Contorting identities: figuring literacy and identity in adolescent worlds

Abstract

This paper explores connections and disconnects between identity and literacy for a group of adolescents in a second level classroom setting. We build on Mead and Vygotsky’s conceptualisations of identity formation as an intricate emergent happening constantly formed/reformed by people, in their interactions with others [Mead, G. H. 1999. Play, School, Society. Edited by M. J. Deegan. Oxford: Peter Lang; Vygotsky, L. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press]. This paper will set to explore the impact of this on adolescent literacy practice, student choice and agency [Lewis, C., P. Ensico, and E. M. Moje. 2007. “Reframing Sociocultural Research on Literacy: Identity, Agency, and Power.” The Electronic Journal of English as a Second Language 12 (3): 1–205]. The concept of figured worlds plays a fundamental role in our theorisation of adolescent literacy and identity. Literacy and identity remain interwoven in very complex ways for adolescents as they attempt to make sense and meaning from in and out of school experiences [Burnett, C., J. Davies, G. Merchant, and J. Rowsell. 2014. New Literacies Around the Globe: Policy and Pedagogy. New York, NY: Routledge; Davies, J. 2013. “(I’m)Material Girls Living in (in)Material Worlds: Identity Curation Through Time and Space.” Presentation at UKLA Conference, Liverpool]. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research was used in carrying out this exploration with a thematic approach to data analysis. The findings of the exploration identify that there is a disconnect between identity in and out of school. We then see the struggle students have in coming to terms with their various figured worlds, and varying identities in given scenarios. There is an emphasis on the dated nature of some prescribed texts for study on the English course and the need for a review of these to bridge the scholastic and social divide evident from the findings. This paper explores the literacy and identity experiences of one group of adolescents alongside their opinions about the English literacy curriculum.