Abstract:
In Aotearoa New Zealand, scholars have documented social, political, and cultural connections between hip hop and Māori and Pacific communities. Indeed, in Aotearoa, hip hop plays a crucial role in resisting colonialism, empowering Māori and Pacific communities to assert their identities and contest hierarchical institutions. Aotearoa’s hip hop celebrates Māori and Pacific identities, cultures, and community belonging, contributing to the revitalization of Māori culture by linking to tradition and genealogy. However, the potential of hip hop as a research tool with these communities has been under-documented. Aiming to fill this gap, this presentation outlines how hip hop workshops were used as a data creation tool with a group of Māori and Pacific Year 13 students (16 to 19 years old) to explore their experiences of Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE). Firstly, in this presentation, the decolonial methodology and art-informed method will be explained. Then, I consider how hip hop facilitated the relationship and trust building between the researcher and participants. Indeed, rooted in reciprocity, whakapapa (genealogy), as well as Māori and Pacific cultural oral practices, hip hop allowed us to get to know ourselves while sharing a good time. Secondly, based on a preliminary analysis of the data, I examine how hip hop sheds new light on Māori and Pacific young people’s RSE experiences, needs, and aspirations. By looking at hip hop as a decolonial data creation tool, this presentation aims to understand the extent to which an art-informed method can foster a collaborative relationship between researcher and participants. Also, I will explore hip hop’s potential to a potential to challenge dominant discourses and racial power dynamics in relation to sexualities, gender and education. Additionally, from an educational perspective, this presentation explores how hip hop can help bridge the gap between policies and practices in RSE by centring Māori and Pacific students’ lived experiences and aspirations.