Expanding the Canon: How Diverse Literature Can Transform Literacy Learning

This brief tackles this issue of expanding the canon of literature from only the classics and award winners to a wide array of works including various perspectives and peoples. The brief states, “Rich possibilities for pedagogy can emerge from literature collections in which all cultures are encompassed, none are excluded, and the site of cross-connections and nuance become the critical points to drive home. For students to recognize their own communities in the books they are taught or self-select is critical to the personal engagement that drives deeper literacy.”