Decolonising the School Library
Ella Taylor
Harris Westminster Sixth Form
Do students feel comfortable challenging what they see on library shelves? Are they given a platform to discuss the texts provided and promoted to them in class? Is student feedback welcomed within the school community or is it easy dismissed as they aren’t the ‘professionals’ working in the building? Do we acknowledge and listen to students’ thoughts on what decolonising the discipline means and how they feel this should be done?
Students offer an interesting and often untapped perspective on the texts that they have access to across the school day. This is, however, sometimes not welcomed by staff. This isn’t necessarily due to sinister reasons but can be due to time pressures and curriculum limitations – is changing an entire scheme of work a feasible and attractive task to complete over the summer? Some subject curricula also predominantly centre the white, Western perspective – are we seeking opportunities to address and challenge this? Literacy and reading CPD can become bogged down in the practicalities of teaching disciplinary literary or oracy, does it often teaching staff the space to discuss the texts they are using for students to practice and hone these skills?
Within my own setting, I have worked to promote and support students in critically questioning both the library collection and the texts that they receive in class. This has been done through different platforms such as the Library Committee, lectures, our in-house reading programme as well as providing anonymised feedback channels to ensure students feel that their voices are heard. In addition to this, library provided CPD for staff has also raised the need for constant and reflective questioning of the texts that we share in school and if we are indeed stuck in a rut with the same standard texts being used as the default resources. Do we allow students a platform to discuss and promote the texts that reflect their own cultural identities or instead shy away from these due to a lack of staff familiarity?
