Inside the new English course that’s ditching Shakespeare for Indigenous authors and will soon be mandatory across the TDSB – Toronto Star
Sept. 23, 2024
Indigenous educators and students say the new curriculum is an important step toward truth and reconciliation.
You won’t find Shakespeare in Michelle de Braux and Tobie Loukes’ Grade 11 English class. Instead, their students may be studying the works of Indigenous authors like Tanya Talaga, Duke Redbird and Lee Maracle.
De Braux and Loukes are teachers at the Toronto District School Board’s Kapapamahchakwew — Wandering Spirit School, which provides an Indigenous-focused education by centring the voices, cultures and values of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. But their Grade 11 class is not unique.
The pair are just two of approximately 370 educators across the board who are currently teaching this course at some 100 Toronto schools. By the end of the academic year, the new Grade 11 English class will be offered at all 114 high schools in the TDSB. It’s part of a broader plan to replace the existing curriculum and make the course mandatory for all students — a necessary change, educators and students say, that will help promote truth and reconciliation, and shine an important spotlight on Indigenous perspectives.
