A Pedagogy of Freedom: Using Hip Hop in the Classroom to Engage African-American Students

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A Pedagogy of Freedom: Using Hip Hop in the Classroom to Engage African-American Students A PEDAGOGY OF FREEDOM: USING HIP HOP IN THE CLASSROOM TO ENGAGE AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS _______________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Proposal presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri-Columbia ________________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education ________________________________________________________________________ by TRACY D. HALL Dr. Barbara N. Martin, Dissertation Supervisor DECEMBER 2007 © Copyright by Tracy D. Hall 2007 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled A PEDAGOGY OF FREEDOM: USING HIP HOP IN THE CLASSROOM TO ENGAGE AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS ___________________________________________________ Professor Barbara Martin ___________________________________________________ Professor Sandy Hutchinson ___________________________________________________ Professor Patricia Antrim ______________________________________________________ Professor Doug Thomas _____________________________________________________ Professor Michael Jinks ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to God for the wonderful people who have assisted me along the way to fulfilling my dream of earning a doctorate degree. First, my sincere appreciation to my dissertation supervisor, Dr. Barbara Martin, for your encouragement, support, guidance and great humor, throughout this dissertation writing process. For encouraging me to follow my heart and research a topic that was near and dear to my heart, I am forever grateful. Secondly, to my dissertation committee, Dr. Sandra Hutchinson, Dr. Michael Jinks, Dr. Patricia Antrim, and Dr. Doug Thomas, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for your knowledge, assistance and time. I appreciate you. A special thanks, also, to Dr. James Machel, and again to Dr. Sandy Hutchinson for those Wonderful Wednesdays and for your guidance and support from day one. And finally, to my wonderful family, words cannot express how much your love, patience and support have meant to me throughout these years. To my #1 fan, my best friend, and my husband, Anthony Hall, Sr., without your love, support and motivation, this would not have been possible. To my beautiful children, Taylor, Anthony, Jr., and Trevor, thank you for pitching in to help me as I pursued my dream. I am eternally grateful. Also, thank you to my other best friend since 1967, my loving and supportive mother, Gloria J. Harris. Your encouragement and words of advice have been invaluable. And to my third best friend, my sister, Kelly R. Daniel, thanks for the supportive emails throughout the years. I appreciate you. Gene, Danny, Danny II and Madear, thank you for everything. I thank God for all of you. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................. i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 Conceptual Underpinnings of the Study..................................................................2 History of Critical Race Theory...............................................................................3 CRT in Education ....................................................................................................4 Storytelling...............................................................................................................4 Statement of the Problem.........................................................................................5 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................7 Research Questions..................................................................................................8 Limitations and Assumptions ..................................................................................9 Design Controls .....................................................................................................10 Definitions of Key Terms ......................................................................................11 Summary................................................................................................................12 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................14 Origins of Hip Hop ................................................................................................16 Role of Technology and Hip Hop..........................................................................17 Hip Hop Community Defined................................................................................18 Categories of Hip Hoppers.....................................................................................18 Hip Hop Generation vs. the Civil Rights Generation ............................................19 Generational Conflict.............................................................................................20 Hip Hop’s African Connection ..............................................................................21 Oral Tradition.........................................................................................................21 Hip Hop: Voices from the Streets..........................................................................22 Role of Space .........................................................................................................23 Hip Hop Generation and Social Justice .................................................................24 Commercialism, Gangsta Rap and Moguls ...........................................................25 Commercialism..........................................................................................25 Gangsta Rap...............................................................................................26 Moguls .......................................................................................................27 Street Feminism, Misogyny and Sexism ...............................................................29 Street Feminism .........................................................................................29 Misogyny ...................................................................................................31 Sexism........................................................................................................31 Critical Race Theory, Hip Hop and the Classroom ...............................................33 CRT Evolution.......................................................................................................34 iii CRT in Education ..................................................................................................35 Storytelling.............................................................................................................36 White Teens and Hip Hop......................................................................................38 Engaged Pedagogy.................................................................................................38 Use in K-12 Classrooms ........................................................................................39 Use in Higher Education........................................................................................41 Engaged Pedagogy Criticism.................................................................................44 Urban Pedagogy.....................................................................................................44 Critical Race Theory and Educators ......................................................................45 Summary................................................................................................................46 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................48 Research Questions................................................................................................49 Rationale for use of a Case Study..........................................................................50 Population and Sample ..........................................................................................52 Data Collection and Instrumentation .....................................................................54 Data Analysis.........................................................................................................57 The Researcher’s Biases and Assumptions............................................................59 Summary................................................................................................................60 4. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA .........................................................61 Study Design..........................................................................................................61 Data Collection Methods .......................................................................................62 Conceptual Underpinnings.....................................................................................63 Research Questions................................................................................................64
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