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Dan Oren
Literature Review
Dr. Swenson Lepper
CMST 380- Communication Research Methods
10/15/16

The Importance of Spoken Word Poetry in Schools and Communities in Relation to Critical
Pedagogy, Hybrid Theory and Third-Space Theory
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Spoken word is becoming an increasingly prevalent form of communication and art in the

world today. A plethora of spoken word videos permeate YouTube and Facebook where often

times particularly impactful spoken word videos go viral. One spoken word in particular comes

to mind where the artist talks about finals and the stress of college, but gives hope to students

that their life is not tied to their grades. This spoken word was circulating all over social media

because of its relevant, timely content. The presence of spoken word is not only felt in social

media though; spoken word is increasingly appearing in classrooms and live performances.

There is not a clear consensus as to the importance of this emerging art form though, as not all

classrooms use spoken word as a form of poetic study, and not everyone understands the cultural

implications of poetry. This literature review has the intention of examining the importance of

spoken word poetry in schools as a learning tool as well as the importance of spoken word as a

form of community building. Spoken word is an art form that originates from the same roots as

rap music. Rhythm And Poetry (or rap) is a musical style based on rhymes that originated in the

Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s (Aliagas, Fernandez, & Llonch, 2016, p. 75). This

form of art is made up of three parts: the lyrics, rhythm and rhyme, and the delivery. Not unlike

rap music, spoken word uses the same pieces, while foregoing the beats that go hand-in-hand

with rap. Considering that spoken word is an extension of rap, the uses of spoken word and rap

music in classrooms share very similar roles.

Rap in Schools
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Aliagas, Fernandez, and Llonch discuss the disregard for rap music that is present in

education specifically in Catalonia and Spain (2016). When discussing the reasons for this

neglect of rap music in research, Valenta states in Hip Hop in elementary schools: Are we really

listening teachers? that: This might be due to the widespread representations of rap music as a

peripheral discourse in society typically associated with gangs, street violence and misogyny-

something that makes educational actors believe that all lyrics transmit messages unsuitable for

children through inappropriate, explicit, and vulgar language (as cited in Aliagas, Fernandez, &

Llonch, 2016, p. 75). Despite the academic neglect of rap music, research has found that hip-hop

pedagogy (teaching as an academic subject or theoretical concept) can be effective at combining

school subjects with the common culture of the students. This specific study is based on using

the Catalan language for rap.

The study of Catalan rap use looks at thirdspace and hybridity theory to explain the

validity of rap in schools. Hybridity theory posits that people in any given community draw on

multiple resources or funds to make sense of the world (Moje et al., 2004 p. 42). This is an

integral part of third-space theory as the third-space is a hybrid space which involves multiple

resources to create a learning space. Both theories related look at the integration of competing

knowledges and Discourses; to the texts one reads and writes; to the spaces, contexts, and

relationships one encounters; and even to a persons identity enactments and sense of self (Moje

et al., 2004 p. 42). These theories state that schools benefit from using diverse forms of teaching

and using diverse ideas to have a fuller spectrum of education.

The idea of third-space fits in well with using rap in school systems despite rap having a

seemingly opposite orientation in comparison to standard discourse in schools. Rap/hip-hop can

be used as a hybrid topic that not only teaches about the roots of an art form, English writing
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aspects of poetry, and figurative language, but also uses common culture and interests of popular

rap music to create a third-space; a situation where both culture and academics are combined.

The same research and concepts can be applied to the use of spoken word in schools, as the two

forms of art share the same ancestry and many of the same attributes.

Third Space and Hybridity Theory

Considering the close relation that spoken word and hip-hop share, one can relate

findings of rap as a form of hybrid and third-space learning also to spoken word. Spoken word is

also not a form of poetry found in common curriculum. Research has been conducted that uses

spoken word in conjunction with more standard poetry teachings. Dr. M. Dikobe (2010) works

with spoken word in class because she wants students to not feel turned off from poetry by only

studying traditional English poetry (Dikobe, 2010 p. 6). Dr. Dikobe explains traditional poetry as

the first step for her students so that the framework can be set, and then allow students to then

write their own free form poetry of rap or spoken word to perform. Her reasoning behind the use

of spoken word was partially based on the difficulties students, and herself, can face when

studying iambic pentameter. (but) the rules on establishing the iambic pentameter remain

elusive for some of us who were not properly taught how to identify these elements in a poem,

and fail to break down the technicalities for our students (2010). Since instructor guidance and

analysis is not always adequate to foster an understanding of poetic forms like iambic

pentameter, having students themselves write and perform poetry helps them to understand and

apply concepts more than just learning it from a teacher (Dikobe, 2010). This fitswith the

research of third-space and hybrid theories, where the use of instruction and application create
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several different spaces of learning by combining things like common culture, and students own

interests with the teaching of standard poetry; in this case iambic pentameter.

Mia Fiore (2013) understands the importance of spoken word and its use to fight

oppression during the Black Arts Movement, and hip hop throughout the 1980s and 1990s

(2013). Fiore believes that spoken word is able to accomplish even more now because of its

common place in schools and culture where children are able to question and negotiate the

conditions of their lives (Fiore, 2013 p. 814). When students of the inner city are able to use

spoken word to speak what they believe and do it while not being conformed to a curriculum,

they may be able to build a better foundation to be engaged in their education, and to be able to

critically think about their world.

Fiore speaks from experience as she discusses the use of spoken word poetry. Being a

poet herself Fiore (and a colleague) went to a classroom of a school in New Jersey to share some

of their poetry with the students. The teacher of the students had given Fiore an idea of what

poems to share based on the current topics being learned/taught: women, race, stereotypes and

the glass-ceiling (Fiore, 2013). The reaction of the students showed Fiore that they had intently

paid attention, and that they were interested in the subjects of the poems. Fiore states that

because of the interest being shown that the teacher had learned what interested his/her students

and recognized the importance of knowing those interests. Spoken word in schools can be used

to bring out the interests of studentscombining them with teaching to create the same type of

third-space and hybrid education that was discussed earlier with the research of Moje (2004).

Fiore discusses research by Gloria Ladson-Billings (2004) that looks at the problems that

are present in education. Ladson-Billings discusses teachers inability to understand the

background and culture of the students, while attributing any failure to the students as an
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individual without taking into consideration other factors. We lack complex understandings of

how individual, family, community, school, and societal factors interact to create school failure

for some students (Ladson-Billings, 2004). Teachers who are not able to understand these other

factors will struggle to be capable of tailoring teaching to the interests and cultures of their

students. This issue of failing to fully understand students in teaching can be said to be one of the

reasons that spoken word does not hold a normative place in schools today. If the culture of

students these days highly value hip-hop and spoken word, then teachers should be able to

recognize culture and adjust teaching to those certain cultural themes.

Critical Pedagogy

The use of spoken word in schools is a form of critical pedagogy. McLaren states that

critical pedagogy:

Brings into the arena of schooling practices insurgent, resistant, and insurrectional modes

of interpretation which set out to imperil the familiar, to contest the legitimate norms of

mainstream social life and to render problematic common discursive frames and regimes

within which proper behavior, comportment, and social interactions are premised. (as

cited in Biggs-El, 2012).

Critical pedagogy is the way that normal teaching can be challenged and the sphere in which

teaching devices such as spoken word can be utilized. The use of spoken word is a different form

of teaching than the standards of most curriculum, so it falls under a critical pedagogy. Biggs-El

has researched rap and spoken word specifically to African-American cultures. She views rap

and spoken word as a way for students to evangelize, which is not to say they are proclaiming a

certain faith, but that they can use their poetry to inspire, and to show others their experiences
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and worldview through a personal lens (Biggs-el, 2012). When the students are able to express

their own views and emotions it is a critical pedagogy because it often pushes against and

challenges the normal teaching in schools. This is what critical pedagogy is about.

Further research has also looked at spoken word as a form of critical pedagogy in

schools. Desai and Marsh (2005) look at specific poems of students who are in the PEACE class

which stands for Political Education, Art, and Critical Expression (2005). The goal of the

government funded class was to allow students to be both students and teachers by allowing

them to speak on their own experiences and ideologies. Desai and Marsh concluded that teachers

need to try to understand the students. A failure to acknowledge the realities and lived

experiences of students is a failure to acknowledge the possibility of connection and movement

within and outside the multiple discourses that come into the classroom (2005). Spoken word is a

way that the students were able to be understood within and outside of the typical classroom

contexts. This is a similar concept as Ladson-Billings research on understanding the culture of

students to be effective teachers. Spoken word as a critical pedagogy helps to bridge the gap

between teachers and students, where students are not always able to express themselves and

their interests.

Critical pedagogy sometimes is not an education style that is confined to a classroom.

Stovall (2006) looked at four different poetry educators that use spoken word as a way to teach

social justice and activism (2006). Stovalls research draws from Ladson-Billings research

(discussed earlier) on the need for cultural understanding of the students while teaching. The

poetry educators who were interviewed used normal classrooms for their teachings and

abnormal, because their instructional contributions are of critical importance as they provide

multiple perspectives on best practices in engaging young people (Stovall, 2006). This form of
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critical pedagogy makes sense for teaching about social justice, which is a subject one could

argue is more prevalent outside of the confines of a classroom. Stovall (2006) concluded through

examining the four educators that:

Social justice in education remains a broad but necessary concept in a world where young

people are continually pressured to conform and assimilate. If we understood education

to take place within and beyond the ideological space of the traditional school setting

with docile students and didactic instructors, it behooves us to engage and support the

spaces young people find relevant to their lives (2006).

Spoken word in schools as shown in the research of Stovall can be a tool to teach and inspire

social justice, and at the same time is able to meet students in their respective domains of interest

and influence to most effectively engage with the students.

Spoken Word as Community

While there is much research done on the prevalence and importance of spoken word and

rap use in schools, there is also research underscoring the importance of its use outside of

classrooms. Research has been done that looks at the benefits of spoken word as a therapy. A

study done by Alvarez and Mearns looked at ten different poets, five men and five women, from

different urban poetry venues in the U.S (2014). The poets were interviewed and asked questions

to determine if they write to relieve stress, and what part of their writing process contributes

most to the therapeutic effect. The study used grounded theory as its basis and categories were

created to be the main focus in assessing the responses connecting with the community, forum

of communication, personal connection through work, emotional development, and internal drive

to write and perform provided the supporting structure for understanding the motivating factors

and the effects of writing and performing in the spoken word community (Alvaraz & Mearns,
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2014 p. 267). The research found that there are many benefits to spoken word. Some of the

benefits found were tied to the reciprocal relationship between the audience and poet. The

relationship is not viewed as one sided. Rather, both the poet and the audience member play

active roles in contributing to the experience (2014). This reciprocal connection was important

for eight of the ten poets interviewed. Other beneficial factors present were the cathartic release

through writing, telling a story, and being an inspiration. Alvarez concluded that many of the

benefits of spoken word come from the fact that it is a performance art, and many of the upsides

are not present in written poetry alone. The vocal expression and community of spoken word

with emphasis on connecting with others creates a type of experience that can be used

therapeutically (Alvarez & Mearns, 2014). Spoken word as a form of therapy is an important

idea while observing the benefits of spoken word outside of schools.

Spoken word can be effective at building community. Much like what Alvarez and

Mearns discuss, poetry community can be established based on the emotional expression and

connection of the speakers and listeners. Weinstein and West (2012) write:

Youth spoken word poetry is not about developing individual artistry in the rarified

atmosphere of a conservatory; it is about generating a social world in which art is an

integral part of everyday life, in which speaking the truth means being honest about

ones experiences, and in which being honest in that way is a responsibility to self and

community (2012 p. 292).

This particular study looks at the benefits and also drawbacks of spoken word communities in

what is called the field of Youth Spoken Word (YSW). The research was accrued by over 50

interviews, visiting spoken word sites, going to slam poetry events, and by analyzing media like

books and DVDs (Weinstein & West, 2012).

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Further research into spoken word of youth specifically has been done. In the last decade

youth spoken word has become much more prominent. The increased visibility of youth

spoken-word in the last ten years sheds critical light on several facets of youth popular culture

(Ingalls, 2012 p. 100). Furthermore, Ingalls goes on to talk about the increase in research based

on literacy and pedagogy (which was covered briefly earlier in this review). The research looks

at youth poets as being poet-citizens who have input into the poetic community. Ingalls poses

these questions in relation to poet-citizens: What is my responsibility as a citizen? What is my

message? How best can I articulate it? How will my audience react? What risks am I taking?

What difference will my message make? (2012 p. 106) These questions affect both poet and

audience, as the interactions are two sided. The poets interact in a living community where there

is feedback and reciprocity.

Spoken word as a form of community fits in similar to the use of written poetry as a

form of political and artistic empowerment (Jocson, 2006a, ). Jocson studied the program P4P,

or Poetry for the People, where students are able to join, be introduced to poetry, write poetry

and then teach it themselves. The program would give students a topic every week that they

would discuss in large or small groups. The students would get to respond to topics with their

own poems and this gave them a chance to empower themselves by speaking their world view.

One student in particular, wrote on the struggles of being black and Filipino, where he was able

to challenge the typical view of himself through his poem and to be able to speak on issues that

are not commonly discussed. (Jocson, 2006). This empowerment through poetry is akin to the

way that Ingalls views poet-citizens. Youth have the ability to inspire and empower those in their

respective poetic communities through the expression of spoken and written poetry.
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Jocson has done further research into youth poetry communities where she looks at

literacy in conjunction to using poetry. The increase of spoken word in the U.S. has paved the

way for increased research and use of spoken word throughout schools and outside of them

(Jocson, 2006b). The study and analysis of literacy was based on hybridity and third-space

theories like has been discussed earlier. Again, Jocson looks at P4P with a framework she

created called PPP, poetry as practice, process, and product. The process portion would be

considered in class things like lectures, group readings or writing. Product is revised writing,

drafts, and publications. Practice is the use in and outside of school whether individual or group

based. Several students/poets were subjects of the study (Jocson, 2006b). Through the research

and analysis Jocson found that: To improve learning and teaching practices in urban and

multicultural settings, educators and researchers must take into account the current (re)emerging

phenomenon in poetry, spoken word, and slam competitions in broadening the definition of

literacy (2006b). I believe this study is used not only to provide reason for spoken word to be

used to increase literacy in schools, but to also create community in classrooms that is open to

the cultural norms outside of the class.

Conclusion

Extensive research has looked at spoken word in the classroom and spoken word culture/

community outside of schools. Considering that spoken word is becoming more and more

predominant in modern culture and the media, it has many uses in classrooms as a third-space,

hybrid teaching that is also a form of critical pedagogy. The way that spoken word can combine

many different views and discourses means that it can be used effectively in classrooms to

interact with the students culture. Spoken word outside of schools is able to build communities

as poets and audiences reciprocate expression and build off of each others experiences. Poets
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can be viewed as poet-citizens where they have a responsibility and ability to inspire and affect

others. In both contexts of school and outside of school spoken word is an important and integral

part of teaching and learning for todays youth. Further research can be done to delve deeper into

the uses of spoken word in classrooms and in spoken word communities.

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References

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BIGGS-EL C. Spreading the indigenous gospel of rap music and spoken word poetry: critical

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