Chapter 8: Using Selected Culturally Diverse Books to Improve Caribbean K–12 Curricula: A Critical Inclusive Perspective

The population of our planet is more diverse than at any other time in history, and students in classrooms worldwide represent a variety of cultural backgrounds—some embracing more than one heritage. Spoelman and Thomas (1996) stated, “The Caribbean is a crossroads, a point of connection between east and west, between north and south. The African and European, Amerindian and Asian have come together, often unwillingly, to forge an identity out of diversity” (p. 2). Just over 20 years later, educators continue to look for ways to effectively integrate into the curriculum books that reflect the dynamics of the population. Some argue that it does not matter—essential skills such as reading, writing, and critical thinking can be taught with any content. We, the authors, propose a counter argument. We advocate for culturally diverse books as essential material to improve and support a responsive curriculum (Crisp et al., 2016; Dewey, 1932/1990; Jewett, 2011). Culturally diverse literature commonly focuses on “themes centered on race, ethnicity, culture and languages” (Boyd, Causey, & Galda, 2015, p. 379). However, other scholars (Hermann-Wilmarth, 2007; Ostrosky, Mouzouro, Dorsey, Faazza, & Leboeuf, 2015) have suggested expanding these themes to include additional diverse aspects such as disabilities, socioeconomic status, religion, family structure, and sexual and gender identities. A diverse canon of literature will strengthen the current Caribbean curriculum to reach all learners.