Rhymes with Reason: Using Music to Connect Identity, Culture and Learning

Abstract

Culturally diverse students come to school with rich traditions, heritage, and cultural funds of knowledge that are often undervalued and under-utilized in academic settings. Tailoring educational programs to draw from and build on youth’s experiences through culturally relevant and sustaining practices can enhance the effectiveness of programs designed to address existing disparities and promote students’ academic success and thriving. This paper focuses on Rhymes with Reason (RwR), an educational product developed by the first author as an undergraduate student, that contributes to the collective efforts of scholars and practitioners to apply culturally relevant educational approaches to support diverse students and educators. Supported by two faculty mentors, the first author describes the theoretical foundations that informed RwR’s development and the current product that is a web-based learning tool to support language-related academic achievement among middle- and high-school students. Additionally, the first author describes key developmental experiences that sparked RwR and how developing this culturally relevant program impacted his own identity development. Further, he discusses future directions for the expansion and evaluation of RwR. The mentors conclude with broader considerations for mentored scholarship and the development of culturally relevant education programs for diverse learners.

Disclosure statement

The first author discloses that he is the developer of Rhymes with Reason.

Notes

1. This paper was conceptualized and written by the first author, a junior scholar, with support from two research mentors. The mentors were intentional in centering the voice of the first author in the work that he conducted.

2. A design typically used in market research to determine which product performs better (Gallo, 2017).

3. A term generally used in business to describe a problem clients may be experiencing.

Additional information

Funding

The first author was supported by the 2015 Social Innovation Fellowship at Brown University and the 2019 Echoing Green Fellowship.