Revamping the High School Reading List: Integrating Multiculturalism in the ELA Classroom
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Secondary English Education
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Jeff Osborne
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
As the United States government continues to ignore the growing need for adoption of multicultural education policy at the national, state, and local levels, the responsibility of bringing inclusive, equitable pedagogy to the classroom falls on the shoulders of teachers. Unfortunately, the absence of legislative backing, along with other restrictive factors, causes some teachers to hesitate in taking up the mantle of multicultural educator. In this hesitation, teachers need only to remember one thing: we became educators to encourage, inspire, and empower all of our students to take learning into their own hands and achieve their highest potential. Secondary English language arts (ELA) teachers are in an especially prime position to use multicultural teaching methods to the advantage of making an impact on students’ perspectives of society and their place within it. Before the high school ELA teacher spends time mulling over which favored classics to include in the yearly reading list, I propose they throw out the list altogether. It is time to revamp high school reading lists by making them home to multicultural literatures that represent the multitude of diverse identities and deal with real and relevant issues that schools have avoided discussing for too long. By making even this small change to their curriculum, ELA teachers can benefit their students by engaging them in new content, challenging their perspectives on current social issues, and providing representation of their diverse identities in the classroom.
Start Date
16-11-2018 8:30 AM
Fall Scholars Week 2018 Event
Honors College Senior Theses
Revamping the High School Reading List: Integrating Multiculturalism in the ELA Classroom
As the United States government continues to ignore the growing need for adoption of multicultural education policy at the national, state, and local levels, the responsibility of bringing inclusive, equitable pedagogy to the classroom falls on the shoulders of teachers. Unfortunately, the absence of legislative backing, along with other restrictive factors, causes some teachers to hesitate in taking up the mantle of multicultural educator. In this hesitation, teachers need only to remember one thing: we became educators to encourage, inspire, and empower all of our students to take learning into their own hands and achieve their highest potential. Secondary English language arts (ELA) teachers are in an especially prime position to use multicultural teaching methods to the advantage of making an impact on students’ perspectives of society and their place within it. Before the high school ELA teacher spends time mulling over which favored classics to include in the yearly reading list, I propose they throw out the list altogether. It is time to revamp high school reading lists by making them home to multicultural literatures that represent the multitude of diverse identities and deal with real and relevant issues that schools have avoided discussing for too long. By making even this small change to their curriculum, ELA teachers can benefit their students by engaging them in new content, challenging their perspectives on current social issues, and providing representation of their diverse identities in the classroom.