Borderline space for voice

Abstract

Being on the borderline as a student in higher education is not always negative, to do with marginalisation, exclusion and having a voice that is vulnerable. Paradoxically, being on the edge also has positive connections with integration, inclusion and having a voice that is strong. Alternative understandings of the concept of borderline space can encourage rather than inhibit the realisation and expression of the student voice in higher education. In this paper, the idea of the student voice is problematised as having three dimensions: an epistemological voice, or a voice for knowing; a practical voice, or a voice for acting and doing; and an ontological voice, or a voice for being and becoming. It is argued that the third dimension, a voice for being and becoming, can be developed through its relationship with borderline space. Borderline spaces possess particular characteristics that have the potential to enhance rather than silence the student voice. Certain qualities in borderline spaces foster the inclusion rather than the exclusion of diverse students’ voices. Borderline space, whether external or internal, offers students unexpected possibilities both individually and collectively to come more fully into their own voices for being and becoming.