhibition that featured their words and photos and was struck with their passion for discussion. Their teacher had invited me to the meeting as she wanted to build on the students’ interest in Hip-Hop. I chose a song that contained numerous historical references. (I should probably add here, as I did in the session, that the video contains violent images and strong language.)

We listened to ‘The Point of No Return’ by Immortal Technique. The lyrics (which we read), along with some commentary (which we didn't) can be viewed here: http://rapgenius.com/Immortal-technique-the-point-of-no-return-lyrics

 In the spirit of Philosophy for Children/Communities (P4C), I invited each member of the group to reflect on what was interesting, challenging or confusing about the song and then shape his/her thoughts into a question.

The questions were then written up, and clarified where required. The members then voted for the question they wished to explore together in the session.

The question that proved most popular was;

“Could the song be read as a justification for gang culture / victim status?”

This question, offered by a student whom I gather listens to Immortal Technique regularly, is striking. It forced the group to consider a critical reading of Technique’s lyrics and find evidence to justify accepting or refuting such a reading.

The fact that it was selected by the group does seem to fly in the face of populist arguments that young people are vulnerable and in need of protection from messages in Hip-Hop songs. It may even have challenged my preconceptions as a self-declared ‘Hip-Hop Teacher’. I had anticipated fostering critical analysis of rap lyrics using my skills as a teacher, P4C practitioner and apprentice academic. In fact, the critical analysis was already going on.

Given the many historical references in the song, and the students’ own historical knowledge, the discussion was at time understandably free-wheeling. It was also inter-disciplinary. I was too engrossed to take notes, but from memory;

 There was literary enquiry  

•  Looking for textual evidence to support an interpretation of the lyrics and to speculate as to authorial intent. For example, is Technique using revolution in a metaphorical or literal sense?
• Does he view violent death as inevitable?

There was historical enquiry

• Does Technique’s apparent message that all human change / evolution / revolution is ‘bloody and dramatic’ hold up to historical scrutiny?
• Can we think of counter-examples?

There was philosophical enquiry

• Is our own choice between dying (or living) for the throne or ‘our own’? Or is this only a choice at ‘the revolutionary moment’?
• When do we have enough knowledge to commit to something?
• How are to we discern who is and is not ‘our own’? Are we ‘looking at the world through a crack’? Is this like Plato’s simile of the cave? How can we gain the knowledge and understanding to see beyond this?
• Is Technique’s reading of the situation one of optimism or pessimism?
• (In what ways) are we more than ‘merely’ products of our environment?
• What are the similarities and differences between ‘gang culture’ and ‘guerilla warfare’?

These are just some of the questions we touched upon and many of them deserve their own enquiry. As you can see whilst some of the questions are quite abstract, many of them took us to areas both practical and profoundly personal. I think that this is what philosophical enquiry, and Hip-Hop, can and should do. 

I regret not giving more space for the idea raised by one student that 'Living in the hole, looking at the world through a crack'  might not be only a prison metaphor but could also refer to Plato's cave. My own dislike of the theory of the forms clouded my thinking and resulted in my blocking this line of inquiry, albeit very subtly. However we did later return to this, discussing the idea of partial knowledge and how we can ever ascertain that we have sufficient understanding of a situation.

If I had one aim it was to encourage the students to reflect on the world and their role in it. If I learned one thing it was that they were already doing this. That's not to say that I, as an educator, have nothing to offer them. I think I can help them to reflect critically -  but only if I remain committed to doing so myself.

I’m very grateful to the members of the ‘Dead Historians Society’ for giving me the opportunity to dialogue with them and consenting to me writing this blog-post.

I would like to invite the Dead Historians to add their thoughts about the session below.

UK #HipHopEd

On Wednesday 22^nd February 2012 at 8-9pm GMT I will be on twitter, ending my tweets with UK #HipHopEd.

I wont be alone. I will be joined by teachers, educators and Hip-Hop artists who share an interest in Hip-Hop Education (however we might each define it) in the UK, and in the USA - the birth-place of Hip-Hop and the weekly twitter chat  #HipHopEd. We will be considering the question;

“What does Hip-Hop Education mean to us?”

The basis for a UK branch of #HipHopEd is purely logistical – 2am GMT on a Tuesday night/Wednesday morning does not still well with a working life. Whether a chat by practitioners in the UK takes on a different flavo(u)r, remains to be seen.

Thankfully, the folks behind #HipHopEd have been very supportive and some plan to contribute on Wednesday too. This will be the first of 4 weekly twitter chats under the UK #HipHopEd label – after which we’ve agreed to review the process. I’m looking forward to hearing the views of practitioners and hoping we might all benefit from the experience.

If you’re interested in Hip-Hop, Education and Hip-Hop Education, why not join us on Wednesday 8pm GMT?