Teaching Tupac in class?

[Steeltrap]

This is from a British newspaper, hence the unusual spellings and punctuation.

Shakur joins Shakespeare as LA classrooms rap to English

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Monday January 20, 2003
The Guardian

The words of Tupac Shakur and Big Rube have joined those of F Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck in English classes in one the toughest areas of Los Angeles. Students on the verge of dropping out have been encouraged to stay by classes that allow them to analyse and criticise the lyrics of their favourite songs.
The classes at Crenshaw high school in south LA, where students deconstruct the rap songs, are the latest example of rap's growing acceptance in mainstream education, with US universities also adding courses to their curricula.

Patrick Camangian, the English teacher at Crenshaw who has pioneered the use of rap to stimulate his students' interest in the use of language, says he is delighted with the response from the class so far.

"I was very much like them once," said Mr Camangian. "I survived as a young person of the streets and I didn't finish high school. I think we fail the kids with the old ways of teaching. The curriculum we have in place is set up for a world that no longer exists."

He told each of his students, who range in age from 16 to 18, to choose the song that had most influenced their lives. He then typed out the lyrics, got the student to prepare a talk and had the class analyse what the words meant.

Among the lyrics studied were those of the late Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z and Goodie Mob.

"I wanted them to understand the vividness and sound of language so that they'll come to realise - wow, the sound of words is a beautiful thing," said Mr Camangian.

Once they had realised the strength of the words, he hoped they would be led into reading books they would not otherwise have attempted. It was, he said, another way of getting into The Great Gatsby.

The boys in the class all brought in lyrics related either to gangs, sex or marijuana, he said. The girls' choices were mainly to do with love "or the pain of love".

Many of the songs had words which might not appear in standard texts. "It bothered me that so many referred [to women] as 'bitches' and 'hoes', it's dehumanising," said Mr Camangian. "I felt it necessary to address that."

He said that many of his students had been previously unenthusiastic about coming to school and some who had considered dropping had decided to stay because, for the first time, they related to what they were studying.

[AKA2D '91]

I can believe that.

A few years ago a friend, now an associate taught English. She got her students motivated to learn Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by studying the work, then showing them the Martin episode where they "play" on the play. She also used the "Diff'rent World" episode where Lena tries to understand literature.


I wish someone could have made all of that more appealing when I was in school. If the students can relate and learn the themes of the work, then do it! Textbooks are not always the answer. One must remember, students learn in a variety of ways and must accommodate for that individual student's way of learning.

[Afrochic]

This subject was a part of the midday topic on the radio. The question was, if lyrics of rappers became widespread in classess all over the U.S., which rapper's lyrics would you choose? I didn't listen the entire time because I was in my car, but some of the callers chose Mos Def and Chuck D.

Let's go back in the day, if you had a choice while you were in school which rapper's lyrics would you have chosen? My pick would be KRS-One.

Whatever helps the children learn, then by all means do it.

[BLUTANG]

100% i would choose Self Destruction. I remember they used to play it EVERY night on the radio when the 6-10 disc jockey went off the air. I heard that song before i went to bed every night, and i think the "kids" today need to hear / analyse / internalize something that's positive.

[abaici]

I LOVE Tupac! Cal offered a class on the poetry of Tupac sometime ago. Tupac was not talentless. He was genuinely a poet. He attended a performing arts school, along with Soror Jada. As a teacher, I understand the reasoning behind "whatever you have to do to get them interested" concept. As we speak, while teaching the War of 1812, I am requiring my students to learn the first verse of the Star Spangeled Banner. Our assessment for this section requires them to present the verse in a unique way. The only restriction is that they not perform it the way it is commonly sung. They are really excited by this (who would have thunk it!) Anyway, while I probably would have put restrictions on the types of songs they brought in (anti-hoes and b!$#*@#), but I support the concept.

[Choo-ChooAKA]

We do a unit on music and composition and the intersection between the two in my class. Since I know very little about music and even less about pop culture, I procured the assistance of a good friend who comes in to the class and facilitates the discussion. It's a great unit and the kids love it. Not only do they get a break from me, but they get to talk about something they know well and feel confident about. Anything that helps to make that connection between what they know and what you want them to learn is a useful teaching tool.