“He didn’t know what he was doin’”

Student perspectives of a White teacher’s Hip-Hop class

Bibliographic Data

ID21489871
AuthorsAdam John Kruse (0000-0002-3967-0752, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume38
Issue4
Pages495-512
Publication date2020-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Music Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0255-7614 • E-ISSN: 1744-795X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0255761420924316
OpenAlexW3030717756
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited26

In this article, I share findings from a research study about a high school Hip-Hop course in the United States and offer considerations toward informing culturally responsive teaching and decentering Whiteness in music education. I explored the experiences and perceptions of majority students of color in a Hip-Hop course taught by a White music educator who was largely inexperienced with Hip-Hop. I was curious to understand how the students saw their teacher, what they experienced as strengths and weaknesses of the course, and what they felt they took away from the experience. I designed the qualitative study employing elements of Hip-Hop musical practices (sampling and remixing), analyzed data informed by Hip-Hop vocal techniques (doubling and ad-libbing), and structured findings based on Hip-Hop aesthetic principles (flow and rupture). Overall, students appreciated the teacher’s acknowledgment of his lack of Hip-Hop experience and his ability to prioritize their perspectives and voices. They reported gaining valuable musical experiences in the course as well as developing cross-cultural competence to better understand their fellow students

Art · Mathematics education · Musical · Pedagogy · Qualitative research · Sociology · Visual arts · Critical Race Theory in Education · Diverse Music Education Insights · Music History and Culture · Psychology · Social Psychology

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