Connecting Academics to the real world through hip-hop culture
The challenges that the education system today faces are many. The most gigantic among them is the challenge of making education more relatable and exciting to today’s young generation.
Today’s hip-hop generation understands mobile technology and apps on the internet way more quickly than traditional textbooks. As a result, teachers find new ways to incorporate this liking into the academic curriculum to make learning fun and productive. Linking education to music, movies, and trending mobile apps will help teachers rope in more children to take up studies in a better fashion and benefit from it.
It is not enough to just teach; you must ensure that the learning is practical and translates into practice. From Ariana Grande to Instagram reels, you would see today’s children nimble away at lightning speed on their phones, absorbing countless things as they scroll between pages.
From using beatboxing to teach math concepts or songwriting to teach history, every teacher carves their niche path to effectively integrate hip-hop culture into education. Hip-hop culture combined with education seamlessly widens the scope for the child to gather confidence to speak up in class, think critically, and even collaborate for a team activity effectively.
Some practical ways in which you can incorporate hip-hop culture in your classroom
While we’ve been spending more time at home, thanks to the pandemic, we’ve discovered new ways to enjoy our favorite bits of hip-hop culture or binge-watching shows or podcasts. Hip-hop culture is prevalent nowadays, especially after social media has taken over our lives. However, if we have submitted to its power, the chances of children indulging in it are beyond. It is time to embrace hip-hop culture to connect students to your curriculum!
There are several strong reasons to use hip-hop culture in your classroom. Not only can students discover more about one another’s interests, but hip-hop culture can pique the interest of an otherwise indifferent student population. Playing music or displaying memes related to the day’s topic at the start of class is a fantastic technique to captivate students immediately. In addition, you are using hip-hop culture to create unique assignments allowing kids who underperform to shine through.
When a teacher thinks about incorporating hip-hop culture into the classroom, it will benefit him in understanding if it will help him teach effectively. Combining hip-hop culture with statutory educational standards can educate and reinforce learners’ transferable life skills. Children will consume popular culture for the rest of their lives, which is an accepted reality. In that case, wouldn’t it be wiser to give students the chance to put it into practice after understanding fully well the meaning of what they see and hear in information?
Five broad ways how hip-hop culture can be integrated into mainstream education
1 When a book is adapted to television or movies, establish how accurate the adaptation was to the text. Comparing, contrasting, and debating the creative liberties found in novel, film, or television adaptations opens up analysis and judgment skills.
2. Analyzing the purpose and role of advertisements in mass media helps students develop a clear perspective and improved analytical skills about various life aspects, which can eventually percolate into the academic front.
3 Analyzing social media posts across various profiles of people- a commoner to an influencer to a celebrity gives an in-depth understanding of communication and its varied connotations per the situation.
4 Critiquing news sources allows students to examine the accuracy of what is presented, which helps build information and improve media literacy. In addition, discussing what individuals see on TV, on Twitter, and on the news provides an excellent chance to examine different points of view and understand the prejudice.
5 Teachers can use Contemporary songs, magazine articles, or even classic pieces of literature to impart practical learning. Hip-hop culture is perhaps one of the most effective ways to learn about countries, cultures, and even foreign languages.
Teachers Tread the path of the next generation.
A very effective way to go a long way toward creating relationships with your students is to offer your point of view on hip-hop culture. Expressing your point of view is relatively easy, even if communication has become more digital than personal today. For instance, While interacting with the students on zoom for an online class, you can pick images of your favorite hip-hop-culture elements and share them with students. Creating a common ground can generate curiosity amongst students and establish a sense of connectivity and comfort. This bond will help impart education on a much more manageable level.
Students must understand the significance of an assignment beyond the scope of a classroom. Children today have no qualms about questioning why they need to learn about a specific issue, and we must be prepared and well equipped to explain the real-world application of the curriculum. Students can use hip-hop culture to help them develop a critical connection between the books and the real world.
A teacher’s job is to handhold every student through learning, making it fun, relatable, practical, and understandable. Therefore, there needs no hesitation to break away from the old school of thought and embrace this novel concept that helps impart education through practicality. What you witness is enhanced productivity and a highly invested group of children.
In hindsight, isn’t this what we as educators wanted to achieve through our academic pursuits. Today if the same is packaged differently, there should be no inhibitions to adapting and going forward.
Every teacher’s dream is to provide effective and value-added education to their students. Hip-hop Culture might just be your next tool to achieve this.