Constructing multiple subjectivities in classroom literacy contexts

This study demonstrates the ways in which students in a multi-age, literature-based classroom were continually in the process of constructing and reconstructing their subjectivities based on the demands of the particular social setting. Using different theoretical lenses, I offer a critique of essentialist views of individuals by focusing on three students in a variety of classroom literacy contexts. Each of the three students responded quite differently in each of the settings; their participation was influenced not only by their own gender, social class, and ethnicity and that of the other participants, but also by the task in which they engaged. I argue that each theory adds another layer of interpretation of students' interactions; these interpretations may provide opportunities for developing a more sophisticated approach to multicultural education.