Hip Hoe to Hip HoPe: Hip Hop Pedagogy in a Secondary Language Arts Curriculum by Phong Kuoch M.A. (Education), Simon Fraser University, 2005 B.A. (English), Simon Fraser University, 1998 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Curriculum Theory and Implementation Program Faculty of Education Phong Kuoch 2013 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2013 Approval Name: Phong Kuoch Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: Hip Hoe to Hip HoPe: Hip Hop Pedagogy in a Secondary Language Arts Curriculum Examining Committee: Chair: Kumari Beck Assistant Professor Diane Dagenais Senior Supervisor Professor Ann Chinnery Committee Member Associate Professor Kelleen Toohey Committee Member Professor Susan O’Neill Internal/External Examiner Associate Professor Faculty of Education Awad Ibrahim External Examiner Professor, Faculty of Education University of Ottawa Date Defended/Approved: September 10, 2013 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Ethics Statement iv Abstract This qualitative case study examines how students in an inner city high school engage with hip hop and how it informs their understanding of issues around race, identity and social agency. More specifically, the research focuses on three hip hop venues organized and led by students in the form of rap, dance and/or poetry slam events, that operate at school outside the formal curriculum and class timetable. Framed within sociocultural and poststructural perspectives on race, identity and social agency, this research examines how contemporary writings on popular culture, hip hop and critical pedagogy intersect and provide a useful lens for analyzing these hip hop venues. The study is grounded in an interpretive epistemology and qualitative approaches were used to gather data through individual and focus group interviews, observations and a collection of artefacts. The research reveals that in their discourse on hip hop, some students reproduced racial classification schemes, while others called into question their marginalization and enacted alternate identities. Keywords: Hip hop; Secondary Language Arts curriculum; Canadian context; race; identity; social agency v Dedication To my educational muses, Dr. Debbie Phelan, Dr. Anne Scholefield and Dr. June Beynon, for helping me tap into my English, teacher and academic identities. vi Acknowledgements To my ―crew,‖ Dr. Diane Dagenais, Dr. Ann Chinnery, Dr. Kelleen Toohey, Dr. Susan O‘Neill, Dr. Awad Ibrahim and Dr. Kumari Beck for helping to shape my thinking and the pages that follow. Diane, thank you for your guidance, insights, patience and care throughout this journey. Thank you for opening your mind, heart and home to me through these many years. Ann, many thanks for the supportive and encouraging way in which you interact with me and my work. Kelleen, my gratitude for your meticulous reading and your challenging me to make it better. To my internal examiner, Dr. O‘Neill, for your important role in helping me fine tune my thinking during the oral exam. To my external examiner, Dr. Ibrahim, for your collegiality an interest in the thesis. To Kumari, for chairing the exam and caring so well. To my ―homies,‖ the students featured in the research, for sparking my curiosity and deepening my understanding. You have rapped, danced and spoken your way into my heart. To my ―posse,‖ my teaching colleagues, for opening up your classroom doors and pedagogy to me. To Linda Hof, for capturing the oral exam so beautifully. To Mauvereen Walker, for meticulously guiding me through the process. To Joanie Wolfe, for sparking my fascination for formatting. To my ―home girl,‖ Tasha Henry, for the calls, texts, Skypes and other gestures of encouragement, support and love. To my ―fly girl,‖ Dr. Rhonda Philpott, for being the template of excellence. To my ―shorty,‖ Denise Schellhase, for sharing our figured world. To my ―CFF,‖ Sheila Hammond, for the mock defense and invaluable feedback. To my ―bro,‖ Boris Chan, for your help and humour To my ―fam,‖ Leang Hoat Kuoch and Kim Tran, for paving my educational Yellow Brick Road. vii Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Partial Copyright Licence ............................................................................................... iii Ethics Statement ............................................................................................................ iv Abstract ........................................................................................................................... v Dedication ...................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... x 1. Yo Hit It!: Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 1.1. Whatcha Say?: Inquiry ........................................................................................... 4 1.2. Line ’Em Up: Organization ...................................................................................... 5 1.3. Ghetto Superstar: Moving from the Margins to the Centre ...................................... 7 2. What’s the dillio?: Popular Culture / Pedagogy, Race and Hip Hop ............... 12 2.1. Throwback 1: Retrospective Reflection on Student Exchange .............................. 13 2.2. Dats So Mainstream: Popular Culture and Pedagogy Theory ............................... 13 2.3. Afrika Bambaataa: Hip Hop Theory ...................................................................... 17 2.4. Throwback 2: Retrospective Reflection on the Ja Incident .................................... 27 2.5. In Living Color: Race Theory ................................................................................ 28 2.6. Common Dream: Hip Hop and Race .................................................................... 34 2.7. Gimme the Low Down: Chapter Summary ............................................................ 37 3. What’s the 4-1-1?: Identity, Social Agency and Hip Hop ................................. 40 3.1. Throwback 3: Retrospective Reflection on the Tetherball Chink Incident .............. 41 3.2. Frontin’: Identity Theory ........................................................................................ 42 3.3. Black Don’t Crack: Hip Hop Identity ...................................................................... 47 3.4. Throwback 4: Retrospective Reflection on Papa’s Pedagogy ............................... 53 3.5. Fight the Power: Social Agency Theory ................................................................ 55 3.6. Changes: Hip Hop and Social Change ................................................................. 60 3.7. Gimme the Low Down: Chapter Summary ............................................................ 63 4. Method Man: Research Context ........................................................................ 65 4.1. Dats My Shit: Interpretive Epistemology ............................................................... 66 4.2. We Got a Situation Herre: Case Study Methodology ............................................ 69 4.3. My Hood and My Crib: The Mosaic High Community and School ......................... 70 4.4. My Posse: The Research Participant Profiles ....................................................... 75 4.5. Taggin’ the Homies and the Shawties: The Participant Recruitment Process ....... 81 4.6. Taggin’ the Groupies: Recruiting the Focus Group Participants ............................ 83 4.7. Taggin’ the Slammers: Recruiting the Poetry Slam Participants ........................... 85 4.8. Taggin’ the B-boys and B-girls: Recruiting the Dance Team Participants ............. 87 4.9. Taggin’ the Rappers: Recruiting the Rap Group Participants ................................ 88 4.10. Taggin’ the Other Homies and Shawties: Recruiting the Other Participants .......... 90 4.11. Gimme the Low Down: Chapter Summary ............................................................ 91 viii 5. In Da Streetz: Fieldwork ..................................................................................... 92 5.1. Spittin’ Words: Interviewing .................................................................................. 93 5.2. Dawg We Gotta Talk Some Buziness: One-on-One Interview .............................. 93 5.3. Roundin’ Up the Homies and Shawties: Focus Group Interview ........................... 95 5.4. Got Ur Back: Observation ..................................................................................... 97 5.5. The Bling: The Artefacts ..................................................................................... 103 5.6. For Reals?: Data Analysis and Interpretation...................................................... 105 5.7. Gimme the Low Down: Chapter Summary .......................................................... 108 6. Peep This!: Reproducing and Challenging Racial Identities ......................... 110 6.1. Identity of the Oppressor and the Oppressed ....................................................