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Hugh Gundlach, Lecturer in Education, The University of Melbourne

Women have finally achieved parity on VCE English reading lists, but there are fewer classics

Eliott Reyna/Unsplash

What makes something worthy of study and inclusion on a school’s text list? Is it right to remove or add a literary work based on the attributes of the person who wrote it?

Historically, making changes to what is sometimes called the “pale, male, stale” literary canon can cause a backlash, yet diversity is vital. The texts students read are vehicles for the ideas they are exposed to, the values they subscribe to, and the attitudes they will acquire.

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