I was drawn to read the “Critical Hip Hop Pedagogy as a Form of Liberatory Praxis” article by A. A. Akom because I was so intrigued by the subject. I think it is so important for teachers to continuously step outside of their comfort zones and listen to ideas and voices that give different perspectives. We are moving past the ideas of standardization and traditional pedagogy in which there is one right way to do things, and we are moving towards creating classroom environments that allow students to explore, inquire, imagine, create, critically assess, and expess themselves in a safe way. Akom describes just another way teachers can achieve this type of environment. He explained that “Hip Hop is the dominant language of youth culture, and those of us who work with young people need to speak their language” (53). If teachers are able to connect with students in a way that is comfortable for students, we will be able to create classroom environments in which our students feel safe, welcomed, and valued where they have that freedom to explore. As we understand “education is political, and thus schools are never neutral institutions” (56) so it is so important for teachers to be advocates for our students. This freedom and advocacy stems from critically assessing our pedagogical practices and a curriculum which reflects the “culture, history, socioeconomic, and spiritual realities” (54) of more of our students and which is “informed by the actual conditions and experiences of people of colour” (56). In this way, we can begin to “meaningfully develop strategies for pursuing social justice, and take increasingly public roles in advocating, organizing, educating, and being educated by our communities in an effort to create positive social change” (55).
Akom suggests that “transformative education begins with the creation of pedagogic spaces where marginalized youth become aware of how their own experiences have been shaped by larger social institutions” (55). He goes on to explain that hip hop is a tool “for illuminating problems of poverty, police brutality, patriarchy, misogyny, incarceration, racial discrimination, as well as love, hope, joy” (54). Everything that Akom is suggesting aligns with what we know about forming relationships with people and understanding our students’ experiences. Music is such a powerful tool because it is so emotional and so raw, and because of this, it oftentimes gives such an accurate and meaningful account of what it is addressing. Many students who don’t always feel comfortable opening up in conversation or sharing in any other way, may use music to express themselves. An added benefit to all of this is that music is also something that is different from traditional teaching methods and the norm and it is something that students find relatable and enjoyable, making learning through music that much more effective. From my past experiences, I often found that teachers that took the time to be relatable to their students and try to have a current understanding of the interests, pop culture, and complexities of being a young person in that time, were the ones that we more readily opened up to and wanted to be around. These connections take time and thoughtful care. Like Akom said, “Most importantly, we listened closely to our students—which is the heart of critical pedagogy” (58).