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Philadelphia High School for Girls
2025 Spring Enrollment: “Diverse Children’s Literature: Literary Art, Cultural Artifact and Contested Terrain”
Rebecca Cohen began her teaching career in 1996 and currently teaches English for 11th and 12th graders. Throughout her career she has been passionate about youth activism and has been involved in different programs centered on student inclusivity. Rebecca was drawn to TIP by the opportunity to be more creative within the structure of her curriculum and learn from other committed teachers.
Through her participation in the TIP seminar, Rebecca explored the importance of multicultural books in classrooms, how to categorize the authenticity of books, and current publishers that feature authors from diverse backgrounds. After these learning experiences, Rebecca implemented multicultural literature into her classroom and helped students write their own narratives.
Rebacca’s primary goal was to help her students learn that their own narratives do not need to replicate popular tropes such as saviors or victims. Instead, she focused on teaching students that their diverse identities make for heroic stories in themselves. The curriculum unit she wrote in her TIP seminar gave students the opportunity to write and present their own stories to elementary schools where other children could read about representations of all cultures, abilities, interests, and more.