Multiple voices: exploring fluid identities in the advanced programme English experience

Abstract

This study is focused on Advanced Programme English (AP English), which is an additional subject registered through the Independent Examinations Board. The subject is aimed at grades ten to twelve and it is dedicated to the study of English literature. This study explores the AP English experience from the learner perspective, thus it highlights the potential opportunities of learner participation in AP English. In a traditional school context, emphasis is placed on assessment. As a response to this achievement driven focus, this study instead seeks to understand the social context of AP English, and the way in which the AP English experience has been integrated into the learners’ lives. The focus of this study is to understand the AP English perspective through the lens of identity, and the way in which identity permeates all experiences of AP English as a whole. The construction of identity is explored through the activities of reading and writing. These are integral to the AP English experience. By incorporating a number of different perspectives from educational and literary spheres to make sense of the AP English experience, this study broadens conceptualisations of the learner perspective. It also complements traditional conceptualisations of education by including commentary from a diverse range of voices. This study characterises AP English as an alternative space that has the potential to provide a sense of belonging for its learners. The AP English social context offers learners the opportunity to construct their identities in relation to the literature they study, and to their classmates. This meaningful learner engagement may provide learners with the space and freedom to construct their identities in an authentic, self-reflexive manner. Various theories on identity support how AP English can provide a platform for learners to inhabit multiple voices or perspectives. By using literature as a reference point, learners have the opportunity to make sense of themselves through a multiplicity of perspectives. This study therefore provides insight into the way AP English might facilitate a flexible approach to conceptualising identity, which is often overlooked in the education context, thus this study advocates the AP English experience as an important aspect of identity construction. On a larger scale, it places the learner perspective at the forefront, and in this way offers an alternative conceptualisation to traditional, assessment focused schooling methods