School curriculum must embrace inclusion
Education should be both a window and a mirror,
Over the past year, many differing opinions have been shared regarding Alberta's newly proposed K-6 curriculum. Comments from curriculum experts and academics have been universally negative, citing concerns about the regressive nature of the proposed curriculum and the lack of content focused on Indigenous and racialized communities. However, not much has been said about how this new curriculum will impact LGBTQ2 students, who conservatively comprise about six to 10 per cent of Alberta's school-aged population, or about 58,000 students.
Over 30 years ago, educator Emily Jane Style wrote an influential essay reflecting upon how curriculum functions as both a window and a mirror. For students, a well-constructed curriculum serves as a window that opens and exposes them to the diversity of the world around them. This is a world filled with beauty, plurality, and difference. A curriculum necessarily must challenge us to think and act differently than our familiar viewpoints and existing frameworks. This is a curriculum that is rich in experiential learning, critical thinking skills, and respect for self, others, and the environment. It is a curriculum designed to make us uncomfortable and to challenge taken-for-granted beliefs and assumptions.
While windows open to allow us to see and explore the world around us, mirrors can empower us to see ourselves. For a modern curriculum to be successful, it must allow all students to see their own lives and experiences reflected not only back to themselves but also each other. This is especially true for students from diverse backgrounds who seldom see themselves, families, or cultures included in the official curriculum in positive and meaningful ways.
For LGBTQ2 students, when their identities are not represented, it sends a powerful message of silence and exclusion. This pedagogy of negation leads some students to drop out, and others are pushed out due to bullying, discrimination and prejudice.
Seeing yourself reflected in a textbook, story, or class discussion tells students they belong. It empowers students to feel part of a community rather than separate from it. Mirrors also help us to see ourselves in relation to others and the world around us. They teach us about the importance of compassion, empathy, and kindness.
Curriculum is not only found in our classrooms and textbooks, but everywhere around us. Look at the halls and walls of your school. What messages are they communicating about the values of diversity and difference? Does your school have a gaystraight alliance? Gender-inclusive washrooms? Does it celebrate Pride Week?
When I visit a school, the first thing I do is walk through the front doors and stop, look, and listen. What are the first images I see? Is it a display case filled with athletic trophies, or a mural painted by students? Who is represented in these displays? If you look closely, you can learn a lot about a school's culture and which students are venerated and celebrated.
What are the sounds that I hear? Are the halls filled with laughter or silence? Do I hear racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic language? Are pronouns respected?
Who comes to greet me? Am I welcomed in the school as a guest? Will someone show me to the office? Like greeting a visitor in your home, am I made to feel welcome and included?
All of these experiences form what is referred to as the “hidden curriculum” in schools. What messages do parents and students receive that are written between the lines of the classroom textbook? What language do students hear about their identities or families on the playground? What messages are they receiving from teachers and school staff about their culture or community?
Alberta is a growing and diverse province. Our curriculum must reflect these changing realities. When designing curriculum, we should ask where our curriculum comes from. Who is writing it? Whose voices and identities are silenced or excluded? What messages do our official and hidden curricula convey? Are they the right ones?
Research indicates that when young children are exposed to racism and prejudice, they tend to accept and embrace it. Hate is a learned value.
If our curriculum is not rich in diversity and inclusion, what exactly are we teaching our children?
Our students deserve a curriculum that opens both hearts and minds. We need a curriculum that allows every student to see a world filled with hope and possibility each time they open a textbook or look through their classroom window. After all, isn't it the frame that shapes what we see?
Dr. Kristopher Wells started his professional career as a K-12 classroom teacher. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child & Youth Care and holds the Canada Research Chair in the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth at Macewan University.