Where is the Diversity in our English Curriculum?
by Chaitna Deshmukh, Reporter
Opinion/Editorial
Two years ago, in my freshman year of high school, I wrote an essay about the novel 1984 and the things I hated about the book, especially regarding the callous portrayal of sexual violence against women. Since then, I have realized that the problem is much more extensive than that one book. Maybe if I had also read novels in class with positive representations of women, I would not have gotten quite so infuriated with that one negative portrayal. In my first two years at Kamiak High School, I read and analyzed eight novels in English classes. Six of them were written by white men, one by a white woman, and one by a Nigerian man (not a Black American). Not one by a woman of color. Not one book addressing racial issues in America by an actual person of color. Not one discussing an immigrant or second-generation experience.
But that was just my experience at Kamiak. I hoped it was an outlier. In order to find out, I began more in-depth research. One of the best resources I found online was the Mukilteo School District approved novel list (from 2018), and unfortunately, it was consistent with my experience. As of 2018, there were 30 books approved for freshmen. Out of those 30, eight were written by women (27%), and just two were written by people of color (7%, none of whom were Black). For sophomores, five out of 14 novels were written by women (36%) and three (21%) by people of color. The Mukilteo School District serves a population of students that is 51% girls and has a racial demographic including 49% racial minorities. None of the books were by LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) authors or even included queer characters. Nationwide, over 10% of high school students identify as LGBTQ+. With such drastic differences between the demographics of our English curriculum content and the student population, it is no wonder that many students leave their English classes feeling unrepresented. As students, it is often easy to blame teachers for these issues without knowing the whole picture. To better understand the system by which novels are chosen, I spoke with several English teachers and district administrators.
The first person I talked to was Alysa Levi-D’Ancona (Levi), advisor to the Kamiak Gauntlet, and my teacher for freshman Honors English. Through her, I was able to gain a basic understanding of the English materials approval system. In broad terms, all novels that are required (or even suggested or optional) readings in a class must be approved by the district IMC, or Instructional Materials Committee. This committee does not, however, control what books are in school libraries. Consisting of a volunteer group of administrators, teachers, and parents, the IMC gets the ultimate say in whether or not a certain book is approved for use for a certain class (and all grades above it).
To start the approval process, a teacher or teachers must fill out an application proposing and explaining the value of the novel, give a presentation to the IMC, and be prepared to answer any and all questions the committee may have. Then, if approved, the novels go to the school board for confirmation, according to Monica Chandler (Director of Curriculum and Professional Development for the MSD). This system puts the onus of change on the teachers. Furthermore, the difficulty of getting a book passed can vary a great deal depending on both the book, and unfortunately, who shows up to the committee on a given day (if the committee members are parents or teachers focused on younger children, it may be difficult to shift the focus to accepting books for high schoolers).
Still, over the last couple of years, Levi and other English teachers at Kamiak have made significant additions to the approved book list and the English 1 Honors curriculum (changes that have not yet been reflected on the school district website). Instead of 1984 and To Kill A Mockingbird, Levi currently teaches The Kite Runner and Purple Hibiscus, which add much-needed positive Middle Eastern and African representation to the curriculum. Just a few days before publishing, I received an updated version of the novel list. In the past year, All American Boys and The Hate U Give have also been added to the approved list for freshmen.
Almost everyone — teachers, students, parents, and administrators — agrees that we need more representation, but as always, the difficult question is how. According to Chandler, the current removal system is somewhat ambiguous, but generally requires completing a citizen request for reconsideration form. This typically comes from a parent, then goes to the principal, and then the IMC.
Should we add books to the approved list? Remove books? Do we make a diverse and inclusive English curriculum a requirement?
For Rachel Johnson, co-chair of the English department at Kamiak, it is a resounding yes to all of the above. She argues that “teachers should want to teach diverse curriculum... but they should also have to.” After all, she says, “what’s comfortable [for teachers] is not always best [for students].”
And teachers can learn to become comfortable with the new material. When Things Fall Apart, a novel set in Nigeria, was added to the curriculum, “some teachers were uncomfortable teaching it because we didn’t know anything about the history. It made us feel dumb,” Johnson says. Now, teachers have done their research and can teach the novel confidently. When it comes to teaching the more traditional, or canon books, Johnson does not think they are vital for students to learn. Instead of the orthodox, white-focused narratives taking center stage, she suggests that we make our major, novel-length works diverse and then “learn canon in the margins,” as diverse stories have been for so long.
And the margins have been, often, the only way we have diverse stories. The tenth-grade Springboard curriculum is centered around the idea of finding your identity, and yet the only minority-centered American narratives we read came from short stories and excerpts. As a result, Springboard’s relationship with diversity is complex. While it contains the most diverse stories of any curriculum I have ever had, not a single one of the actual novels I was taught from it is from a minority American perspective.
As Eunice Buaduwah, a junior at Kamiak, said during one Human Rights Club meeting, “if what we’re learning was already diverse, we wouldn’t need the little chunks [that Springboard provides].”
And even Springboard doesn’t have any LGBTQ+ representation, no doubt, as Natalie Giovi, another Kamiak junior, puts it, because it has only been in the “past ten years when LGBTQ+ ideas were starting to become socially acceptable.”
Springboard also makes it more difficult for new books to gain traction among teachers. After all, who can blame teachers for wanting to teach books that come with an entire curriculum and decades of precedent?
Although it would be ideal to have the process of diversifying the curriculum be voluntary and still supported by all teachers, it does not always work that way. Often, without rules to require and enforce it, inclusive education falls by the wayside. For example, in Utah this past February, where Black History Month education was made optional, some parents at one school district attempted to opt their children out. Although the district reversed this decision, removing the choice to opt out, the incident proves that when comprehensive education is not required, it does not always happen, and certainly not for everyone. Allowing some students to receive an unbalanced education to avoid stepping on toes is the easy way out, and it does not benefit anyone. Discomfort is a natural and inevitable part of progress for students, teachers, and parents. Adults often underestimate students’ willingness and enthusiasm to be uncomfortable in the classroom and discuss complex topics, when those are often the very topics that engage students the most.
This issue is an urgent one. Every year, hundreds of students graduate from our school district with little to no understanding of or exposure to unique cultures and points of view. This problem must be addressed throughout all schools and grade levels, which requires change at the district level.
Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell, the Mukilteo School District’s equity director very much believes that it is the district’s responsibility to encourage change and that since “our world is diverse, it should be a requirement” that teachers teach an inclusive curriculum, with or without the established canon. According to her, anything less would be a disservice to the students. In fact, one of the ways that she believes the district could more effectively address this issue is by being “brave enough to listen to student stories” and allowing greater input from student voices. To truly facilitate change, Ebalaroza-Tunnell argues, the district must “invite people to the conversation, even if they have different perspectives.”
This problem is a complex one with no easy solutions. It is also important to consider these problems within the broader context of education. What are we teaching in our history classes? Is it primarily Eurocentric? Does it represent BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) accurately? What classes are available to students?
Over the past couple of years, as a district, we have made some headway towards equity. Our district has equity committees in each school, a director of equity, an equity policy, and Chandler believes that the issue of representation is a priority for the superintendent and school board.
For the first time, an Ethnic Studies class is being offered at Kamiak, Mariner, and ACES as a senior elective. These changes, as well as the additions made to the approved novel list, while certainly a step forward, are not nearly enough. From our health classes to history classes, to English classes, inclusive teaching is necessary and beneficial for all students. Whether by giving them much-needed representation or by teaching students new perspectives and providing them with a greater capacity for empathy, diversity is vital for the welfare of all students.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Kamiak High School or The Gauntlet.
Sources
“2019 Number and Percentage of Students, by Sexual Identity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Aug. 2020, www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/2019_tables/students_by_sexual_identity.htm.
“ACS-ED Maps.” National Center for Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education., nces.ed.gov/programs/maped/ACSMaps/.
“Curriculum and Professional Development / Novel List.” Mukilteo School District, 11 Dec. 2018, www.mukilteoschools.org/Page/779.
“Curriculum and Professional Development / Novel List.” Mukilteo School District, 17 Mar. 2021, www.mukilteoschools.org/Page/779.
Farzan, Antonia Noori. “Parents Wanted to Opt Their Children out of Black History Month. A Utah School 'Reluctantly' Let Them.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 Feb. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/08/utah-school-black-history-month/.
“Mukilteo School District, WA.” ACS School District Profile 2014-18, National Center for Education Statistics, nces.ed.gov/Programs/Edge/ACSDashboard/5305430.
Reed, Jon. Utah School REEXAMINES Allowing Parents to Opt out of Black History Month Curriculum. 11 Feb. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/02/11/967079552/utah-school-re-examines-allowing-parents-to-opt-out-of-black-history-month-curri.