The Emcee Culture: Improving Attainment through Spoken English and Poetry project responds to the research on hip-hop education and emcee culture demonstrating the value of using emceeing to improve learning outcomes. Despite the substantial body of scholarship on the impact of hip-hop and rap on learning effect, few studies examine emceeing in formal educational settings in the UK. Dr Bramwell and colleagues at City St. Georges, University of London and the University of Groningen, aim to develop a toolkit of KS3 English learning resources with school partners for a pilot study on improving attainment and wellbeing through emcee culture in schools in the UK. Participating schools will receive a full academic term with an artist-educator and FREE performance workshops.

Sessions will focus on:

• Belonging and inclusion: embedding tools to engage learners in building positive relationships, increasing self-awareness and changemaking as part of a community.
• Wellbeing: developing mindfulness strategies to support learners to build their communication skills, resilience and self-advocacy.
• Creative application: developing and applying performance and literacy skills via the cultural practices of emcees and utilising them for academic and wider approaches. 

Workshops will:

• Be tailored to the school context and support the school’s English curriculum.
• Stretch, challenge and engage learners with creative cross curricular activities.
• Improve confidence, wellbeing and interpersonal skills in performance workshops.
• Develop oracy and wider literacy skills for career development and transfer.

After the residency:

• Teachers will receive a holistic report/presentation evaluation session reflecting on the residency through student voice, work completed and discreetly recorded observations.
• Heads of departments/curriculum leads will receive a tailored CPD session in response to the residency to review curriculum plans and identify opportunities which sustain transferable skills building, support student wellbeing and increase inclusion through creativity whilst ensuring sustainable working models for staff capacity and confidence. 

To express your interest please email r.bramwell@lboro.ac.uk by the 31st of March 2026 with the following details:

• Named contact for an initial suitability online conversation 
• Suggested year group(s) and class sizes you would like to participate in this residency 
• How the project aligns with your school's aims and what your school would like to gain from the partnership