Earlier in the year I was asked to give a talk at a Tedx event at the Northern Sydney Institute. Without hesitating (also without having ever watched a Ted Talk in my life) I said yes, opting to speak about the music workshops we run with Heaps Decent and the lessons young kids can learn through hip hop. Basically I wanted to focus on all the positives that can come out of using rap as a teaching tool.
I spoke about using rap to improve reading and writing skills through repetition, this was brought to my attention last year by a friend and speech pathologist Georgina Smith, who was in Wilcannia at the same time as us in 2012, running workshops at the Central School. She forwarded some relevant essays my way, in particular this one which I referenced a few times in my talk.
I love rap and so does almost every kid in high school and primary school. It seems to be a taboo in most schools, a bad influence that parents and teachers refuse to understand. We get incredible results using rap in our Heaps Decent workshops, from the short term bursts of confidence and teamwork to the long term improvement of reading and writing skills.
The Ted Talk was a great opportunity to focus on the educational side of Heaps Decent (and rap music!) and find case studies that backed up our personal experiences working with young people. I’m keen to explore this further and hopefully give more talks on the subject. Hopefully I can encourage teachers to further their knowledge of rap instead of ignoring it completely!
If you want to find out more about Heaps Decent head to our website. To speak with me further about using rap in the classroom – or maybe even Heaps Decent coming to your classroom – email me! Levins at heaps decent dot com.
Thanks to everyone at Tedx and the Northern Sydney Institute for giving me the opportunity to talk at length about something I love in front of a room full of people. I hope the video finds its way to the computer screen of someone who can gain something from it.
