Here are two practitioner-based articles:

• Hip-Hop, the “Obama Effect,” and Urban Science Education by Christopher Emdin⁷
• Teaching a Hip-Hop Ecology by Michael J. Cermak⁸

These articles both center around the isolation of minority and low-income students in science classrooms in urban public schools. Science teachers in urban public schools often fail to incorporate pedagogy that is culturally relevant to their students.⁷ This is especially detrimental for a subject like science which is considered to be both a white man’s field and an area for only the “brightest and best” (a category in which minority urban youth are highly underrepresented in tracking in urban public schools).⁷ Many minority students in urban public schools do not believe they are capable of doing well in science.⁷ Furthermore, many of these students are not in environments where they are exposed to profitable and stable employment opportunities and thus do not see careers in science as viable options for them.⁷

Both Dr. Christopher Emdin and Michael J. Cermak propose integrating hip-hop into the science classroom as a mechanism for addressing these issues.  For equality to be reached, “the science classroom must become a place where the general characteristics that traditionally make up scientists or bright students are no longer the only criteria that apply” and utilizing hip hop is an effective method.⁷ According to Dr. Emdin, hip hop is “the culture of urban marginalized youth”.⁷ Hip hop, which includes graffiti, breakdancing, deejaying, and rapping, is the primary way that those who are being devalued by schools share their experiences and connect with others who have similar backgrounds.⁷ Individuals who are part of the hip hop culture connect with each other deeply and send codes to one another through handshakes, head nods, distinct, walks, unique hairstyles and ways of dressing.⁷ In these “hip-hop social networks” great amounts of trust are built. Therefore, by creating a form of “hip-hop social network” in the classroom, a trust could be built that would encourage students to feel comfortable taking risks and participating in class.⁷ Furthermore, it would build a trust between teachers and students that would foster a more effective learning environment.

Dr. Emdin also suggests that the Obama effect can be a tool used by urban public school teachers to engage minority students in science. The Obama effect is the repercussion of President Obama’s election, specifically relating to the improved performance of Black students.  Many urban public school students connect with President Obama either on some level such as his Blackness, hip-hopness, or biracial background.⁷ Dr. Emdin cites students excitedly pointing out to him how they had seen President Obama “dust his shoulders off” and give Michelle Obama a “pound”.⁷ These were hip-hop moments that the students could relate to and understand. As a result of the Obama effect, the students then see an increased world of possibilities for themselves because they see someone from a similar background to their own being successful.⁷ Moreover, educators can utilize the Obama effect to discuss President Obama’s actions related to science.⁷ For example, the selection of Holdren and Lubchenco as science advisors to the President raised a discussion about the necessary qualifications to gain such a position and the issues that they should consider.⁷ Furthermore, discussions about the relationship between global warming and the earth’s processes, the link between personal actions and climate change, and the BP oil spill all emerged in urban public school science classrooms as a result of the Obama effect.⁷ President Obama’s hybridized identity (both a Harvard graduate, child from a single parent home, President, and participant in hip-hop) gives minority students a model that allows them to be both true to their home-identity while also being successful and active in the science classroom.⁷

Cermak has successfully used rap in his environmental studies class in an urban public school to engage his students. At the beginning of the school year, Cermak had a difficult time connecting to his students.⁸ They found little relevance in the science issues he was teaching, and questioned his ideas.⁸ Then he came up with the idea to integrate rap into the curriculum. Through songs like Mos Def’s “New World Water” and Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy, Mercy, Me” he was able to connect with the minority youth in his classroom and address tensions between race and nature.⁸ For each song, Cermak typed out the lyrics and provided questions to encourage his students to think about which parts of the song intrigued them.⁸ For example, Marvin Gaye’s mention of mercury in fish and “oil wasted in the ocean” led to a discussion of how toxins can affect human health and the BP oil spill.⁸ He then had his students create their own raps based on an environmental issue of their choosing.⁸

These authors’ discussion of science education in urban public schools show that change both needs to be and can be made. Integrating curricula, namely through hip-hop, that minority students can connect with, has been shown to be very successful. Engaging minority students in science from an early age is very important in increasing minority representation in STEM fields.