Ratchetdemic : reimagining academic success

"A revolutionary new educational model that encourages educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identities. Building on the ideas introduced in his New York Times best-selling book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, Christopher Emdin introduces an alternative educational model that will help students (and teachers) celebrate ratchet identity in the classroom. Ratchetdemic advocates for a new kind of student identity--one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom. Because modern schooling often centers whiteness, Emdin argues, it dismisses ratchet identity (the embodying of "negative" characteristics associated with lowbrow culture, often thought to be possessed by people of a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status) as anti-intellectual and punishes young people for straying from these alleged "academic norms," leaving young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. These deviations, Emdin explains, include so-called "disruptive behavior" and a celebration of hip-hop music and culture. Emdin argues that being "ratchetdemic," or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science, for example), can empower students to embrace themselves, their backgrounds, and their education as parts of a whole, not disparate identities. This means celebrating protest, disrupting the status quo, and reclaiming the genius of youth in the classroom."-- ProQuest Ebook Central resource page, viewed October 18, 2021 “ Ratchetdemic will inspire a new generation to be their authentic selves both within and beyond the classroom.”—GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan A revolutionary new educational model that encourages educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identities From the nationally renowned educator and New York Times best-selling author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y’all Too Dr. Christopher Emdin advocates for a new kind of student identity—one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom. Because modern schooling often centers whiteness, Emdin argues, it dismisses ratchet identity (the embodying of “negative” characteristics associated with lowbrow culture, often thought to be possessed by people of a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status) as anti-intellectual and punishes young people for straying from these alleged “academic norms,” leaving young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. These deviations, Emdin explains, include so-called “disruptive behavior” and a celebration of hip-hop music and culture. Emdin argues that being “ratchetdemic,” or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science, for example), can empower students to embrace themselves, their backgrounds, and their education as parts of a whole, not disparate identities. This means celebrating protest, disrupting the status quo, and reclaiming the genius of youth in the classroom. A revolutionary new educational model, part philosophy and part pedagogy, encouraging educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identity. Bestselling author and educator Christopher Emdin advocates a new identity and sensibility for educators which bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and urban classroom. Highlighting the major inequities in urban education, Emdin argues in favor of a simple solution: that being "ratchetdemic," or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science) can empower students to embrace themselves, their background, and their education. Originating from hip-hop, "ratchet" refers to the way individuals describe themselves and embrace aspects of who they are - qualities that are often demonized. Modern schooling, Emdin argues, dismisses ratchet identity as anti-intellectual and punishes youth for straying from the academic norms. Emdin explains these deviations include so-called "disruptive behavior" and celebration of hip hop music and culture, which leaves young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. Ratchetdemic reclaims the word, and proposes an alternative model to education that centers those who do not fit into established academic paradigms.