“A Tale of Two Classrooms”: Designing Culturally-Relevant Hip Hop Curriculum to Support STEM Identity of Underrepresented Students

Abstract

This article explores how educators can contribute to the development of STEM identity in historically marginalized groups by using critical frameworks and pedagogies like Funds of Knowledge and Critical Hip-Hop Pedagogy as a curricular tool to counter traditional teaching practices. The authors amplify the importance of cultural spaces that support educators in examining aspects of power, access, and cultural awareness in STEM classrooms to increase student participation and acquisition of STEM knowledge. This article provides a guided activity named “A tale of two citiez” as an example of how educators can act towards (re)conceptualizing and (re)imagining STEM classrooms.

Keywords

• Funds of Knowledge
• Critical Hip-Hop Pedagogies
• STEM Identity Development
• Teacher Education