Abstract
Too few high school students see themselves reflected in the traditional literary canon experienced in U.S. high schools (Berchini, 2016; Burns et al., 2013; Schieble, 2014; Stallworth et al., 2006). Further, there is a demographic gap between California’s teachers and students. It is imperative to understand what factors influence high school ELA teachers’ text selection decisions to understand why teachers either stick to or move away from the traditional literary canon, a canon that reflects Whiteness as the default and dominant racial perspective (Borsheim-Black & Sarigianides, 2019).The purpose of this study was to describe what factors influence northern California’s high school English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ text selection practices. More specifically, the goal was to understand what teachers consider when choosing texts for their classes and determine to what extent teachers’ choices are correlated with their characteristics, students’ characteristics, teachers’ beliefs and knowledge, and policy or institutional factors.
A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. Out of 480 possible participants, 87 high school ELA teachers responded to the survey, and 11 teachers participated in one-on-one interviews. Key findings indicated institutional factors, such as access to resources and the school budget, were the most significant factors influencing teachers’ text selection choices. Additional results showed statistically significant correlations between students’ characteristics and using contemporary texts, culturally relevant texts, texts written by women and racial/ethnic minorities, and text that includes positive portrayals of characters that are racial/ethnic minorities.
Recommendations for policy, practice, and leadership are offered to inform educational leaders about the challenges that prevent teachers from including texts more representative and appropriate for California’s diverse student population.