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What counts? Inclusion and diversity in the senior English curriculum

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Abstract

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.

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Notes

  1. In the state of Victoria, all students who wish to complete their senior school certificate are mandated to study one of three English subjects (English, Literature and English Language). This study focuses on the most popular of these subjects, ‘VCE English’.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Economic and Social Participation Research Initiative and the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English whose generous contributions made this research possible. This research could not have been completed without the work of our coding team who supported us to analyse 360 texts. We would also like to acknowledge the feedback and support given by our colleagues Prue Gil, Paul Martin, Emily Fraley and Francis Plagne.

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Correspondence to Alexander Bacalja.

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Bliss, L., Bacalja, A. What counts? Inclusion and diversity in the senior English curriculum. Aust. Educ. Res. 48, 165–182 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-020-00384-x

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