The question of curricular diversity extends to a wide variety of constituents. Two peer-reviewed scholarly articles, “Urban Fiction and Multicultural Literature as Transformative Tools for Preparing English Teachers for Diverse Classrooms” by Detra Price-Dennis and “We Want to Learn’: Middle School Latino/A Students Discuss Social Studies Curriculum and Pedagogy” by Christopher Busey address the importance of diverse content within and outside of school life. In both environments, overwhelmingly research has found that students learn better when presented with “global learning opportunities” (Busey 2016,1).
Within the classroom, regardless of class demographics or regional variation, students largely get similar curriculums oriented around homogenous themes. Importantly, disciplines such as social studies provide students rich opportunities to engage in overt investigation of different cultures and moments in history (Busey 2016, 2). However, as curriculum rests nationwide, social studies in public education proves largely Euro-centric (Busey 2016, 3). Middle school students interviewed by Busey spoke of their desire for a broader approach to their social studies curriculum. Often times students had an idea of what they wanted from their curriculum. One student from Busey’s study said, “Maybe what we can do is because at our school we have such a diverse population, and so many demographics and everything… is learn about everybody’s country” (Busey 12).
Beyond the content of textbooks, curricular diversity pertains to works of fiction, supported both inside and outside the classroom. Here, particular research has been done on the influence of diverse fictional texts used in classrooms to help students express and question issues of racial, ethnic, sexual, or gender identity (Price-Dennis 2013, 248). Importantly, urges for multicultural literature are not just to serve students of color or students with any identity placed within a minority. All students learn from diverse curriculums.
Some teachers have found success in implementing relevant and diverse content into their classrooms. For example, Price-Dennis spent an entire semester teaching a curriculum of five urban young adult novels, exploring themes of homelessness, gender identity, and race (Price-Dennis 2013, 259). Some of these more diverse texts even have the ability to critique systems of oppression that many students experienced in schools. One of the texts Price-Dennis read with her students told of inconsistencies and discrimination within standardized tests. This cited text, however, is a very particular and modern type of “curricular diversity.” Price-Dennis outlines five categories of knowledge, “personal, popular, mainstream, school, and transformative” that different texts can often speak to (Price-Dennis, 271).
Beyond the scope of a singular article, research of curricular diversity overwhelmingly has found that how teachers present and accumulate material plays an important role in students’ perception of their school environment (Price-Dennis 2013, 251). Whether or not they see a wide cast of characters in their curriculum – whether that be in history books or in fictional texts – determines what sort of sense of place they will garner within the classroom.
Links to Articles
We Want to Learn’: Middle School Latino/A Students Discuss Social Studies Curriculum and Pedagogy, by Christopher Busey
Urban Fiction and Multicultural Literature as Transformative Tools for Preparing English Teachers for Diverse Classrooms, by Detra Price-Dennis