The Importance of Diverse Texts

As our classrooms become more diverse, and the varied needs of our students increase, it is important for teachers to use literature to expose students to a variety of cultures and experiences.  Unfortunately, as we watch the news, attend school board meetings, or receive feedback from parents, schools are experiencing a great deal of pushback regarding the types of texts used for instruction and classroom libraries.  

You will often hear people push back against teaching “CRT.” But what does that really mean? How do we define Culturally Responsive Teaching or Critical Race Theory? Can these two phrases be used interchangeably or are there differences between the two?

The term “critical race theory” has been defined by the American Bar Association as a graduate-level academic framework that interrogates the role of race and racism in society. According to Tolerance.org, “culturally responsive teaching” recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning, enriching classroom experiences, and keeping students engaged.

These two terms are not interchangeable. Critical Race Theory deals with how systems are impacted by racism, Culturally Responsive Teaching asks schools and teachers to not only recognize the backgrounds of the students in the classroom, but also help students explore and learn about cultures and experiences that are different from our own.

New York State, in their state standards, speak directly to the importance of sharing global and diverse texts with students in their Lifelong Practices of Readers and Writers.

1. Continuously interrogate our own biases to understand how they inform our teaching;
2. Center black, indigenous, and voices of color in literature;
3. Apply a critical literacy lens to our teaching practices;
4. Work in community with other anti-racist educators, especially black, indigenous, and other educators of color.

For the first principle, “continuously interrogate our own biases to understand how they inform our teaching,” they ask us to remember that when it comes to the literature we choose for our classroom, any text is inherently limited in its perspective because authors are people with a specific life experience which is represented in the characters they create and the stories they tell.  Therefore, as readers, educators, and human beings we need to not only acknowledge that limitation and not draw broad and/or general conclusions about a group of people or place based on one story, but also remember that literature cannot be divorced from the social, political, and cultural contexts in which it is written and read.  Once we acknowledge our own limitations, we take the first step towards learning more about or world and the people around us.

For the second principle, “center black, indigenous, and voices of color in literature,” they ask us to acknowledge that the traditional literary canon is centered around white male authors, or looking at the world through a white, often Eurocentric, point of view. They remind us to remember the people in the margins and the intersections of society (i.e., women, people of color, other cultures, other identities) often have their voice minimized or silenced. This means that when we choose a text for our classroom, we need to think about the weight of that decision, because if we don’t choose a variety of stories or we only show one-dimensional presentations of other people or cultures, then we aren’t using our opportunities to open our students’ minds and hearts to the larger world around them. As Rudine Sims Bishop said, books should serve as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. They suggest that we can “center” these texts by strategically pairing currently-used texts with newer ones. By intentionally replacing texts with more diverse voices, and strategically creating counter narratives with the texts we select, not only do we fill holes around a particular time / place / situation, but also enable the reader to develop a more rounded point of view. One example of this would be to pair The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald with Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue as part of a study of the American Dream. If you’re not sure what to select or where to find new texts, look for help from your librarian or check out websites like We Need Diverse Books to find lists like this.

The third principle, “apply a critical literacy lens to our teaching practices,” asks us to be reflective about what we are currently doing in our classrooms so we can identify ways to diversify the voices our students hear. They encourage us to think bigger than just adding new books. That when looking critically at classroom practice educators should use a lens / approach that will help develop the critical consciousness of our students. Working in this way means that we should do more than have a “diverse” unit of study. We need to understand that diversity not only includes race and ethnicity, but also female voices, geographical settings, identity, and ability. In addition, it doesn’t mean that we abandon everything we’ve always done, but instead look for ways to broaden the picture of humanity for our students.

Finally, the fourth principle asks us to “work in community with other anti-racist educators, especially black, indigenous, and other educators of color.” Remember that community is not only about working together but also built in accountability. As educators, “disrupting texts” includes thinking about the students to whom we are accountable. Part of that means decentering “whiteness” and addressing ways that the texts we choose and the lessons we teach support anti-blackness. We must think about the messages traditional curriculum sends to students about who is in power and who is inferior. Culturally responsive teaching means that we need to do the intellectual work to better understand our students. We all have populations of students that we know little or less about. Therefore it is our responsibility to be in the pursuit of knowledge to learn about who is in front of us and provide them with texts where they see themselves and learn about people and places that are unfamiliar to them. As a member of a school community, you need to find “co-conspirators” who will support you with your work. Don’t just look to your BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) colleagues to have all the answers for you. People of any given race or ethnicity do not all have the same story, therefore you can’t expect the people of color in your building to be the only ones that have the answers for an entire group of people.

Yuir Kochiyama said, “So, transform yourself first … Because you are young and have dreams and want to do something meaningful, that in itself, makes you our future and our hope. Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders.” Culturally responsive teaching is challenging, important work that starts first with ourselves and then with our students. It means understanding that we don’t just live in a society that includes patriarchy, sexism, and racism, it also means understanding that it lives within us because most of us have grown up in this country and school system.

Therefore, to do better we must admit and understand the imperfections in ourselves, address it, and then work towards change.

We can start by looking at the booklist and/or novels in our curriculum and identify the diverse voices. If we find the answer is “none,” then that gives us a place to begin. You can also use resources such as the Center for Social Justice and blogs like Reading While White for ideas about how to move forward, as well as the #DisruptTexts Twitter chats.

You are not alone. There are other people in your building, district, and educational community looking for co-conspirators. You even have an ally here. So stay connected and we’ll make changes, together.