It?s an age-old question for teachers: how do you capture students? interest in subjects that seem to have little relevance to their daily lives, such as history or art? For some educators, the answer is superstar rapper Jay-Z (Or, to put it more generally, hip-hop). A free 15-week lecture series at UW-Madison will bring in national experts to talk about how educators are using hip-hop as a culturally relevant teaching tool, especially to reach students under-served by traditional schooling.
“This is a viable educational pedagogy,” said Willie Ney, executive director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives at UW-Madison. “It really helps engage students. It’s going to help close the achievement gap. All these things are big ticket items for education.”