Whose life is it anyway? The role of digitally mediated life story and narrative in democratizing the discourses and practices of widening participation.
Three empirical papers critically assess the impact and potential of foregrounding life story and digitally mediated narrative in three widening participation (WP) projects carried out in the North-East, South-West and south coast of England. The projects share a critical perspective on deficit discourses in WP theory and practice. The projects draw upon life stories of under-represented students as a way of attending to the politics of representation and the need to diversify WP discourses, utilising digital technologies and participatory methods to foreground power and positioning, representation and ethics in WP work. The papers argue that attending to social justice issues methodologically has broader significance for educational research
