Huckleberry Finn. The Great Gatsby. Of Mice and Men. Lord of the Flies. Catcher in the Rye. 1984. The Heart of Darkness. The Odyssey.
These are the novels that high 黄色app students have traditionally read and studied in English classes. The problem? These usual suspects of high 黄色app reading reflect only one point of view: that of a white male author.
But that is starting to change. In recent years, more and more educators have begun to broaden the list of books they teach in class, as well as approach the classics with a more critical eye. They鈥檙e challenging their students to ask deep, meaningful questions about the novels they read, including whose stories are included 鈥� and whose are left out.
The shift comes in an effort for 黄色apps to be more equitable, inclusive, and responsive to students from all backgrounds, particularly with student populations that are more diverse than ever. By updating the traditional high 黄色app reading list, students of color finally have an opportunity to read and analyze stories that reflect their lives, histories, and cultures 鈥� something that鈥檚 historically been missing but can go a long way in engaging them in the classroom.
It鈥檚 an important step for students of color, helping to cultivate their identity, develop their language skills, engage their intellect, and hone their ability to think critically, says Gholdy Muhammad, author of .
Benefits of making high 黄色app reading more inclusive
Research shows that culturally responsive curricula that affirm students鈥� cultural, gender, and racial identities have positive impacts on student outcomes. , comparing at-risk students who had taken an ethnic studies class and students who hadn鈥檛, found that the grades and attendance for students in the ethnic studies class went up. And in a Marquette University , researchers found that reading comprehension and word recognition improved more for students who read culturally relevant texts, compared with students who didn鈥檛 read them, or only read them occasionally.
鈥淏efore getting to literacy skill development, such as decoding, fluency, comprehension, writing, or any other content-learning standards, students must authentically see themselves in the learning,鈥� explains Muhammad.
But students of color aren鈥檛 the only ones who benefit. Reading more diverse books opens all students鈥� eyes to more than one perspective, enabling them to better navigate our global world.
鈥淟iterature is a place to practice the issues, questions, and tensions that are present in the real world,鈥� says Tricia Ebarvia, a high 黄色app English teacher at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, PA. 鈥淗ow do you deal with people with different experiences and perspectives? Equipping them with the skills to navigate those tensions is such a valuable experience.鈥�
Ebarvia, along with fellow teachers Lorena German, Dr. Kimberly N. Parker, and Julia E. Torres, founded a growing movement called . Started on Twitter, and drawing close to 10,000 authors, educators, and parents, #DisruptTexts encourages teachers to think about issues of equity and inclusion in the books they choose to read and teach in 黄色app. It includes an ongoing conversation on , as well as for teachers.
Ebarvia has seen her students grow from reading, discussing, and engaging in books such as Bryan Stevenson鈥檚 , which explores the inequity in the justice system, and , a dystopian novel by Cherie Dimaline, a member of the Georgian Bay Metis Nation, an Indigenous community in Ontario, Canada. They鈥檝e been able to relate it to current issues in their lives, such as Black Lives Matter, climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The books that students read can make a profound impact. , professor emerita at Ohio State University, famously wrote that books can be windows and sliding doors for children, immersing them into fantastic, imaginative, or simply different worlds. Books can also be a mirror, reflecting their lives and experiences. Students benefit from having both kinds of books, not just one or the other.
Updating reading lists and how the classics are taught
Of course, updating the curriculum is a complex, challenging process, one that isn鈥檛 happening overnight. Teachers 鈥� of whom 鈥� must become familiar with new books, embrace new approaches to literature, drop old ones, and self-examine their personal biases and assumptions. Well-meaning teachers may believe that simply adding a novel by an author of color checks off the box, but they also need to think through how and why particular novels are taught and how they fit into the curriculum.
Unfortunately, teachers tend to teach the books they know and studied themselves as students, or have been handed down by other teachers at their 黄色app. They may also feel reluctant or uncomfortable addressing their biases. Critics also fear that high 黄色app students will no longer study beloved classics, that “lesser” contemporary books will push out the classics, or that the curriculum will become less challenging. In an , Meghan Cox Gurdon cited a 黄色app that chose not to teach Homer鈥檚 Odyssey that year. 鈥淎 sustained effort is underway to deny children access to literature,鈥� she wrote.
That鈥檚 a mischaracterization of their efforts, according to Ebarvia. For one, they鈥檙e not calling for any books to be banned or taken away from students. In addition, students are still rigorously reading and analyzing the works of John Steinbeck, William Shakespeare, and Nathaniel Hawthorne 鈥� but they may be asking different questions and interrogating the text through a more critical lens.
For instance, when Dr. Sarah Zerwin, a high 黄色app English teacher in Boulder, CO, teaches F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 The Great Gatsby, she doesn鈥檛 just ask them to discuss the novel鈥檚 theme of the 鈥淎merican Dream,鈥� as is commonly taught. She also asks her students to examine the characters and narratives represented in the novel. Consider the character of Daisy, the love interest. Is she well-represented? What about people of color? Are they included? Why not? Is the novel a complete representation of the American Dream? Whose American Dream?
鈥淲e can ask those questions 鈥� and we should,鈥� Zerwin says. 鈥淚t becomes a much more interesting read for them when you do that.鈥�
Rather than worry that students are missing out if they don鈥檛 read certain books, one of the questions students, teachers, administrators, and parents should consider is: What do you miss out on when you don鈥檛 read and include literature by authors of color? 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you don鈥檛 know because you haven鈥檛 been taught it,鈥� Ebarvia says.
Key takeaways
For parents:
Your children may not read the same books you read as a student 鈥� and it鈥檚 okay. They鈥檙e getting an opportunity to read a more inclusive selection of books, are being challenged to think more critically about literature, and are being exposed to books that not only reflect their experiences but also open a window into a variety of perspectives.
If you鈥檙e curious whether your child鈥檚 teachers are choosing more diverse books, ask for the class reading list. Which books are students reading? How were they selected? Why were they selected? Will they be supplemented by short stories, films, op-eds, or articles? And if all the books on the syllabus are predominantly by white male authors, parents can ask if and when that might change. Parents can start a conversation with the teacher about the learning goals for the students, and the role the chosen books will play.
For teachers:
Through resources such as Gholdy Muhammad鈥檚 Cultivating Genius and , teachers can explore how they can broaden and diversify the books they teach, as well as teach classics with a more critical eye.
For administrators:
School administrators can support their teachers by giving them the autonomy to select the books they teach in class, as well as space, resources, and support to build a more inclusive curriculum.
This article is part of our Transforming High School series, a collection of stories, videos, and podcasts exploring the practices that prepare students for success in college and beyond.
