Critically Reading the Canon: Culturally Sustaining Approaches to a Prescribed Literature Curriculum

Culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012) has emerged as an essential way to value the evolution of culture among diverse learners. Discussions around teaching in a culturally sustaining manner in the English language arts classroom, specifically when teaching literary analysis, often address the need to incorporate multicultural literature so that students are exposed to stories told from diverse perspectives. However, the reality in many schools is that teachers do not have ownership over their curriculum in a way that allows them to choose which texts they read and study with students. In this context, culturally sustaining teaching presents a difficult challenge. In this literature review, the author presents classroom strategies that apply a critical literacy lens to analysis of canonical literature as a way to create a place for culturally sustaining teaching within a prescribed curriculum.