What do authors think?

As part of our research into diversity and representation in ELT materials, we spoke to some coursebook writers to see how they felt about the situation, and this formed part of the first presentation we ever did, at IATEFL 2019. A couple of years on, we have decided to expand that pool of opinions and invited several other authors to express how they feel about the current state of inclusion in their books and the industry in general. We asked them:

• Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? Why do you think the situation is as it is?
• Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years?
• In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement?

Hugh Dellar

In terms of advances with regard to diversity and representation over the last ten years, what’s changed I think is that it’s now far more common to hear so-called ‘non-native speakers’ in coursebooks and more common to see the lives, thoughts, feelings, opinions and experiences of non-whites / non-Europeans represented in material. There’s also an acceptance of a wider range of native-speaker accents heard now too.

In addition, many books written for specific local markets like Belgium have been able to include same-sex couples, etc. which is great. In mainstream global ELT material though, things are possibly getting even more conservative than they were before. 

Because of the power of Saudi Arabia and big Catholic universities, LGBTQ+ doesn’t exist at all and – ironically – religion itself doesn’t exist either, so you don’t even get representation of, say, a normal devout Sikh or Muslim very often.

These issues are at least being discussed and some of best talks I’ve seen at IATEFL of late have been from openly gay teachers discussing how this whitewashing makes them feel and how it can be challenged. This is a start, but I think as the web allows an ever-border range of materials to become available, the big publishers are retreating into the core markets and this inevitably means a deep conservatism.

Katherine Bilsborough

I think lots of advances have been made in the last ten years but they aren’t always visible because in lots of cases the materials are made for a local context. On a personal level I’ve managed to publish a story with a wheelchair-user in an online course for primary, a primary lesson plan featuring less traditional families (including same sex parents) for the British Council and an audio with a same-sex couple having a dialogue in online materials for an Italian publisher.

Lindsay Clandfield

I don’t think there have been many advances in the past ten years at all, really. While you will still see more women in less stereotypical roles, and more different races, you won’t have LGBT characters or anything like that.

Maybe what’s needed is more NNS writers, more writers from a variety of backgrounds than what we have now. More varied voices in the writing teams would hopefully mean more varied and diverse perspectives in the material.

Ceri Jones

I think there’s more (lip service to?) ethnic diversity in terms of images – also a move towards gender balance (though still binary) – in terms of voices in recordings, focus of reading texts. I’m finding more openness to dealing with physical disabilities, mobility issues – but not mental health. But it always depends on the project and the publishers and the target markets. There’s still a huge way to go in terms of LGBTQ issues – and I think that’s actually getting worse not better.

Lucy Crichton

1) Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? Why do you think the situation is as it is? 

Yes, I definitely agree. This is a very good question of which the answers are both subtle and crude. The course books I see, (primary), are often for a very specific market, like the private Catholic schools here in Brazil that have a lot of students and a lot of money! They have a strict protocol on what’s acceptable for them.

See this example (which has nothing to do with representation and diversity):  In one book I was writing I had two children sitting on a table talking through string phones to another two under the table, but I was told that the school wouldn’t adopt a book where children were sitting on tables! Was that considered to be improper behaviour for children in a school setting…? For me it was just children playing and inventing…

On a wider scale, I think the difficulty in proper representation is deeply connected to the religious, social and political challenges we face in a country like Brazil. 

Also, I guess the majority of course books are written by middle class white people too so perhaps ethnic minorities are never properly represented and understood. There are so many subtleties and I think we get it wrong most of the time…

2) Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years? 

Yes! In the last few books I’ve been involved in writing, we’ve managed to show wheelchair users, children who are blind, a variety of age ranges respectfully represented, multi racial families with varying skin tones.  We’ve also been aware of making these children the protagonists in stories and not just token images to make the book look inclusive. I almost got a mother openly breastfeeding the other day but it was cut because of the Catholic schools…

3) In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement? 

In my area of writing for children, I think we need to improve the way we represent different types of family, single parents, same sex parents, half brothers and sisters etc, and in a natural way that shows our true dalily lives. Other groups like the LBGTQ community are also not represented at all. We all need to agree on the right terminology to use, and when/how to introduce this diversity to our students. I’m not sure publishing companies have a very clear protocol…

Carlos Gontow

1) Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? Why do you think the situation is as it is?

I absolutely agree. I think publishers are more prejudiced than the users of the books. They assume people won’t buy the book because of some themes, so they just avoid those themes altogether. This has happened to me. I wrote a coursebook, where I was asked to be inclusive, but when I created a character with two fathers, they asked me to change that or the book wouldn’t sell in some areas of Brazil.

2) Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years?

I think so, but there’s still a long way to go.

3) In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement?

I think it’s important that books reflect the real world, show different kinds of people, different kinds or homes, different kinds of lives. One of the big mistakes is to try to show that everyone is the same. People are different, but they can live together.

This idea that “we have to accept differences” is also wrong, because it sounds like someone is superior and they have to accept others.

Claire Venables

1) Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? 

Yes. Very much so. In fact, I spend lots of time looking for and creating supplementary materials to make up for this.

Why do you think the situation is as it is?  

I think the obvious answer is that publishers try to play it as safe as possible to avoid losing sales if the book is seen to address controversial topics.  In YLT there are certain topics that are just off limits (homosexuality is an example).  However, there are changes that can and have been made without any problem.  Here’s an example:  when writing instructions for the art team, I have given specific requests to include children from different ethnic backgrounds, children in wheelchairs, a variety of body types etc.  I have also taken the time to explain why. These suggestions have been incorporated into the images in the books.  So I think a lot of the time, this may be because diversity and inclusion in images inside books are an afterthought for a lot of people.  Especially when the writers are not part of any minority group. If we had more diversity among writers, I think this would be less likely to happen.  

2) Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years?

Yes.  And the existence of Raise Up is a sign of this.  I’ve seen many big names in ELT speaking up about this and new groups and SIGs starting (such as Voices and EVE). I have recently seen that a Brazilian ELT company that does teacher training and materials writing that has created a board of advisors to monitor diversity and inclusion. I think this is an excellent idea and an example for us all. 

3) In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement?

In the young learner area, it’s really hard (if not impossible) to address issues of sexuality.  For example, I was unable to use “The Family Book” by Todd Parr in a project I wrote as they were afraid of not being about to sell it to Catholic Schools.  That was all because on one page of the book there is a family with 2 mums. Aside from the images (the importance of images in children’s materials cannot be underestimated) there could be more inclusion in the content too.  For this, I would love to have people to refer to for advice and ideas on how to improve my writing to include the stories and experiences that are different from my own.

Elaine Hodgson

1) Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? Why do you think the situation is as it is?

Yes, there certainly are social groups that are underrepresented in different kinds of media, and ELT textbooks are not an exception to this rule. There probably isn’t only one reason for that, but I’d say that the main reason is that the ELT market is still very caucasian and middle/upper class created and oriented. It will of course depend on the region and context, but I dare say that most students and teachers of English, as well as most writers, editors, publishers, lectures, fit this profile, and consequently this what we find in books. Changing the status quo requires a lot of introspection, of self-criticism, of critical thinking and courage to question our practices. There are no easy answers or quick solutions, but we have to keep searching, learning and relearning so as to become more aware of the importance of representation in any classroom situation.

2) Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years?

Yes, I do – but at the same time I am concerned about the risk of moving backwards. For example, the way women are represented in coursebooks has definitely changed, as well how different ethnicities are shown. When I started writing, I remember it was difficult to find reasonably good photos of women in certain jobs. They were either totally inappropriate, or really unnatural. The same thing happened when we needed pictures of school children. In photo banks, the children were in general all white, or all black, or all Asian. In other words, it was really difficult to find pictures that showed diversity. When it comes to text, having an article about interesting women and the interesting things they had done was the exception, now they are more common. However, there seems to be a very conservative and even extremist turn in markets, and some situations that are common in everyday life now can cause offense. We are living a delicate moment in which instead of becoming more open-minded and respectful of one another, we run the risk of becoming intolerant. 

3) In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement?

All areas can be improved as we gain a deeper understanding of how diversity – and respect for diversity – is more important in the classroom than ever. As I mentioned above, we have made progress in many different areas and I believe that exposure to different contexts helps build this understanding. This can only be positive in the learning environment. When students see themselves, their families and friends in the books they use, they become more actively involved in the process of learning and they also hopefully become more interested in learning about others. However, if I had to give a very objective answer here, I’d say we still need to look into ageing and into body image more closely and in a more positive light. These two aspects still need to be better represented as a whole. 

Bruno Andrade

1) Regarding diversity and representation in coursebooks, do you agree with our premise that the representation of certain social groups is lacking? Why do you think the situation is as it is? 

In a hetero-cis-white-normative society like ours, it is still a struggle to see minority groups being represented in the materials we use in class simply because the coursebooks we use tend to replicate the society we live in. Representation and the lack thereof molds society and the way systems of oppression work. The importance of representation goes beyond being able to see yourself on a page of a book or on the TV, it means that every time minorities are represented cultural and societal changes are in place. Representation empowers black people, women, LGBTQIA, fat people, older people, people with any sort of mental or physical disability, and it gives every minority strength to keep going and dream of a better world for themselves and their loved ones. The reason why publishing houses hold back from approaching a more inclusive and diverse perspective is not entirely due to a lack of intentionality but instead it is about how their clients will perceive such topics. As Thornbury pointed out: “In ELT publishing the ‘verbal hygiene’ that publishers impose on themselves is motivated less by a wish to assert multicultural values than by the need to avoid offending potential markets.”. Having said that, it’s very important that us teachers/editors/authors avoid being passive consumers of such semiotics. It’s everyone’s duty to bring the topic of diversity and inclusion into everything we do in our lives. Show your discontentment with the lack of diversity (not only in publishing material but also at your school) whenever you have a chance.

2) Do you think any advances have been made in the last ten years? 

Very little has been done. But teachers who self publish (take Raise Up! as an example) are pushing these discussions into the market and hopefully publishing houses have shown some degree of interest in following suit. It’s a long and hard process but we can’t give up. The more teachers talk about diversity and inclusion and the more these discussions permeate all aspects of education, the faster materials will have to reflect these realities. 

3) In which areas do you think there is still room for improvement? 

There has to be an understanding that diversity doesn’t begin and end with racial issues. It’s important that teachers are knowledgeable of a broader spectrum within diverstity and inclusion that emcompasses not only identity (racial issues included), but also sexuality and gender.