America’s dilemma: Reconciling cultural norms with 21st century education – Part I
publication dateMar 15, 2018; Journal of Trauma & Treatment
I am deeply disturbed by the culture of violence, flagrant disrespect, and incivility (FDI) that has become the norm in America. I am especially concerned that violence, aggressive behaviors and trauma (VABT) is increasingly paired with FDI and is being distributed globally by the news, information, and media entertainment industries, or the NIME. Children spend a great deal of time with the NIME via social and digital media (SDM). When presented as entertainment, the NIME appeals to people, young and old, but young, vulnerable, impressionable mind, in particular. Some research indicates that the merger of VABT and FDI is contributing to a decline in social standards, consequently a decline in school climate and culture [1]. Others disagree. Yet, a key question remains: What might be contributing to heightened VABT and FDI in schools? Since some public schools re ect the norms and expectations of the communities in which they co-located, how should school administrators, teachers and sta decide what is acceptable vs. unacceptable behavior in the classroom or on school property? How might a discussion about values inform public policy on matters of life, death and freedom, and the debate of the constitutional right to bear arms?
Addressing minority achievement through service learning in a culturally-relevant context
publication dateJan 1, 2018; Journal of Service Learning in Higher Education
Research on recreational media use among youth indicates young people of color who spend more time with media may also be at higher risk for school disengagement and low personal contentment compared to their white peers. This puts these students in a position to be even more influenced by the themes and messages that abound in pop culture, particularly music and social media. ME: MIM is a multisensory, interdisciplinary, integrated approach to teaching and learning that uses music multimedia to engage students in individual and group activities and lessons that reinforces competencies aligned with positive youth development. Song lyrics, sound recordings and music videos are used as “text” to facilitate deconstruction and discussion of the themes and messages in music and the context. Students also discuss the influence of these themes and messages on their attitudes, beliefs, and choices as it relates to their cultural group identity and individual behavior both in and out of school. ME: MIMM has been facilitated through the Challenging Horizons Program (CHP), an evidence-based, after-school and summer service-learning program for academically and behaviorally challenged students. This study examined key stakeholders’ (i.e., parents/guardians, program staff members, and school administrators) perceptions of feasibility and acceptability of ME: MIM.
The psychosocial wellbeing of black youth in the age of Hip Hop: From theory to practice
publication dateDec 15, 2017; Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
publication descriptionIntroduction: Throngs of young people are disengaging from public “schooling”, opting instead for an alternate reality depicted in popular youth culture (PYC) and popular youth music multimedia (PYMM), in particular. This alternative reality is disturbingly real with images, messages, and stereotypes that may be perceived as promoting highly risky, problem behaviors, while often failing to present the consequences of these behaviors. Adolescents most at risk for negative outcomes in public schools are also most at-risk for negative health and social outcomes, both in and out of school. Clinicians and practitioners concerned with improving health outcomes by promoting healthy lifestyles must address the psychosocial wellbeing of these vulnerable youth. Leveraging the ubiquitous appeal of PYMM for health-enhancing, prosocial learning offers key stakeholders culturally-relevant and culturallyresponsive options that require critical thinking about prevailing themes and messages in popular music.
Objective: Two research questions were explored: 1) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that PYMM may have on their self-image and identity development, values, communication norms, and coping skills? and 2) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that faith, hope, love, and optimism may have in facilitating self-awareness, personal responsibility, social awareness, and social responsibility?
Methods: Students completed an onsite post-intervention survey that consisted of thirteen questions graded on a nominal scale (i.e., yes/no) indicating the degree of agreement with each statement.
Results/Discussion: This study and its results offer additional evidence supporting use of PYMM for culturally-relevant and culturally-responsive teaching and learning to promote health, and specifically address the psychosocial wellbeing for urban youth.Health Education and Media Literacy: A Culturally - Responsive Approach to Positive Youth Development
publication date Apr 2016; Journal of Health Education Research and Development
The average American teenager spends nearly eleven hours a day engaged in social media and accessing digital music multimedia, which has negative effects on health and educational attainment. Curricula that contain youth friendlymedia could improve learning, reduce risky and problem behavior and improve health outcomes, but may be controversial given some of the content. This study was designed to assess stakeholder’s perceptions of a curriculum built around Popular Youth Music Media (PYMM) called Musics Energy: The Message in the Music™ (ME: MIM). This intervention consists of six modules implemented over 24 sessions. ME-MIM uses PYMM to teach students how to deconstruct music by collaborating, communicating, reading closely, thinking critically, conducting research and taking useful notes by listening. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with 11 middle school students and 6 teachers across multiple school districts. The constant comparative method was employed to explore emerging and recurring themes. Major themes were that ME: MIM was acceptable to most students and conditionally acceptable to most teachers. Stakeholders indicated that ME:MIM may be used as a component of a culturally informed, carefully monitored curriculum. Given the findings of this study, ME:MIM appears to be an acceptable and feasible approach to addressing health risk behavior, education disparities and educational engagement, especially among those who may be at higher risk for school disengagement and those who are exposed to more programmed media messages.
Can popular music and media be a culturally-informative approach to address health education, media literacy and diversity in schools?
publication dateOct 2015; Journal of Education & Social Policy
If significant progress is to be made that assists youth with developing academic, behavioral, emotional moral and social competencies, then strategies targeting youth should be informed by individuals who are competent and comfortable deconstructing popular youth culture. A youth-friendly dialogue about popular youth culture may provide important insight into the complex social and environmental landscape that young people must navigate in order to survive and thrive. Additionally, this dialogue may help adults gain insight and an understanding of the attitudes and behavioral norms that are modeled in popular youth media and perpetuated by young consumers. An intervention that targets behavioral, emotional, moral and social competence among youth must demonstrate a fundamental understanding of youth culture, acknowledge their design for living, and acknowledge their way of interpreting their own environment. Young people’s views about behaviors linked to sex, alcohol, substance use, violence and trauma may not align with adult expectations. This is further complicated when adult expectations differs from what is espoused in school. Ideally, a health education intervention designed for adolescents would intentionally engage youth in activities and discussions that allow them to articulate their values, attitudes, beliefs and give them an opportunity to discuss, explain and defend their choices. Such an intervention would align with national and state adopted standards in core subjects and be paired with accurate, credible and reliable information that promotes health education, media literacy and respect for diversity. Additionally, this intervention would be evidence based which means it would have been subjected to evaluation studies that have specified outcomes. This scenario could yield important knowledge about the potential use of PYC and PYMM as a strategy to engage youth in a culturally informed approach to address health, education, diversity and disparity.
pathways to wealth and wellness
pathways to wealth and wellness