UK English curricula should focus on ‘inclusive and diverse’ stories, author says

The English literature curriculum ought to include more “inclusive and diverse” contemporary stories that are “relevant and relatable” to young people’s lives, Malorie Blackman has said.

The author of the Noughts and Crosses novels said in the foreword to a Lit in Colour campaign report that it could encourage more children to read for pleasure. She also said that no child should feel that studying English at school is irrelevant because “they never see themselves” reflected in the literature.

“There will always be room for the classics in the UK English literature curricula, but a space and place needs to be made for more inclusive and diverse contemporary stories across all educational boards,” she wrote.

The campaign – created by Penguin Books in 2020 in partnership with the Runnymede Trust – aims to help schools make the teaching and learning of English literature more inclusive of writers of colour.

Blackman, a former children’s laureate, added: “Having an English exam curriculum which 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.”

In the study, commissioned by Penguin and the exam board Pearson Edexcel, teachers reported to University of Oxford researchers that the choice of texts from authors of colour enabled “greater cognitive engagement” on the part of students.

Hayley Robathan, head of English at UTC Derby, said the introduction of Blackman’s Boys Don’t Cry to the syllabus in 2021 – after signing up to the campaign’s pilot – had had a positive impact on GCSE students.

She said: “Boys Don’t Cry has been life-changing in terms of my career, just because I’ve seen such a light going on in so many people’s eyes when we teach something that 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 protests inspired campaigns to diversify the curriculum in schools. Pearson introduced a new set of diverse set texts to their Edexcel English Literature GCSE, in which pupils sat exams for the first time in 2022.

Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “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.”