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No Safety Pins Involved

Don't worry. Punk rock teaching doesn't involve mohawks or shouting over hard-edged melodies. It's not about safety pins or the Ramones or anarchy. But it does embrace the spirit of a music genre that left its mark on the decades to come.

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Voice of a Generation

In the 1970s a new genre of music exploded on the scene. Punk rock was an aggressive, rebellious, authentic, and creative reaction to the sappy or ostentatious mainstream rock dominating radio at the time. It was a dismissal of the status quo that centered on a DYI ethic that said if you want a better future, make it yourself. More than just a musical genre, punk rock left its imprint on fashion, media, art, literature, and politics, and gave a voice to a new generation.

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Out-of-the-Box Teaching

Punk rock teaching is coloring outside of the lines--maybe even outside of the coloring book. It rejects the sage-on-the-stage approach of instruction where the teacher drones on as rows of bored students with glazed eyes stare into space. Instead, it encompasses cutting edge, research-based approaches that energize and motivate and speak to this unique generation of students and teachers. It's mostly created by teachers who realize that if they want a better way of educating kids, it's up to them to make the change.

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Your Turn

Give some of these approaches a try, if you're not already doing so. And feel free to contact me with your own punk rock teaching approaches and I'll share them here. In the words of the immortal punk rockers the Ramones,  "Hey ho, let's go!"