Too pale and stale: prescribed texts used for teaching culturally diverse students in Australia and England

Abstract

How are English texts selected to teach students from culturally diverse backgrounds in Australia and England? The English curricula in both countries aim for students to read and interpret meanings through texts, while learning about their culture, and that of cultural others. However, the current list of prescribed texts in both curricula are dated and are not frequently changed, nor are new culturally diverse and contemporary texts easily added to reading lists. This makes some curriculum aims difficult to achieve if students are disengaged or do not relate to the content or themes in the prescribed texts. This article proposes that a post-colonial theoretical approach be considered when selecting texts to teach contemporary students from diverse cultural backgrounds. A post-colonial approach does not mean selecting post-colonial texts, or texts that address post-colonial themes, but is rather a method of selecting and comparing literature of any genre that engages with historical and contemporary issues, with particular focus on race, social class and gender. A post-colonial approach would mean that culturally diverse students may better engage with discussions of contemporary issues using a wider range of texts in classrooms.

Keywords:

• English Literature
• culture
• diversity
• texts
• secondary
• post-colonial
• Australia
• England

Notes

1. Key findings of PISA 2012: (i) UK performs around the average in reading compared with the 34 OECD countries; (ii) The UK has a higher GDP and spends more on education than the average in OECD countries, however these comparative advantages do not have a clear relationship with educational outcomes; (iii) Socio-economically disadvantaged students in the UK are less likely to succeed at school than their more advantaged peers and (iv) PISA 2012 results when compared to PISA 2006 and PISA 2009 show there has been no change in performance in any of the subjects tested (Jenny Bradshaw, 2012).

2. In the current modular system the A-Level is divided into two stages: first the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and then the Advanced 2 (A2). AS + A2 = A-Level.