If You Don’t Know, Now You Know: Utilizing Hip-Hop Pedagogy as a Tool for Promoting Change in Students and Community

Abstract

Hip-hop began in the 1970s as an artistic response to social, political, and economic oppression within African American communities in the United States. This artivist movement allowed community members to convey social inequities through music. Decades later, educators have begun using hip-hop as an educational tool. Our study examined whether hip-hop, as an educational pedagogy, could be a catalyst for perceived community change, inside and outside a collegiate classroom. Results suggested that hip-hop pedagogy can be a positive tool in student learning and community change, creating a safe educational space encouraging inclusion, self-expression, and student/instructor engagement.