After a year in which lecturers tried their best to keep students engaged with their education in difficult circumstances, help may come from a surprising source: hip hop.

The of the Open University¡¯s (OU) annual Innovating Pedagogy report tracking trends in teaching, published on 7?January, says that bringing the New York-born artistic and cultural movement into the classroom can promise ¡°greater student engagement, motivation and social and emotional learning; increased literacy development and critical thinking; and improvement in teacher and student relationships¡±.

Examples of its use include using rap lyrics as texts or taking elements such as DJ-ing or MC-ing and using them as a way ¡°to describe or explain content [and] develop classroom activities¡±.

The trend may also help to engage students from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds in courses. The underlying idea is that if students are already immersed in a culture, they can bring elements of their experiences and traditions into the classroom and incorporate them into course materials and curriculum.

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Student co-creation of teaching and learning, highlighted as a broader trend in the report, can lead to ¡°greater empowerment of students and better relationships among students and between students and teachers¡±, the paper says.

¡°Educators, scholars and students involved in hip-hop education challenge traditional educational systems and structures and attach particular value to the power of youth voice, culture and agency,¡± adds the paper, produced in collaboration with researchers at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

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However, the authors caution that it is important to avoid ¡°gimmicky¡± strategies, such as ¡°implementing hip-hop terminology out of context or showing a rap video that has nothing to do with the course subject¡±, and acknowledge that academics ¡°may not have experience or in-depth knowledge of hip hop¡±.

It is also important to critically examine negative aspects of hip hop that encourage sexism and violence, they add.

Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, professor of learning technology and communication at the OU and a co-author of the report, said hip-hop-based education connected with another trend in the report, equity-orientated pedagogy.

¡°By widening the scope of what¡¯s possible within the classroom, you are also potentially widening participation. You are giving more opportunities to people of different backgrounds to be included in the educational experience,¡± she told Times Higher Education.

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The report references a study which found that students ¡°appreciated¡­teachers¡¯ acknowledgement of a lack of hip-hop experience and their ability to prioritise students¡¯ perspectives and voices over their own¡±.

¡°If a teacher or instructor lacks (and can acknowledge their lack of) experience, then both students and teachers can explore and enhance their understanding collaboratively,¡± it adds.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com