Students of the old skool

Transition Times:Hip hop is often associated with drugs, misogyny and violence. So why have Irish schools been holding rap workshops? Gráinne Fallerreports

Rap and hip hop have a definite image. Their videos feature open-top cars, oversized clothes, gold jewellery and fur - the brash, confident and very American world of Kanye West and Jay-Z.

The girls of Rockford Manor, on the other hand, are very Irish. The school, in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock, is not what you'd describe as a typical hip-hop environment. Everyone is in school uniform, for one, and a gale is roaring and rain driving down outside. But these transition-year students are about to learn how to rap.

Everyone is sitting in a circle as they get into the swing of the workshop, the first of three sessions they're going to have. Although there are no budding Missy Elliotts or Lady Sovereigns here yet, they still have time to emerge.

Tutor Catherine Simon is leading the class; she's trying to make the girls relax and get them to focus with a tool she calls the inspiration board. "Close your eyes and think of things that are important in your life," she says. "When you can't think of any more things just open your eyes."

She goes around the class and writes suggestions on a whiteboard. The usual family, friends and pets come up. More materialistic suggestions, such as hair straighteners and make-up, raise some laughs, but Simon quells the giddier giggling, trying to get the students to concentrate without draining all the fun from the process.

"It just gets them started and gives them ideas," Simon says about that part of the session. "With rap, of course, there's a constant thing about the language. The cursing thing is a fighting battle. It's important to make sure they know that it's still a school, and they can't have bad language. You just try and find out what makes them tick."

Transition-year students at Coláiste Bríde in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, completed the workshop a couple of weeks ago. The format was slightly different to that at Rockford Manor, as, rather than split it into three sessions, Simon came to the school and spent a day doing the full workshop with each of the two transition-year classes.

"A few people were very shy at first," says Máire Ó Tiarnaigh, a student. "I was shy myself. By the end, though, everybody was really into it."

The group explored different ways to make noises and rhythms called body rhythms, and they each chose a rap name. "We just had to shorten our names in the style of a rapper," explains Máire. "I can't remember mine, but my friend Hillary chose Hillo."

The rap and drama workshop is part of a repertoire offered by a group called ArtScope. From drumming to dance, and from musical productions to circus skills, ArtScope has spent a decade providing workshops and arts tutors to schools at all levels. The rap workshop is the third ArtScope project that the transition-year girls at Rockford Manor have been involved in, having completed modules in digital photography and songwriting earlier this year.

"If you're a transition-year teacher you're constantly contacted by people offering to take classes, and you've no idea if they'll be any good," says Catherine Wynne, director of ArtScope. "I was a teacher, so I have a good idea of what and who will suit particular groups. We provide a bit of quality assurance for teachers."

Kate O'Toole is Rockford Manor's transition-year co-ordinator. "Last year we had a one-week course where two facilitators came in every day and did dance and samba drumming with the students," she says. "They put on a dance fusion show at the end of the week, for the parents. It was out of that we decided to go with the digital photography and so on this year."

Although rap may not be an obvious choice for Irish students, writing the songs was surprisingly easy, according to Máire. "We were split into groups - there were about five of us in each. I think it was easier than it would have been if we had each been doing it on our own, because we could all contribute to it. That way, you weren't worried that you'd be singled out."

This is a deliberate strategy of Simon's. "We try to avoid focusing in on one person in any of the sessions. That way, the less confident students get a chance as well."

Back at Rockford Manor the rap workshop is in full swing. The girls have split into groups and are busy writing with thick markers on poster-sized pieces of paper. The beat they're writing for blares in the background, and the giddiness has subsided as they all concentrate on the task at hand. Simon explains: "We have done work on rhythm and simple body beats. Without that they tend to write poetry, not rap." Sarah Toal, one of the students, is positive. "It's fun but kind of weird trying to get everything to rhyme."

Hip hop and rap would not traditionally have been regarded as education aids. In fact, the infamous wars between rappers, as well as the music's associations with drugs, misogyny and violence, would indicate the opposite to most people. Students may enjoy learning to rap, but they are still at school, so what's in it for the educational side of things?

"It's all very much about the process," says Simon. "The big thing you'd see at the end of a workshop like this is the stronger ties across the groups. Their self-confidence and self- esteem rise, and it just gives them a chance to expand their horizons a bit."

Róisín Mernagh, the teacher who organised the workshop for the girls at Coláiste Bríde, says: "The workshop combines social awareness with an art form, and the rap itself combines poetry and music, so it works on so many levels. It is very, very worthwhile."

Máire echoes her positivity. "It was great for getting to know everyone in the class," she says. "We had to perform our raps in front of each other. We added the body rhythms as well, and by the end everybody was really, really enthusiastic about it. I loved it."

As time runs out for the session at Rockford Manor, the students hang their creations on the wall, and the moment of truth approaches. If this were a film, Eminem's Lose Yourself would be playing and everyone would be punching the air, pumped with adrenaline.

As this is real life, however, all of a sudden shyness descends. The groups are meant to perform their raps for the class, but nobody wants to do it. The first group look incredibly sheepish, but Simon counts them in, and they make it through all in time, showcasing a sense of rhythm and a couple of impressive rhymes.

There's no gangsta posturing, but confidence builds as the performances move around the room. These are raps about themselves - so it's not surprising that GHD hair straighteners are so prominent in the rhymes.

Buoyed by the creative delivery of the group that went before them, the final ensemble give a feisty rendition of their rap. The class cheer, whoop and clap. It may not be New York or Los Angeles, but you get the feeling that the inner Kelis has begun to emerge.

ArtScope works in schools at all levels, and various workshops are available throughout the country. A full-day workshop tends to cost €220-€295, although fees reflect a school's budget. See www.art scope.ie or e-mail artscope@eircom.net