As English teachers, we know that what our students read shapes how they see the world. Yes, the canon hasn’t really changed. The same narrow reading list—one dominated by white male voices—seems to be on every syllabus. If we want to create an inclusive learning environment where all students feel represented, we need to commit to diversifying the curriculum.
We all know what it feels like to read a book and see some aspect of ourselves reflected. It’s powerful. It makes us feel seen. Of course, we want to give that to our students.
But too many educational institutions are recycling the same curriculum from fifty years ago. Or longer. I know in my first year of teaching, the only textbook we had was the same edition from when I was in high school. And that textbook was outdated when I was using it as a student.
The world has changed, and so, too, must our curriculum.
This doesn’t mean abandoning the classics. It means expanding our course materials and teaching practices to reflect the modern world and the different perspectives our students will encounter in higher education and beyond.
In this post, I’m going to how diversifying the curriculum can benefit students with some tips for updating your own curriculum.
Why Diversify the Curriculum?
There are many reasons to make sure your English curriculum is a diversified one. (Honestly, the real question should be: why keep the traditional canon?)
How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Boost Minority Voices?
When we include a wider range of resources in our English literature classrooms, we’re doing more than just checking a box. We’re making sure students see the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people.
That might mean adding novels from the Global South. It could be adding poetry by Black authors. You could teach essays from minority ethnic writers whose voices are too often missing from the national curriculum.
For many young people, exposure to a diverse curriculum is their first real chance to engage with texts that align with their own experiences. This kind of inclusive content helps students feel validated, especially ethnically diverse students and those from underrepresented backgrounds.
When students see themselves reflected in the subject matter, they recognize that their stories and communities are worth studying. They see that their voices are just as valuable as those of Shakespeare or Fitzgerald.
When students–all of our students–see themselves represented in the classroom, it gives them confidence. It also boosts engagement and buy-in.
How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Help Students With Personal Growth?
At the same time, a diverse curriculum nurtures empathy in all students. (And don’t you think the world needs more empathy right now?)
Reading about lives that are different from their own shows students different perspectives outside of their their daily routines. Whether it’s a memoir from a refugee, a coming-of-age novel set in southeast Asia, or a poem rooted in Black history, these texts encourage students to consider the human experience more broadly.
When students encounter the voices of others, students develop compassion, critical thinking, and cultural awareness. These are crucial skills they’ll need not only in college but also as citizens in the modern world.
Reading more diverse voices makes our students better people. What more could we want?
How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Benefit Students Academically?
There are also measurable academic benefits. When students engage with diverse representation in their reading lists, teachers often notice:
- Higher engagement: Students are more invested in reading when the characters or themes feel relevant to their lives.
- Stronger writing: Exposure to a wider range of resources and styles helps students expand their own writing voices.
- Improved discussion skills: Debating complex issues of social justice, identity, or cultural difference often sparks deeper conversations and better critical thinking than sticking with a narrow canon.
Research in academic publishing supports these benefits. For example, Nguyen et al. (2022) found that diversifying reading lists at the University of Kent not only increased student engagement but also helped foster an inclusive learning environment that recognized the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people.
In other words, the texts we assign shape more than just students’ grades—they shape how students think about belonging, justice, and whose voices deserve space in academic programs.
How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Make Students Better Citizens?
And let’s not ignore the cultural context.
The Black Lives Matter movement, debates over social sciences, and conversations on social media have made students more aware of inequality. They want to see those issues reflected in the course materials we teach.
If we don’t give students a space to discuss important issues, how will they learn to think through them? In the classroom, we can guide students to think critically, ask questions, and communicate with one another with respect. We can challenge them to question a source’s biases.
If we don’t do this in the classroom, we leave students to navigate the world on their own. And where will they turn for answers? Social media. Poor sources. Uninformed friends and family, maybe.
As Nguyen et al. remind us, schools must keep pace with the recent changes in society if they want to remain relevant. A diverse curriculum doesn’t just reflect the past; it prepares students for the future.
Start by Auditing Your Curriculum
Before making changes, it’s worth doing an honest review of your current course design. A curriculum audit helps you see where you’re already strong and where you may be missing opportunities for diverse representation.
(I would grab a copy of your syllabus and a couple of highlighters.)
Here are some questions to guide your audit:
- What percent of authors on your reading list are from underrepresented backgrounds? (Go ahead and highlight those name/texts.)
- Are there units that include inclusive content or do they mostly focus on white male voices?
- Does your subject matter reflect both academic knowledge and the own experiences of your students? (In other words, is there space in your units for students to connect and reflect?)
- Do your course materials highlight the often ignored contributions of marginalized people?
This process doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Even little things—like noting gaps in black history coverage or identifying where social justice themes could be layered in—are good starting points.
By reflecting on what’s currently in your curriculum, you’ll have a clearer vision for how to build an inclusive curriculum that serves today’s high school students.
Don’t forget to check for female voices in your curriculum. Sometimes we focus so much on race, we forget there are other marginalized voices to boost.
If your audit shows you a curriculum with almost no diverse voices, don’t beat yourself up. Many curriculums are similar. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing better. And now that you know the weak spots in your curriculum, you can focus on doing better.
What If You Have a Strict Curriculum?
Many of us teach in settings where the national curriculum or district-mandated syllabi limit our flexibility. Maybe your academic programs already require a specific focus on canonical texts. Perhaps your school is cautious about course design, or you’re a first-year teacher worried about deviating too much from expectations.
You might work in a district or state in which getting a new text approved is onerous at best, and, at worst, could you get you doxed by niche parent groups.
The good news? Little things can still make a big difference.
Even if your core texts are locked in, you can bring inclusive content to your classroom through supplemental materials. School staff across primary school, high school, and even higher education institutions are finding creative ways to work within constraints while still offering students diverse representation.
Think of it this way: Shakespeare can stay. But let’s read him alongside a writer from India or a poet from Harlem.
Dickens can stay. But let’s also show students a short story highlighting the struggles and triumphs of ethnically diverse students in a modern world.
And if even this feels risky, don’t despair. How you talk about the books on your curriculum–and not on it–can be powerful, too. Even if you can’t actively teach certain voices, you can let students know they exist. We can hope the students that need those texts find their way to them.
So, How Can You Diversify The Curriculum?
So how do we actually make this happen? Here are some good starting points that don’t require reinventing your entire syllabus:
Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #1: Pair Canonical Texts with Diverse Short Works
You don’t have to get rid of your main texts entirely. Instead, supplement them with short, diverse works.
If you’re teaching Of Mice and Men or The Great Gatsby, add in a short story, poem, or essay by an author from a minority ethnic or underrepresented background. These little things enrich the subject area by providing different perspectives while still keeping your course materials manageable.
Examples:
- Pair The Great Gatsby with poetry from Langston Hughes to highlight the often ignored contributions of marginalized people during the Jazz Age.
- Teach Macbeth alongside a short story that also deals with ambition and morality like “The Prophet’s Hair” by Salman Rushdie.
Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #2: Add Full Novel Studies by Diverse Voices
Add one new novel study to your year-long curriculum. Even one new text per year can shift the culture of your English literature class.
A unit on Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, or Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi can introduce students to voices often missing from academic programs. This creates a more inclusive curriculum that better reflects our students’ realities and the diverse enrollment in our schools.
You can find a new text that teaches the same skills or focuses on the same essential questions.
Want some ideas for diverse novel studies? Grab my World Literature curriculum–full of global voices–for free by signing up below (or check out my done-for-you class right here.)
Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #3: Encourage Diverse Texts During Independent Reading
Independent reading is an excellent way to bring in inclusive content without needing administrative approval (probably, anyway). At the very least, it won’t require you to get a new text approved for your curriculum.
Curate a classroom library or further reading list that highlights authors from underrepresented backgrounds. Encourage students to explore academic publishing lists, award winners, or even recommendations from universities. Be sure to promote minority voices during your book talks and let students see you reading texts from diverse authors.
Not every student will pick up a text about black history or racial justice, but making these books available ensures students at least see that these voices are valued and included in course design.
Final Thoughts on Diversifying the Curriculum
As English teachers, we hold incredible power in shaping how students understand the world. By making intentional choices in our course design and teaching practices, we can foster classrooms that reflect inclusive learning environments.
Diversifying the curriculum isn’t about discarding the past. It’s about broadening our lens to include the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people while giving students tools to navigate the modern world with empathy and academic knowledge.
Start with little things—a paired text, a diverse novel study, a thoughtful independent reading list. These changes add up to a classroom where every student, regardless of background, feels seen.