Subverting the Canon Through Culturally Relevant Young Adult Literature Circles

• In Event: Subverting the Secondary English Language Arts Classroom

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
Dismantling racial injustice in education requires imagination, subversion, and disruption. We acknowledge that the US educational system has historically privileged white, middle-class knowledges (Sinclair, 2018) and promoted “a traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of English education” (Boyd et al., 2006, p. 329) even as students of color represent more than 50% of students enrolled in public schools (NCES, 2022). In this paper, we argue that using culturally relevant young adult (YA) literature and literature circles in an advanced placement (AP) English course with a majority of Latinx students effectively re-imagined, subverted, and disrupted canonical expectations for advanced curriculum study.


Perspectives
We draw inspiration from #disrupttexts (Ebarvia, Germán, Parker, & Torres, 2020), a movement created by teachers of color to disrupt inequitable ELA curriculum and pedagogy by centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, or Other People of Color in literature. Culturally relevant literature reflects youth’s lived experiences and introduces new perspectives to all students living in a racially diverse society. Conversely, canonical texts create an “imagination gap” (Thomas, 2016) that limits readers to single stories about the world. Likewise, using student-centered pedagogies—literature circles (Daniels, 2022); reader response journals (Berger, 1996)—shifts from text-focused approaches typically used in AP courses, like close reading and critical analysis, to readers, who draw on their skills and cultural experiences to interpret literature.


Methods/Evidence
Using qualitative interview methods, Sandra’s course materials, and student artifacts, Sandra reconstructed how she implemented culturally relevant YA literature circles in four sections of 11th grade AP English, which included a majority of Latinx students. Her curriculum is grounded in a research-based rationale for including YA texts and literature circles to meet the goals of advanced study. Sandra describes the process of selecting diverse YA texts, followed by activities students completed during literature circles. Sandra outlines a multigenre project that students completed as their culminating assignment instead of a traditional research paper.


Results/Substantiated Conclusions
Sandra’s unit highlights curricular and pedagogical strategies that subvert traditional approaches to AP English through texts that reflect students’ cultures or interests, and through reader-centered literary interpretations. These practices fulfill the goals of AP programs by having students engage in higher order thinking like analyzing and evaluating literature and creating new texts that demonstrate their understanding while also validating their lived experiences. Importantly, as Sandra’s students were predominantly Latinx, studying literary representations of youth of color written by a majority of authors of color conveyed that stories that mirror their experiences have a place in advanced reading and writing curriculum.


Scholarly Significance
This paper contributes to educational praxis by applying equity-oriented and research-based pedagogies to disrupt a traditional, Eurocentric curriculum. The pedagogical practices we discuss are accessible and often well-established practices in the English classroom. Subversive teaching does not necessarily equate dramatic or drastic action. For Sandra’s students, subverting traditional AP English curricular and pedagogical practices meant adopting culturally relevant texts and reader-centered pedagogies. In the context of an AP English course that traditionally emphasizes a white, middle-class worldview, subversive teaching means giving students of color permission to place their lived experiences at the center of learning.

Authors

• Sandra Saco, Arizona State University

• Sybil Durand, University of Arizona