Advertisement

The Urban Review

, Volume 46, Issue 2, pp 244–267 | Cite as

Critical Race Theory, Hip Hop, and Huck Finn: Narrative Inquiry in a High School English Classroom

  • Jennifer L. Martin
Article

Abstract

This study explores the impact of reading Huckleberry Finn through the lens of critical race theory for both teacher and students in a racially diverse urban high school environment. The teacher/researcher used narrative inquiry and creative non-fiction to examine student language usage, white privilege (including her own), and student reaction to the novel in a collaborative qualitative study. Major findings include distinct differences between students of color and white students in their level of teacher trust and their views on reclamation.

Keywords

Critical race theory Critical race pedagogy Narrative research Huck Finn 

References

  1. Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
  2. Barone, T. (2009). Narrative researchers as witnesses of injustice and agents of social change? Educational Researcher, 38(8), 591–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bell, D. A. (1992). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  4. Byron, H. (2007). Hip hop: Beyond beats and rhymes [Video recording]. Media Education Foundation.Google Scholar
  5. Chaisson, R. L. (2004). A crack in the door: Critical race theory in practice at a predominantly white institution. Teaching Sociology, 32, 345–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Chapman, T. K. (2007). Interrogating classroom relationships and events: Using portraiture and critical race theory in education research. Educational Researcher, 36(3), 156–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Coulter, C. A., & Smith, M. L. (2009). The construction zone: Literary elements in narrative research. Educational Researcher, 38(8), 577–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Crowe, C. (2002). Mississippi trial 1955. New York, NY: Penguin.Google Scholar
  9. DeCuir, J. T., & Dixson, A. D. (2004). “So when it comes out, they aren’t surprised that it is there”: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33, 26–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Dyer, R. (1997). White. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
  11. Feistritzer, C. E. (2011, July). Profiles of teachers in the U.S. 2011. National Center for Education Information. Retrieved April 8, 2013 from http://www.edweek.org/media/pot2011final-blog.pdf.
  12. Fisher Fishkin, S. (1995). Teaching Mark Twain’s adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn teacher’s guide. Retrieved January 2, 2012 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/essay.html.
  13. Flores-Gonzales, N., Rodriguez, M., & Rodriguez-Muniz, M. (2006). From hip-hop to humanization: Batey Urbano as a space for Latino youth culture and community action. In S. Ginwright, P. Noguera, & J. Cammarota (Eds.), Beyond resistance! Youth activism and community change: New democratic possibilities for practice and policy for America’s youth (pp. 175–196). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
  14. Freire, P. (1998). The banking concept of education. In A. M. A. Freire & D. Macedo (Eds.), The Paulo Freire Reader (pp. 67–79). New York, NY: The Continuum Publishing Company.Google Scholar
  15. Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  16. Ginwright, S., & Cammarota, J. (2002). New terrain in youth development: The promise of a social justice approach. Social Justice, 29(4), 82–95.Google Scholar
  17. Hallman, H. L. (2009). “Dear Tupac, you speak to me”: Recruiting hip hop as curriculum at a school for pregnant and parenting teens. Equity and Excellence in Education, 42(1), 36–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Hansberry, L. (1994). A raisin in the sun. New York, NY: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
  19. Howard, G. R. (2006). We can’t teach what we don’t know: White teachers, multiracial schools (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  20. Kohl, H. (1994). I won’t learn from you and other thoughts in create maladjustment. New York, NY: The New Press.Google Scholar
  21. Ladson-Billings, G. (1999). Just what is critical race theory, and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? In L. Parker, D. Deyhle, & S. Villenas (Eds.), Race is… race isn’t: Critical race theory and qualitative studies in education (pp. 7–30). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
  22. Lee, H. (1982). To kill a mockingbird. New York, NY: Warner Books.Google Scholar
  23. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  24. Lynn, M. (1999). Toward a critical race pedagogy: A research note. Urban Education, 33(5), 606–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Neal, M. A. (2003). Songs in the key of black life: A rhythm n blues nation. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
  26. Nieto, S. (2008). Go beyond niceness: Think critically about what it means to “care” for students of color. In Mica Pollock (Ed.), Everyday antiracism: Concrete ways to successfully navigate the relevance of race in school. New York, NY: The New Press.Google Scholar
  27. Pollock, M. (2004). Colormute: Race talk dilemmas in an American school. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
  28. Pollock, M., Deckman, S., Mira, M., & Shalaby, C. (2010). “But what can I do?”: Three necessary tensions in teaching teachers about race. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(3), 221–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Schaafsma, D. (1993). Eating on the street: Teaching literacy in a multicultural society. Pittsburg, PA: University of Pittsburg Press.Google Scholar
  30. Schaafsma, D., & Vinz, R. (2011). Narrative inquiry: Approaches to language and literacy research. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  31. Schultz, K., Buck, P., & Niesz, T. (2006). Authoring “race”: Writing truth and fiction after school. The Urban Review, 37(5), 469–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Sixty Minutes. (2001). Huckleberry Finn and the N-word. Retrieved March 21, 2011 from http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360250n.
  33. Sleeter, C. E. (Ed.). (2007). Facing accountability in education: Democracy and equity at risk. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  34. Sleeter, C. E. (2008). An invitation to support diverse students through teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 59, 212–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Sue, D. W., Torino, G. C., Capodilupo, C. M., Rivera, D. P., & Lin, A. I. (2009). How white faculty perceive and react to different dialogues on race: Implications for education and training. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(8), 1090–1115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Twain, M. (1996). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York, NY: Random House.Google Scholar
  37. Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: US Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
  38. Webb, A. (2001). Racism and Huckleberry Finn: Censorship, dialogue, and change. In Literature and lives: A response-based, cultural studies approach to teaching English. Urbana, IL: NCTE Press.Google Scholar
  39. Webster, L., & Mertova, P. (2007). Using narrative inquiry as a research method: An introduction to using critical event analysis in research on learning and teaching. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
  40. Williams, T. (Director). (2004). The “N” word: An in depth discussion [Video recording].Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of EducationUniversity of Mount UnionAllianceUSA

Personalised recommendations