Postdigital English education: a productive narrative for resisting neoliberal logics

This paper situates itself within debates surrounding the impact of neoliberalism on English education and proposes postdigital English as an alternative narrative. Drawing on Han’s assertion that narratives are crucial for creating meaning and fostering social cohesion, this paper argues that a postdigital narrative for English education produces new forms of perception which counter the limitations imposed by neoliberal frameworks. The tension between neoliberal constraints and emerging postdigital possibilities are explored through the analysis of one experienced English teacher’s negotiation of the digital/English nexus. Findings suggest that while secondary English teachers are constrained by current neoliberal structures, reimagining English differently is possible through postdigital frameworks. This reimagining embraces the entanglement of human and technological elements, recognises the blurred boundaries between digital and analogue, and fosters critical engagement with the socio-material complexities of contemporary communication.