The Need for Change
The world we live in seems to be constantly changing, and often for the worse. Although some are certainly impacted more than others, it’s a dark time to be a student, regardless of your political beliefs. That’s why it is more important than ever that we educators cultivate classroom environments of safety and acceptance. We have to accept that the world that’s been given to us, and teach our students to stand up for what they believe in and for those around them, to make it a better place. We have to teach students how to think critically and for themselves in a world where AI can do work for them and misinformation can be found almost anywhere. We have to make our classrooms yet another source of change, a change toward social justice. The current educational system and traditions have failed too many students, and will continue to do so if we educators don’t work to improve it. We owe it to our students to center social justice and inclusion in our curriculum.
What Can We Do?
Ultimately, there’s no easy, one-size-fits-all answer. But there are lots of small steps that we educators can take to make our classrooms safer for all students, and to send them into the world more prepared to consider others and to fight for social justice. One simple way to do so is to simply expose students to more viewpoints and beliefs.
In Kansas, diversity, or rather, a lack thereof, in the texts we typically teach is a huge issue. In fact, in 2022, of the 20 most frequently taught texts in Kansas high schools, “100% were written by white authors, with 90% being from American or British lineage. Men wrote eighty-five percent of the top-taught texts, but a female author wrote the most frequently taught text, To Kill a Mockingbird” (Rios 29). Where is the diversity? To Kill a Mockingbird might technically center around race, but only really features on Black character, and in a pretty negative light. And while it’s important to study the civil rights movement and historical issues like Jim Crow Laws, it is also important that our students understand these issues do no solely exist in the past. We need to show our students authentic examples of contemporary diversity and real-life experiences, and make all of our students’ voices appreciated.
Just as people of color are too often missing, LGBTQ+ literature is also often mysteriously missing from classroom shelves and lessons. As of 2021, 81.8% of LGBTQ+ students felt unsafe due to their perceived identities, and were much more likely to feel safe when learning at home (GLSEN 5). That many students struggling should be a terrifying thought for educators. And students who feel safer at home will likely not receive the same benefits as in-person education and participation, which will further impact their academic and overall success and personal well-being. If we educators can uplift LGBTQ+ students and give them access to literature that represents them and allows their cisgender, straight peers to better understand them, we have a responsibility to do so. If our districts allow it, we can get involved in GSA groups in our schools or host book clubs featuring banned and/or diverse books to further encourage and support our students. Even if many state standards have not caught up to the modern student, we teachers must.
In addition to diverse literature, we educators should work to keep conversations regarding social justice and change going in and out of the classroom. We should work to educate ourselves and our students about what is happening in the world. We can encourage students to publish their written opinions and ideas about current events, promote gender-inclusive language, be willing to be humble enough to be wrong and to learn from others, and strive to be the best version of ourselves every day. It may sound a little cheesy, but it’s true. We must start implementing these changes in education, for the safety and success of our students.
Works Cited
2021 National School Climate Survey. GLSEN. (2021). https://www.glsen.org/2021-national-school-climate-survey
Rios, A. (2024). The Kansas Literary Canon: A study of texts taught in high school English courses. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381712823_The_Kansas_Literary_Canon_A_Study_of_Texts_Taught_in_High_School_English_Courses
Avery, thank you very much for your sharing your thoughts on how to cultivate an antibias ELA classroom and curriculum through diverse texts that serve as mirrors and windows, as well as the encouragement to stay informed so we and our students can take action with an eye toward justice.
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