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Hello! My name is Ciara Corbett and I believe that all students should feel represented in their English and Language Arts courses. This website explores the benefits of including varied ethnic, racial, and gender identities in classroom texts to mitigate the Eurocentric approach promoted by the Western literary canon. I will explain how teachers can realistically provide varied perspectives to students, from taking the initiative to change primary texts to adapting current Common Core texts to fit a more worldly narrative. Finally, this site considers how to grant students of varied levels of literacy the ability to enjoy texts they connect with culturally and socially. I sort through these issues by providing primary sources that discuss approaches to teaching texts in culturally relevant ways, with links for further information. I then provide a summary of discussed methods, explain how teachers can implement this into their classroom, and offer resources for teachers to add to their lesson plans or classroom libraries.
"Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" by Rudine Sims Bishop
Bishop, widely considered the "mother" of multicultural literature, views children's literature as a means for students to feel validated in their own culture while gaining insight into alternate perspectives. Bishop believes that one of the best ways to achieve this is by exposing students to literature that serves as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. She explains that students experience a "mirror" when they can see themselves in a text. Students can experience a "window" when they have the ability to look into lives that differ from their own. Lastly, readers can walk through a "sliding glass door" when a story becomes so immersive that a student feels like they are part of it. By providing students with these opportunities, they can feel more pride in their identity, become more empathetic towards the experiences of others, and feel more welcomed into the world of literature.
How can we do this?
In order to provide students with immersive and meaningful experiences while reading, it is essential that teachers include a variety of perspectives throughout required texts in their syllabus and optional texts in their classroom library. In order to ensure that all students get to experience a mirror, teachers should remain conscious of student populations within their classroom and provide works that feature different cultural norms and traditions, varied dialects, and gender identities. It is essential for teachers to have open discussions throughout a text to understand students attitudes towards texts and assist them in reading critically. Some students may initially be uncomfortable seeing themself in the mirror of a text or looking through a window into a world in which they are unfamiliar. Teachers should serve as supports to help students voice their feelings, thoughts, and concerns by fostering a safe learning environment that welcomes both positive and negative conversations surrounding literature.
Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors to Add to Your Classroom Library:
"Culturally Diverse Literature" by Fenice B. Boyd, Lauren L. Causey, and Lee Galda
Boyd et al. acknowledge that one of the biggest obstacles teachers run into while trying to implement newer texts into their classroom is being questioned on the "quality" of newer literature. Unlike American classics or texts recommended by the Common Core, many newer texts have not been sorted to fit specific state learning objectives. The authors give three methods to ensure the integrity of texts, while simultaneously meeting required benchmarks. Boyd et al. suggests to first identify themes, topic, perspective, and style of a text to determine how it could best fit into a particular unit. Their second tip is to seek out authors and literature that have received awards in specific "categories of nonwhite cultural groups" (Boyd et al., para 12). Lastly, they suggest teachers consider the authenticity of a text, and examine if it presents an accurate or stereotypical cultural experience.
How can we do this?
In order to prevent parents and administrators from questioning the validity of new (or even old) texts, it can be useful to discover how a novel achieves the same goals of another text. If the previously used text had a "coming of age" theme, it may be important to find another text that contains that theme too. This will allow the new novel to transition seamlessly into the pre-existing unit. By specifically looking at books and authors that have won awards, teachers can rest assured that those novels likely have literary merit. Whats even better, many awards are given to authors based on reading-level, allowing teachers to further sort novels into categories that would best fit their students needs. The last step is undoubtedly the trickiest, but teachers can typically ensure the authenticity of a text based on legitimate reviews. If a book is receiving out-lash for including derogatory terms or featuring offensive caricatures, the novel is likely not appropriate for a modern classroom, even if it seems to carry literary merit.
Some Critically Acclaimed YA Novels and their Respective Awards:
Black Caucus Library Association Fiction Winner
Recent Book Award Fiction Winner
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
New York Times Best Seller
NPR Favorite Book
Forbes Best YA Book
Schneider Family Book Award
American Library Association Youth Media Awards recognition
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Crouch considers the many benefits paired texts can bring into a classroom. First, they allow students to develop a better understanding on a topic that may have been new to them in the first reading. Paired texts can also allow students to experience different writing styles. This could be the perfect opportunity for students to explore reading a new dialect in one text, while finding comfort in the familiarity of another. Lastly, bringing in a supplemental text naturally brings more perspective to the classroom. If students can begin to consider how the same issues can impact different populations differently, they can gain a better understanding of how privilege and social status work in our society.
How can we do this?
While it may be difficult to completely replace texts that have been mandated for years, most districts allow teachers more flexibility when choosing their supplementary works. This is the perfect opportunity to bring more diverse texts into the classroom. For example, if a 9th grade classroom is required to read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a teacher can find a text from the same time period that provides more insight into everyday life for Black Americans in the south during the 1930s. This allows students to look beyond one isolated incident of fiction and gain a broader understanding of the social norms during that time period. While it may be difficult to add another entire novel to a unit, and equally difficult to find many books written by Black authors in the south during the 1930s, it could be useful to provide students with lessons on how the Great Depression disproportionally affected Black communities. This may lead to conversation about how African Americans were forced out of southern communities, resulting in the Great Migration. This could then lead to a subunit on the Harlem Renaissance, identifying ways Black people created and defined their own culture, allowing them to take ownership over the Black experience, rather than needing to be saved by the white majority, which could be implied by To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird Supplementary Text Ideas:
Smithsonian - National Museum of African American History and Culture
Behram considers how teachers can use required texts to aid their students critical literacy. Behram does not see the need for supplementary texts, but from my perspective, his findings work best in a scenario where a teacher is unable to add their own supplementary texts. In order for students to learn how to decipher hidden language and implicit messages in media, it is essential that they practice these skills in school. He argues that supplementary texts may not always be necessary because it is a teacher's responsibility to help students understand a reading's perspective and biases. This allows students to dissect the texts they read in school, question the intended audience and purpose of readings, and consider how a published work interacts with society. This is a skill that students will take beyond the classroom and apply while reading the morning news or signing legal documents.
How can we do this?
While it may be preferable to supply supplementary reading materials, the surge of book bans throughout the country leaves future teachers wondering whether that will be a possible reality. Many districts are now starting to require ample screenings of all texts introduced in the classroom to prevent controversy. If this is the case, teachers have even more reason to be concerned about their students ability to read critically. If a teacher is only allowed to teach specific pre-approved texts, it can sometimes be just as beneficial to comment on what the novel does not portray as what the novel does. This could mean asking students to identify characteristics of protagonists, such as race, ethnicity, and gender identity, to allow students to determine on their own if that novel accurately reflects varied human experiences. Another approach teachers can take is to have students decipher the work's ultimate purpose and how its existence interacts with current social issues.
If You Can Only Teach "Classics," Teach These:
"E-Books and Audiobooks: Extending the Digital Reading Experience" by Lotta C. Larson
Larson acknowledges that there are many ways for students to absorb required content, while connecting with the material, without necessarily making students read quietly to themselves. Larson Establishes that audio-books can serve as a beneficial tool for students to remain more engaged with longer texts. E-books also help many students decipher denser readings, by listening to the intonations and phrasing present in the work. The current popularity of audio-books with youth outside of a school setting lends them to be a more exciting way to read seemingly boring books. Audio-books may also encourage conversation inside and outside of the classroom as students become more comfortable verbalizing what they read.
How can we do this?
This strategy is one way to mitigate the response teachers will likely receive after adding to students reading homework. Truthfully, it would be unrealistic for many students to remain focused on texts containing dense subject-matter, especially if they are unfamiliar with the topic prior to reading. While audio-books were my English teacher's personal nightmare, I believe they can actually serve a lot of purpose in the classroom. Of course, students do not have to use an e-book, but having it available for any student who may need it is important. For students who may already be struggling to keep up with required texts, it could be detrimental to add supplemental readings to their plate without providing additional supports. Giving students the option to follow along to an audio book may help some students stay focused, maintain an efficient pace while reading, and make assignments feel like less of a burden. This could be a particularly useful tool for English Language Learners or students who may not be reading at their age's appropriate proficiency. It is essential for teachers to focus on making diverse texts more obtainable for struggling readers, as they are currently the students most likely to be left out of evolving changes in curriculum. English Language Learners and students with disabilities will likely relate to readings surrounding exclusion and literature written by other minority groups. If a teacher's goal is to help their students become life-long, critical readers, restricting audio-books in the classroom is probably not a battle to fight.
Audio-Book Websites (Not Owned by Amazon)
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