Integrating Hip-Hop into Music Education: Strategies for Engaging Students

Hip-Hop is the most influential and widely consumed music genre globally, yet many educators struggle with integrating it into their classrooms. This interactive workshop introduces the Hip-Hop Music Education Guidelines, a framework designed by a Roundtable of Hip-Hop Educators, Music Will, and the Hip-Hop Education Center, to help educators incorporate Hip-Hop culture and pedagogy into formal education, fostering student engagement and deeper learning.

Through hands-on activities, participants will explore core elements of MCing, beat-making, and Hip-Hop culture, gaining practical strategies to align these concepts with music education standards. The session will highlight Hip-Hop’s historical and cultural significance while demonstrating its potential to enhance literacy, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning. By the end of this workshop, participants will: Identify strategies to incorporate cultural relevance into their teaching; Learn techniques for integrating Hip-Hop into music education to improve student outcomes; Develop content modules that promote engagement and a deeper understanding of Hip-Hop culture.

Scott Burstein is the Director of Professional Development and Higher Education for the non-profit Music Will. He previously taught public high school in Los Angeles for twelve years, including subjects such as Modern Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, and AP Music Theory. He received his DMA in Music Education at the University of Southern California, his bachelor’s degree in music at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as studied music theory at the Eastman School of Music. He has published multiple book chapters and journal articles on modern band and popular music education as well as the award winning Modern Band Method Book series.

Martha Diaz is a Senior Producer for The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture. In 2010, she founded the Hip-Hop Education Center, where she serves as Executive Director. A globally recognized thought leader in education, community organizing, and mentoring, she has documented and preserved Hip-Hop history through exhibitions, research reports, books, and curricula to safeguard its cultural value and legacy. A graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School for Individualized Study and Tisch School of the Arts’ Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, Diaz has contributed to many notable archival projects, has taught middle and high school in Harlem and The Bronx, and served as a faculty member at New York University and Virginia State University. Her numerous fellowships include being the Nasir Jones Fellow at Harvard University and the MacArthur Civic Media Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab.

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy.

The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.