More and more high profile educators are using hip-hop…

Here at Flocabulary, we’re always excited to see educators who motivate students using music. MSNBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” recently featured the trailblazing KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Charter Schools: as a part of their groundbreaking approach to fostering achievement, KIPP schools make education more engaging using hip-hop music as well as other student-friendly exercises. The program has a dramatically promising record of taking under-privileged students and enabling them to succeed.

While KIPP has proved highly successful, there are also others making a difference in education using music – such as California English teacher Alan Sitomer who teaches poetry by incorporating people and concepts relevant to his students, like famous rapper Tupac Shakur. Go here to read more about Sitomer’s approach.

Meanwhile, professor and researcher Shuaib Meacham discovered the power of hip-hop in educational settings as far back as 2003. He says, “Teachers are going to have to not only understand what hip-hop is all about but also use it effectively in order to teach young people.” Click here to learn more about his research, and his efforts in promoting the use of hip-hop in the classroom.

It’s spreading: hip-hop in the classroom!