Explore middle grade and young adult texts written by diverse voices.
In a series of half-day professional learning sessions, Middle Years and Senior Years English language arts teachers gathered to explore the importance of representation in story and participate in book clubs to explore middle grade and young adult texts written by diverse voices. Each half-day session was divided into two parts. The first portion of the session was an ebb and flow of large and small group discussions that focused on the why and how of facilitating learning with diverse texts. The second portion of the session centred on book clubs where teachers read and discussed novels, graphic novels, and novels in verse written by diverse authors.
In one session, teachers read and discussed Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop’s essay “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors,” which provided a powerful rationale for why learners need to have access to mirror stories that reflect their own lived experiences; window stories that help learners to learn about people, cultures, and places; and sliding glass door stories that allow them access into worlds or societies to see a new reality. Teachers used the metaphor of stories as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors to map out their own interests, strengths, gifts, lived experiences, and histories as readers. They used paper and markers to sketch, draw, and list the stories that had an impact on their reading identity and then met in small groups to discuss their maps. These conversations revealed similar and diverse viewpoints and experiences, diverging lived experiences, and moments where stories and reading were magical and less than magical.
In another session, teachers participated in a story survey, wherein they examined the texts in their classroom library as well as the books they used in their classrooms for read-alouds, for novel studies, and/or in literature circles. In small groups, they charted these texts and made note of the year each book was published as well as the social identity (race, ethnicity, and gender) of the author and/or main character. Teachers worked together to analyze their charts and make observations about which voices may have been under-represented (or overrepresented) in their classroom text selections. In many cases, they observed that stories by Indigenous, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and/or 2SLGBTQ+ authors were under-represented in their classrooms.
Based on these findings, teachers worked to find equitable solutions and committed to seek out, read, and incorporate more Indigenous, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and/or 2SLGBTQ+ stories into their classroom libraries, read-alouds, novel studies, and literature circles.
In each session, when teachers met in books clubs to read and discuss graphic novels, novels, and novels in verse written by diverse authors, they reflected on how the social identity of the main character in the book may be a mirror, window, or sliding glass door to their own lived experiences. They also discussed ways in which they could use diverse texts to facilitate learning in their classrooms around the topics of social identity, power, and privilege.
While this particular series of professional learning sessions focused on the English language arts classrooms, teacher-participants reflected that representation is an important consideration for them in all subject/content areas. In particular, they wondered about representation and recognition of Indigenous, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and/or 2SLGBTQ+ scientists and mathematicians, and diverse ways of knowing, being, and doing.
Bishop, Rudine Sims. “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. ix–xi, 1990.
