In grade ten advanced English, I read Beloved, by Toni Morrison. I saw it through because that’s the kind of kid I was and I’d finally been given the chance to read a book by a Black author. But, when I re-read it in my 2nd year of university
1/5

and had to do research just to understand it, I realized that my well-meaning high school teacher who’d included it in his ‘multicultural’ literature unit hadn’t done the thinking required of educators attempting to be more inclusive.
2/5

Placement of books by grade and level must be *fluid*. However, when teachers automatically place texts by Indigenous, racialized, and/or marginalized authors into junior courses without thinking about the richness, complexity, and ‘difficult’ knowledge
3/5

embedded within them, it can undermine the work.

If inappropriately placed, students may turn away from these texts out of frustration and lack of maturity and understanding.
4/5

Teachers need to have more intimate knowledge of these authors (and their students) so they know how to better situate these texts within their courses.
5/5