Abstract
The 2020 resurgence of Black Lives Matter (BLM) mobilised students in England to demand greater representation of racially minoritised voices in English curriculums—a call highlighted by stark inequity: just 1.5% of GCSE texts studied are by racially minoritised authors, despite racially minoritised students comprising 38.0% of the student population. Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), I investigated how 11 secondary school English teachers responded. Through thematic analysis of interview data, aided by a visual timeline stimulus, I examined both the transformative possibilities and the institutional constraints that teachers encountered. Three key findings emerged. First, BLM acted as a definitive catalyst, igniting a pedagogical desire for change. Second, change was facilitated by specific opportunities: student activism, profound engagement with new texts, diverse classrooms and examination boards’ expanded offerings. Third, teachers’ journeys were curtailed by systemic barriers: canon-centric training, critical resource gaps and multifaceted institutional resistance. My study advances CRT in English education by mapping the mechanisms of exclusion that preserve the canon. I propose four evidence-based interventions: integrating CRT into teacher education; centralised funding for inclusive resources; embedding representation standards in Ofsted frameworks; and formalising student curriculum co-design. Ultimately, my research demonstrates that without institutional transformation, the disruptive potential of BLM remains unrealised, perpetuating the exclusionary dominance of the literary canon.