Aiden Aizumi

Dr. Cleveland Hayes

EDUC 390
7 Dec 2014
Annotated Bibliography
Elmesky, R. (2011). Rap as a roadway: creating creolized forms of science in an era of
cultural globalization. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 49-76.
In this article by Rowhea Elmesky, the point is made clear that students who are
attending schools in an urban setting benefit from the use of rap music in relation to the
content that they are being taught in science. The students who have been marginalized
and pushed out of opportunities for success based on their socioeconomic status began to
participate more and saw themselves in the content being taught in a more positive light.
The author writes that by incorporating rap into the classroom the students who were
experiencing feelings of diaspora, started to feel more at home and comfortable being at
school. The author also covers the different aspects of rap from freestyling to poetry, and
how it can be applied in an urban school setting.
Emdin, C. (2010). Affiliation and alienation: Hiphop, rap, and urban science education.
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 42(1), 1-25.
In this article, the authors key point surrounds the idea that hip-hop can be a tool for
developing interest in school and learning for students who are attending schools in an
urban setting. By incorporating something that is familiar and a part of the community
that they experience outside of school, the students feel validated and less marginalized
by the constructs that are in place in educational systems. The author found that students

have a new sense of passion for science and the role they played in their learning. This
helped to open a dialogue between the teachers and the students and also created a new
sense of mutual respect. The author also address the concerns around the separation of
school life and real life and he puts them to rest by saying that students found that the
feeling of validation and their success out weighed the concerns about separating school
and the real world.
Jablon, P. (2012). An Alternative Research and Science Teacher Preparation Agenda for
Urban Science Education: An Insider's Call for a Focus on Success. Journal of Science
Teacher Education, 23(3), 221-231.
The author Paul Jablon writes in this article about the system and the expectation of the
success for urban students. He stresses the importance of shifting the culture to set
students up for success by making a connection to the communities they belong to (i.e.
school and the world). He writes that students can be empowered by seeing parts of their
outside world represented in an educational setting positively. The article talks about the
impact this cultural shift has on teachers and that the best way to support students is to
find a way that works best for them to learn the science. If incorporating hip-hop into the
classroom helps the students to feel respected and worthy of learning, then the students
will begin to improve in their understanding of the science curriculum.
Sealey-ruiz, Y., & Greene, P. (2011). Embracing urban youth culture in the context of
education. The Urban Review, 43(3), 339-357.
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz and Perry Greene focus in this article on the change that needs to
happen in regards to the misperceptions of urban youth in schools. Black urban youth
should not be ignored or expected to behave and achieve at a lower level based on their

socioeconomic status. They talk about the history of misrepresentation of black youth in
the media and in public education. These misconceptions and misrepresentations only
harm the youth in the school setting because they are believed to be true, and the students
have started to believe what they are hearing about themselves. By embracing the culture
of the students lives outside of school, and breaking down the barriers that are currently
in place with truths about the students, the students will begin to succeed. The article is
about accepting and embracing the students where they are and using the world they are
comfortable with and identify with to help them succeed.
Varelas, M., Martin, D. B., & Kane, J. M. (2013). Content learning and identity construction: A
framework to strengthen african american students' mathematics and science
learning in urban elementary schools. Human Development, 55(5-6), 319-339.
The article by Maria Valares, Danny Martin and Justine Kane focuses on identifying the
best way to strengthen the learning for students in urban elementary school. They focus
largely on the pedagogical framework that would need to be in place to adjust the current
sociocultural biases that exist in education for young black students in urban schools.
Learning involves having a relationship that is positive enough so that students can feel
they are a part of the material and that it applies to them. In order to set students up for
success the system needs to address the issues surrounding the expectations that
educators and schools have for their students who are in urban settings. Incorporating a
space that has cultural value to the students, they start to build a new relationship with
education and will be able to participate in a larger capacity.