Punk Pedagogy: Teaching to Confront Intersecting Discourses of Domination
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Eastern Michigan University DigitalCommons@EMU Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations and Graduate Capstone Projects 2021 Punk pedagogy: Teaching to confront intersecting discourses of domination David Jagusch Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.emich.edu/theses Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons Recommended Citation Jagusch, David, "Punk pedagogy: Teaching to confront intersecting discourses of domination" (2021). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 1066. https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1066 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Capstone Projects at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@EMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TEACHING TO CONFRONT INTERSECTING DISCOURSES OF DOMINATION Punk Pedagogy: Teaching to Confront Intersecting Discourses of Domination by David Jagusch Dissertation Submitted to the College of Education Eastern Michigan University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Educational Studies Concentration in Urban Education Dissertation Committee: Ethan Lowenstein, PhD, Chair Rebecca Martusewicz, PhD Paul Joe Ramsey, PhD Robert Rozema, PhD March 1, 2021 Ypsilanti, Michigan TEACHING TO CONFRONT INTERSECTING DISCOURSES OF DOMINATION ii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my committee chair Dr. Ethan Lowenstein for his constant guidance and support, and for his advice and encouragement throughout this entire process. I would also like to thank my committee members: Dr. Robert Rozema who has guided and mentored me throughout my career and has provided me with innumerable lessons and opportunities, Dr. Rebecca Martusewicz for always pushing me to do my best and for her wealth of knowledge, and Dr. Paul Joe Ramsey for his thoughtful insights into the topics and contexts covered within my dissertation. ‘Thank you’ to all my friends, family, colleagues, and cohort members who continually saw the best in me and urged me to be the best version of myself. Though all of the bands and artists referenced throughout my dissertation, including many that are not, have had an impact upon my life and my ethos as a punk educator, I would like to specifically acknowledge Anti-Flag. Their messages of peace, unity, and resistance permeating all that I do. Finally, I would like to thank and acknowledge my students—I continue to learn from them on a daily basis; without them, none of this would be possible. TEACHING TO CONFRONT INTERSECTING DISCOURSES OF DOMINATION iii Abstract Through the utilization of autoethnography and critical discourse analysis, this dissertation explores the applications of punk rock, its ethos and its philosophies, in the world of education. The overarching research questions driving the direction of this work are as follows: (a) What would an actualized punk pedagogy be characterized and defined as within the context of contemporary urban education in the United States? (b) How could such a pedagogy be applied in order to contest current inequalities and inequities that are the direct results of education being grounded in historical discourses of domination? and (c) How does punk relate to current radical pedagogies and philosophies of education, and can punk provide any added value to these theories? In order to establish what I refer to as the “pillars” of punk pedagogy, a thematic analysis was conducted of the lyrics of punk rock songs in order to identify common traits that define the punk scene and community. The results of this thematic coding resulted in six distinct pillars: active resistance, anti-domination, anti-conformity, emotional guidance, anti-violence, and tension and balance. Practical applications of punk pedagogy include, but are not limited to, a shift in educator ethos, the effects of image and appearance, curricular decision-making, and the transformation of pedagogical practices. Once established, punk pedagogy is then put into conversation with other radical pedagogies, including Critical Hip Hop pedagogy, Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed, Giroux’s resistance pedagogies, and EcoJustice education. The final conclusions include the assertion that discourses and logics of domination are not inevitable and that the radical nature of the punk ethos has the power to combat the detrimental effects the intersection of various discourses has upon the contemporary state of education, regardless of students’ and teachers’ cultures, backgrounds, sociocultural demographics, and experiences. Keywords: punk, pedagogy, autoethnography, critical discourse, discourses of domination TEACHING TO CONFRONT INTERSECTING DISCOURSES OF DOMINATION iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Purpose and Context ........................................................................................................ 6 Black Lives Matter ............................................................................................... 8 COVID-19 ......................................................................................................... 18 A Turning Point ................................................................................................. 22 Neoliberalism ..................................................................................................... 24 The Problem: Why Punk Pedagogy? .............................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 2: UP THE PUNX .................................................................................................. 39 The What vs. the When of Punk Rock: An Introduction ................................................. 39 Punk Pedagogy: What’s Been Done ............................................................................... 45 Do It Yourself (DIY) .......................................................................................... 47 Challenging the Status Quo ................................................................................ 48 Anarchist Punk Pedagogy .................................................................................. 50 The Learning Environment................................................................................. 54 Limitations of Current Literature ................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 3: PEDAGOGY AND CURRICULUM .................................................................. 60 Pedagogy: Learning Liberation and Love ...................................................................... 60 Pedagogy as Liberation and Transformation ....................................................... 60 Pedagogy as Culturally Relevant Practice Through Choice ................................ 61 Pedagogy as Critical, Democratic, and Anti-Capitalist ....................................... 64 TEACHING TO CONFRONT INTERSECTING DISCOURSES OF DOMINATION v Pedagogy as a Holistic and Humanizing Practice ............................................... 71 Pedagogy as Creative and Loving Conflict ......................................................... 78 CHAPTER 4: THE PILLARS OF PUNK PEDAGOGY ............................................................ 83 Pillar One: Active Resistance: Rejecting Privilege, Flattening Hierarchies ..................... 84 Pillar Two: Anti-Domination: Anti-Capitalism, Anarchy, and Beyond ........................... 87 Pillar Three: Anti-Conformity: Live Free, Be Yourself .................................................. 91 Pillar Four: Emotional Guidance: Three Chords and the Truth ....................................... 94 Pillar Five: Anti-Violence: Symbolic and Physical Alike ............................................... 98 Pillar Six: Tension and Balance: The “Do No Harm” Clause ....................................... 100 Anti-Conformity Revisited: Being Yourself While Doing No Harm ................. 101 Labels: Fuck ‘em, Sort of ................................................................................. 103 CHAPTER 5: FUCK THE SYSTEM: PUNK PEDAGOGY IN ACTION ............................... 106 Ethos ........................................................................................................................ 109 Image and Appearance ................................................................................................ 113 Curricular Decision-Making ........................................................................................ 121 Lessons........................................................................................................................ 127 The Lesson of “Fuck” ...................................................................................... 128 It’s All About the Music................................................................................... 133 A Willingness to Protest .............................................................................................