What counts? Inclusion and diversity in the senior English curriculum

• Published in: Australian educational researcher Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 165 - 182
• Main Authors: Bliss, Lauren, Bacalja, Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aboriginal knowledge; Authoritarianism; Classrooms; Content analysis; Cultural Awareness; Cultural heritage; Cultural pluralism; Curricula; Curriculum policy; Debates; Democracy; Diversity; Diversity (Student); Education; Educational Objectives; Educational Policy and Politics; Educational Psychology; Electronic Publishing; English Curriculum; Environment; Equal Education; European literature; Foreign Countries; Gender Issues; Inclusion; Inclusive curriculum; Indigenous Knowledge; Literacy; Native peoples; Personal development; Popular culture; Reading material selection; Reading Materials; Secondary Education; Secondary School Curriculum; Sexuality; Students; Teaching and Teacher Education; Thinking Skills; Torres Strait Islander knowledge; Trends; Upper secondary years; Values; Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE); Australia; Victoria; Torres Strait; Curriculum (Victoria); Text selection; English curriculum; English teaching; Education equalisation; Educational policy
• ISSN: 0311-6999; 2210-5328
• DOI: 10.1007/s13384-020-00384-x

This paper reports findings from a research project investigating text lists in the Senior Victorian English curriculum between 2010 and 2019. Policy documents emphasise the need for the English curriculum to foster values of inclusivity and diversity of culture and for texts that reflect these values in constructive and affirmative senses. In order to test the extent to which text lists associated with subject English address these ambitions, a content analysis of three hundred and sixty texts was conducted, guided by the question: to what extent do the VCE English text lists between 2010 and 2019 meet policy objectives? Focusing on findings related to text type, story setting, sex/sexuality and Indigenous themes, we found that while some goals of policy documents were met, the lists show significant shortfalls in meeting objectives for Asia-literacy, literature by Indigenous Australians and diversity in text type, especially in the marked lack of digital and non-traditional texts. [Author abstract]