Term of Award

Summer 2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading

Committee Chair

Daniel Chapman

Committee Member 1

Robert Lake

Committee Member 2

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 3

Margaret Morris

Committee Member 3 Email

morris_m@mercer.edu

Abstract

This study examined how using hip-hop in the classroom engages African-American male students in reading. Many Black males have embraced the popular culture of hip-hop with its style, but many continue to fall behind in school. Ladson-Billings and Tate’s (1995) introduced critical race theory into the field of education to provide for inquiry into the policies, practices and structures that continue to oppress children of color. Race has a significant impact on the daily experiences of all African-Americans. Critical Race Theory used as a theoretical framework for this study helped me to analyze the background of African-American males’

education. Mills (2003, p. 4) explains action research as any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gather information about the ways that their particular school operates, how they teach, and how well their students learn. Using action research with young children as a methodology, allowed me to gain great insight into how my students engaged with hip-hop in

reading. Drawing on the works of Hill (2009), Low (2011), Schultz (2018), Mooney (2016), Love (2012 & 2019), and Emdin (2010), I explored the impact of the hip-hop culture in education. To provide relevant theories for promoting African-American males’ academic achievement, I studied the works of Gay (2000), Ladson-Billings (2009), Noguera (2009) and Delpit (2006). In addition to the African-American males in my two classes, other students of different races and gender ranging from ages 10-11 participated in this study. Using the Do the “Knowledge”: a standards based hip-hop learning guide from Decoteau J. Irby (2006), I was able to conduct hip-hop lessons in two reading classes. The guide allowed my students to help develop their ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think. It also promoted critical thinking about music, art, and hip-hop music and culture. Findings emerged from the engagement in reading, writing, creative learning, and development of creative and critical thinking skills. Student interest plays a major role in student learning and using hip-hop in the classroom can be used as a strategy to engage students in learning to reach their highest potential (Siddle-Walker, 1996) in education and life.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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