“Not a Story to Pass On”? An Analysis of How Studying “Beloved” By Toni Morrison Can Contribute Towards Decolonial Key Stage 5 English Literature Curricula.

Powell, Caroline (2026) “Not a Story to Pass On”? An Analysis of How Studying “Beloved” By Toni Morrison Can Contribute Towards Decolonial Key Stage 5 English Literature Curricula. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. ISSN 1945-2829

Abstract

This case study evaluates how studying Toni Morrison’s trauma-focused novel, Beloved, contributed towards decolonial pedagogy within a Key Stage 5 (KS5) English Literature curriculum. The research involved an A-Level English Literature class of nine students at a co-educational independent boarding school in northern England. During students’ study of Beloved, a Capabilities Approach (CA) was used to evaluate how their learning challenged epistemic injustices to instead cultivate students’ “epistemic democracy” (Anderson, E. 2012. “Epistemic Justice as a Virtue of Social Institutions.” Social Epistemology 26:163–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2011.652211) within the classroom and their “epistemic contributions” (Fricker, M. 2015. “Epistemic Contribution as a Central Human Capability.” In The Equal Society: Essays on Equality in Theory and Practice, edited by G. Hull, 73–89. London: Lexington Books) to decolonial criticality. Evaluation then considers how these contributed towards pedagogical “repair” (Walker, M. 2024. “Repair in Education Spaces.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 25:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2023.2297917). Data collection methods included participant observations and students’ written journals, classwork and focus groups. Thematic coding informed analysis. Findings identify that small steps towards decoloniality were achieved. Analysing Beloved illuminated the traumatic reality and legacy of slavery which sparked students’ critical engagement and “epistemic contributions” (Fricker, M. 2015. “Epistemic Contribution as a Central Human Capability.” In The Equal Society: Essays on Equality in Theory and Practice, edited by G. Hull, 73–89. London: Lexington Books) both verbally and in writing. These reflected some “transformational learning,” which perhaps constituted some pedagogical “repair” (Walker Citation2024) of historical injustices. However, confronting racial issues in the classroom exposed some “testimonial” and “hermeneutical” injustice felt by participants (Fricker Citation2015). Findings may support educators developing decolonial pedagogy and curricula.