Anyway, Sam Seidel. This guy wrote Hip Hop Genius. He taught first in a prison, where he connected with his students by showing some vulnerability--rapping in front of them. He then built several unconventional, music-based art ed programs that were all about the power of language (or as he would say, "slanguage")--not as a handy mnemonic device, but as a tool to brand and rebrand, to create an image and culture. Here's a still from a stop-motion video promo he put together with some students:
He was also tiny and uniquely charismatic.
Some memorable concepts, moments, quotes, activities here below:
Programs he started (in Providence):
AS220
Broad Street Studio was a kind of music lab he created with some youth--a place where they had around-the-clock access to recording studios and equipment, a place where they could make art and build community.
"What happens if you institutionalize 'toeing the line'? Can/should we?" This seems like a natural continuation of the question I posed when I toured MICA's Community Art program. Or a question to ask of any type of shared (and of necessity somewhat canned) curriculum.
"It is presumed that urban schools are broken. (They) are not broken; they are doing exactly what they're designed to do." Replicating the status quo. Keeping power in the hands of those who have it. Cynical, but worth a thought, and not necessarily, in my experience, untrue.
The idea of code switching--he talked about three layers or levels of vocabulary, and the need to almost translate between them. For instance, in a bio classroom, students use/learn
1) science English
2) classroom English
3) street English
...and he took that concept to create some really interesting linguistic ...um... variations. Most of them collaboratively, with his kids:
Hip Hop --> Flip Hop (as in, flipping the conventional meaning of a phrase--or really, anything--on its head)
"words/matter, word/smatter"
"Hateration gets no toleration"
"Hug Lyfe" (in t-shirts, with the gothic font)
"at risk --> beyond risk"
"show and prove"
So we did an activity in which we took words with pejorative connotations and "flipped the phrase". For instance:
"ADHD" became "All disorders have dreams" and "Artists dream in high def"
"Minority" became "MYnority" and "humanority"
"Refugee" became "world citizens" and "unizens" (even though that last one sounds a bit like contact lens solution)
"Illegal" --> "I Legal" or "Ill Eagle"
Some of my own play with words following:
Authenti/City
Synchroni/City
Analyze/Anal Lies
...you know I'm just looking through the pedagoggles.
To read:
"The Rage is Back" Adam Mansbock, on graffiti
"Unspeak" Steven Poole
"Word on the Street" John McWhorter
No comments:
Post a Comment