EXPLORING AND UNDERSTANDING THE PRACTICES, BEHAVIORS, AND IDENTITIES OF HIP-HOP BASED EDUCATORS IN URBAN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOMS ________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ________________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ________________________________________________________________________ by H. Bernard Hall August 2012 Examining Committee Members: Marc Lamont Hill, Advisory Chair, Teachers College, Columbia University Erin McNamara Horvat, Department of Teaching and Learning Wanda Brooks, Department of Teaching and Learning James Earl Davis, Department of Psychological, Organizational and Leadership Studies Emery Petchauer, External Member, Oakland University © Copyright by H. Bernard Hall 2012 ii ABSTRACT Exploring and Understanding the Practices, Behaviors, and Identities of Hip-hop Based Educators in Urban Public High School English/language arts Classrooms H. Bernard Hall Grounded in theories of culturally relevant and hip-hop pedagogies, this ethnographic study of a demographically diverse “community nominated” cohort of urban public high school teachers who integrate hip-hop pedagogies into their English/language arts classrooms responds to the methodological and theoretical shortcomings of a burgeoning body of research known as “hip-hop based education” (HHBE). HHBE has argued that curriculum and pedagogy derived from hip-hop culture can be used to transmit disciplinary knowledge, improve student motivation, teach critical media literacy, and foster critical consciousness among urban students in traditional and non-traditional K-12 learning environments. However, the field’s overreliance on firsthand accounts of teacher-researchers, the vast majority of whom position themselves as members of the “hip-hop generation,” discounts the degrees to which teachers’ cultural identity informs hip-hop based curricular interventions, pedagogical strategies, and minority students’ academic and socio-cultural outcomes. I argue that the hip-hop pedagogies evidenced by non-researching “hip-hop based educators” were diverse and reflected different beliefs about hip-hop, pedagogy, and the politics of education. Three primary findings emerge from 280 hours of classroom participant-observations and ethnographic interviews (January-June 2010): (1) teachers psychologically and discursively construct and perform individual hip-hop cultural identities through “necessary and impossible” (Hall, 1996) politics of difference, (2) teachers’ respective curricular approaches to hip-hop as literary texts are closely linked to iii their respective hip-hop cultural identities, and (3) hip-hop pedagogues employed hip- hop methodologies and literacies that reoriented conceptions of self and other, the structure of teacher-student relations, and notions of knowledge around “pedagogies of hip-hop.” Study findings are salient to the fields of hip-hop studies, critical multicultural teacher education, and English/language arts Education as they provide robust portraits of the instructional and relational nuances, as well as cultural-political implications of HHBE for a largely White, middle-class prospective teacher workforce and an increasingly diverse hip-hop nation. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I dedicate this dissertation study to my sons, Noah Conner Hall and Braden Judah Hall, both of whom were born during my doctoral studies. Together, the two of you have taught me more about life and love than any number of professors, preachers, or poets. For every bath time party and bedtime story I missed – I am sorry. I pray that one day you will read these words and be as proud of me as I am of you. I must also acknowledge my wife, Nate’ Conner Hall. You are my homey, my lover, my friend, co-author of my life, and thus, every word I write. None of this would be possible without your sacrifice and support. I want you and the world to know this. The man I am and scholar-activist I aspire to be is a reflection of my first, most influential teachers. My grandmother, Elvira C. Hall (rest in peace), taught me priceless lessons on family and faith. Every time I think, hear, see, or say the words Dr. and Hall I can feel you smiling down on me. While it is safe to say that I wasn’t always receptive, my father, Harry B. Hall (he’s a little sensitive about being called Sr.), taught me all the things a boy needs to become a man. Above all else, he taught me the difference between right and wrong. The conviction I possess to fight for the former and against the latter comes from you. My mother, Therese H. Hall, is the one who instilled in me the passions for learning, teaching, and writing that made me believe an endeavor of this kind was possible. I know thank you doesn’t come close to cutting it – I hope I love you does! I’d also like to acknowledge my brother Nathan P. Hall, and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins for lifting my spirits when my head hangs low, and checking me when my head gets too big. v The utmost respect and sincerest gratitude is due to my mentor, comrade, and brother, Marc Lamont Hill. From the moment Nate’ and I had lunch with you and our friend, Biany Perez, we knew we had found our new home. It has been an honor and privilege to learn “the life of the mind” from a scholar of such keen intellect and grand hustle. Special thanks to Erin McNamara Horvat, Wanda Brooks, James Earl Davis, and Emery Petchauer for all the effort and expertise you have contributed to my intellectual and professional development. I would like to recognize Decoteau J. Irby for his fellowship and guidance in helping me negotiate the many highs and lows of the past six years. I’d be remiss for not mentioning Marcia Whitaker, Celeste Williams, and Linda Pryor who made sure all my Ts were crossed and Is were dotted. I am also grateful for my colleagues, Kelechi Ajunwa, Juliet DiLeo Curci, and Sally Alden Gould for all they have done to see this project develop from a sketch on a large Post-it Note to a 200-page dissertation study. A special shout-out goes to my Brown Street family: Donald Rencher, Esq., Jason T. Wells, M.D., Cpl. Michael E. Jordan, Shomari “Shamrock” Morris, Kaiwan Bowman, and Ben Castanier. Not bad for a bunch of Black kids (not you Ben) that got into the University of Michigan “because of Affirmative Action.” Thirteen years later, in the words of Kanye West, “They can’t tell us nuthin’!” Last but not least, I will forever be indebted to the people of Riverfront. To Assistant Superintendent Dr. Holyfield, Principals Ardmore and Roundtree, and most of all, Mr. Westland, Ms. Brown, Mr. Candler, Ms. Oxley and their students, thank you for granting me the opportunity to live and learn with you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..…………..………..…………………………………………………….. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …..……………………………………………………… iii CHAPTER 1: “HIP-HOP SAVED MY LIFE”: AN INTRODUCTION .………….. 1 Organization of the Dissertation ………………………………………………... 3 Situating the Researcher: Who I Am, What I Believe, and Why it Matters ……. 4 The Golden Child ……………………………………………………….. 6 Mr. Hall ………………………………………………………………….. 9 Professor Hall …………………………………………………………... 13 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK….…….. 16 Hip-hop Studies: Remixing Ed SchoolS ……….……………………………… 16 Hip-hop Based Education as Critical Multicultural Teacher Education ……… 20 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Review of the Literature ...………………… 23 Academic Achievement ……………………………………………….. 25 Cultural Competence ………………………………………………….. 26 Critical Consciousness ………………………………………………… 28 Making the Case: First Things First …………………………………… 30 The Academic and Socio-cultural Outcomes of Hip-hop Based Education …... 31 New Directions ………………………………………………………… 32 From Hip-hop Based Education to Hip-hop Pedagogy ………………………... 33 Pedagogies with Hip-hop ………………………………………………. 34 Pedagogies about Hip-hop …………………………………………….. 36 Pedagogies of Hip-hop ………………………………………………… 37 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY …….………………….………… 40 Context of Study ………………………………………………………………. 43 Riverfront School District ……………………………………………... 44 Participant Selection …………………………………………………… 45 Mr. Westland …………………………………………………… 47 Ms. Brown ……………………………………………………... 47 vii Mr. Candler …………………………………………………….. 47 Ms. Oxley ………………………………………………………. 48 Progressive High School ……………………………………………….. 48 Alvin Ailey Academy of the Arts ……………………………………… 50 Risks and Benefits ……………………………………………………… 51 Data Collection and Analysis …………………………………………………... 52 Stage 1: Ethnographic Interviews ……………………………………… 53 Stage 2: Observations ………………………………………………….. 55 Stage 3: Exit Interviews ………………………………………………. 58 Post-observation Data Analysis ………………………………………... 59 CHAPTER 4: CONSTRUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCES OF HIP-HOP CULTURAL IDENTITIES …………………………..………………………….…… 63 Ms. Brown: Old School Hiphopper ……………………………………………. 64 Mr. Candler: Out-of-School Hiphopper ………………………………………... 69 Ms. Oxley: No-School Hiphopper ……………………………………………... 74 Mr. Westland: New School Hiphopper ………………………………………… 78 Summary ……………………………………………………………………….. 86 CHAPTER 5: DROPPIN’ KNOWLEDGE OR DEPOSITING THE REAL?: APPROACHES TO HIP-HOP BASED CURRICULAR INTERVENTIONS …… 88 Approaches to Hip-hop Based Curricular Interventions ……………………….. 88 Contributions Approaches ……………………………………………... 89 “I’m a Teacher of English” …………………………………….. 90 Hip-hop as American Literature ……………………………….. 92 “Harlem Renaissance Renaissance?”: (featuring Tupac and