PUNK IT UP

Is it possible to be punk as a teacher?

The teacher is part of the establishment, an authority figure within the students, so if the teacher brings hip hop to the classroom, is it punk? Not really....though Western Art Music represents the man in music education, so its a step in the punk direction. If a student insists on bringing hip hop to the classroom - it is punk. In my mind, old friends like Freire, Giroud, Humberstone are part of punk pedagogy.

Take a listen to a discussion I had with my friends, who are also pre-service teachers, on punk pedagogy.

Next take a listen to the fascinating podcast The Teacher As Punk Rocker with Nancy Barile. She reminded me that teaching is about "Stepping up, taking the risk and having a persuasive way of doing it...It's all the rhetorical triangle, ethos, pathos, and logos."

Give your students reason for their learning, reason to trust your teaching and that it speaks to their emotions - one way or another.

We covered the below song in class, with vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums and ukulele.

References

• Dwyer, R. (2016). Music Teachers’ Values and Beliefs. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

• Humberstone, J. (2024). 2024 contemporary pedagogies 5 - Pluralism and punk pedagogy. https://humberstone.craft.me/Punk2024.

• Humberstone, J. (2024) Punk Pedagogy Seminar. Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.

• Milner, M (2023). The Teacher As Punk Rocker with Nancy Barile. The Teacher As [Audio podcast episode].

• Stommel, J. (2023) Chapter 6 If bell hooks Made a Learning Management System in Undoing the Grade - Why we grade, and how to stop. Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial