English Language Arts · 12th Grade

Active learning ideas

Decolonizing the Curriculum

Active learning helps students confront the complexities of decolonizing the curriculum by moving from abstract discussion to concrete analysis. When students debate, design, and reflect, they practice the critical literacy skills required by CCSS while engaging with real questions about representation in their own education.

• Common Core State Standards
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.9
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1

• 25–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Structured Academic Controversy
• 60 min · Pairs

Structured Academic Controversy: Should Classic Texts Be Replaced?

Assign pairs to argue one of two positions: 'classic texts should remain central' or 'post-colonial texts should replace them.' Each side presents evidence, then pairs switch positions and argue the opposite view. After both rounds, partners work together to write a synthesis that acknowledges the strongest points from both sides.

Justify the importance of decolonizing educational curricula.

Facilitation Tip

During the Structured Academic Controversy, assign roles carefully to ensure students engage with counterarguments rather than just defending a position.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Beyond adding a few diverse authors, what fundamental shifts are necessary to truly decolonize an English curriculum?' Facilitate a Socratic seminar where students build on each other's ideas, citing evidence from readings to support their claims about curriculum design and pedagogical approaches.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Town Hall Meeting
• 50 min · Small Groups

Collaborative Design: Draft a Reading List

Small groups receive a hypothetical 12th grade reading list budget: twelve texts. They must select a list that is both rigorous and representative, justifying each inclusion with a specific rationale. Groups share their lists and the class compares what different groups prioritized.

Analyze the benefits of including diverse literary voices for all students.

Facilitation Tip

In Collaborative Design, provide anchor texts with diverse perspectives as starting points to avoid overwhelming students.

What to look for

Ask students to write on an index card: 'Identify one specific colonial assumption embedded in a traditional curriculum. Then, name one post-colonial text or author that directly challenges this assumption and briefly explain how.'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Who Benefits from This Reading List?

Students examine a traditional 12th grade reading list and a diversified one. They write briefly on who each list benefits and why, share with a partner, then contribute to a whole-class discussion that identifies patterns in both lists.

Design a proposal for incorporating more post-colonial literature into a curriculum.

Facilitation Tip

For Think-Pair-Share, limit the pair discussion to two minutes so students stay focused on analyzing the reading list’s implications.

What to look for

Students work in small groups to draft a proposal for incorporating a specific post-colonial text into a 12th-grade curriculum. They then exchange proposals with another group. Each group provides written feedback on the clarity of the proposal's justification, the relevance of the chosen text, and the feasibility of its integration.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by modeling how to question assumptions in canonical texts before asking students to do the same. Avoid framing the debate as a competition between old and new, and instead focus on how multiple traditions inform our understanding of literature. Research shows that students benefit most when they see decolonization as an ongoing process of revisiting and revising rather than a single correct approach.

Successful learning happens when students move beyond agreeing or disagreeing to analyze how texts shape worldviews, question whose perspectives are centered, and propose changes with clear evidence. Look for students who connect their arguments to specific texts, historical contexts, and classroom discussions.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Structured Academic Controversy, watch for students who claim that decolonizing means removing Shakespeare and other canonical authors entirely.

  Use the Structured Academic Controversy to push students to articulate how a decolonized curriculum might include canonical texts in conversation with others rather than eliminating them. Provide examples of syllabi that recontextualize Shakespeare alongside post-colonial responses to his works.

• During Think-Pair-Share, watch for students who say that curriculum diversification only matters for students of color.

  Use the Think-Pair-Share to ask students to analyze which perspectives benefit from the current reading list and whose voices are marginalized. Provide data on how diverse reading lists improve critical thinking for all students, using this to ground the discussion in evidence.

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Methods used in this brief

• Structured Academic Controversy
• Town Hall Meeting
• Think-Pair-Share