Distorting reflections: Senior Secondary English in New South Wales and representations of rurality’

As the only compulsory subject in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (NSW), the significance of subject English in shaping young people's worldviews and identities is considerable. The NSW Senior Secondary English (Stage 6) syllabus, in particular, exerts a unique influence on student outcomes, university selection ranks, and broader societal engagement. This article supports these claims by marshalling statistical analyses and an investigation of the NSW Senior Secondary English Prescriptions (set texts): our statistical analyses reveal disparities in access, participation and achievement across geographical, social and gender lines that impact negatively on students in rural parts of NSW; our investigation of prescribed texts demonstrates that rural disadvantage in curriculum access, participation and achievement is exacerbated by an implicitly ‘literary’ hierarchy in subject English, one that both neglects and distorts rural settings and perspectives. We show that, where rural settings and perspectives are present in texts studied as part of Senior Secondary English in NSW, their depiction is inauthentic and negative, a failing that underscores the need for spatial-justice-oriented activism to challenge and reshape such depictions. Consequently, by outlining perspectives on how rural disadvantage in curriculum access, participation and achievement is produced, the article sheds light on this hidden process. The article ends with a call to ‘ruralise’ subject English in ways more inclusive of authentic rurality. Such ruralisation would, we believe, validate rural students’ identities and expand the worldview of all students to include a rural perspective. Both outcomes would contribute to the sustainability of rural life in Australia.