Malorie Blackman, an ex-children’s laureate, says there should be circumstances where students feel English is irrelevant because they don’t see their reflection in the literature.
Blackman said the English literature curriculum must include more “inclusive and diverse” present-day stories that are “relevant and relatable” to young people’s lives.
Malorie Blackman, the author of Noughts and Crosses novels, stated in the foreword to a Lit in Colour campaign report that the campaign should encourage more children to read for pleasure. She added that no child should feel it is irrelevant to study English at school because “they never see themselves” mirrored in the literature.
She stated, “There will always be room for the classics in the UK English literature curricula, but a space and place need to be made for more inclusive and diverse contemporary stories across all educational boards.”
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The Colour campaign, created by Penguin Book in collaboration with Runnymede Trust in 2020, aims to assist schools in teaching and learning English Literature more inclusive of writers of colour.
Blackman, an ex- children’s laureate, added, “Having an English exam curriculum that has a more diverse base when it comes to the literature studied by our children is a matter of enrichment, engagement, and sheer common sense and not one of special pleading.”
According to research commissioned by Penguin and the exam board Pearson Edexcel, teachers told the University of Oxford researchers that the authors’ colour choice of text enabled “greater cognitive engagement” from the students.
The head of English, Hayley Robathan, said the introduction of Blackman’s Boys Don’t Cry to the English syllabus in 2021 positively impacted the GSCE students.
She said, “Boys Don’t Cry” has been life-changing in my career because I’ve seen the light in so many people’s eyes when we teach something they are engaged with.
“Academically, for us, it’s been phenomenal and groundbreaking in that we’ve gone from a 50% pass rate to a 76% pass rate and the only thing we’ve changed is this novel.”
The campaign was launched after the global Black Lives Matter protest encouraged crusaders to diversify the school curriculum. Pearson added a new set of diverse texts to their Edexcel English Literature GSCE, where students sat for in for the first in 2022.
The head of policy at the school leader’s union NAHT, Sarah Hannafin, stated: “If pupils are to be inspired by what they are taught, they need to be able to relate to it.
“The proof of that is in the pudding when it comes to the eye-catching results of this pilot, which shows the importance of young people being able to access a diverse range of learning resources.”
