At the 2025 Improving Life Chances and Making Hope Possible Through Education conference, hosted by Edge Hill University’s Faculty of Education, I presented findings from my research on Black Caribbean male students’ experiences with the GCSE literature curriculum. My conference presentation, Beyond the Page: Literature as a Catalyst for Identity and Resistance, introduces the methodological innovation of composite sonic counter-narratives (Solórzano and Yosso, 2002) developed to disseminate research data in ways that are relational, authentic, engaging and accessible. Guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J., 2023; Gillborn, 2024; Ladson-Billings, 2021), narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) and dialogic narrative analysis (Frank, 2012), my study exposes the structural architecture of racism embedded within policies, curricula and everyday interactions, revealing ways in which systemic inequities shape students’ experiences, identities and opportunities for success.
Since the Gove-era reform in the 2010s (Institute for Government, 2022), Eurocentric texts dominate literature classrooms, silencing or distorting the voices and experiences of marginalised students (Elliott et al., 2021). In response to this phenomenon, the collective use of CRT and narrative approaches enable the creation of sonic counter-storytelling spaces. These are methodological environments inspired by the traditions of Griots and Griottes, West African oral historians, storytellers and knowledge-keepers who, for centuries, have preserved community memory and cultural identity through narrative, song and performance (Hale, 2007). Extending the legacy of ancient African storytelling tradition, composite sonic storytelling re-sounds words and experiences – securing spaces where students can safely reclaim their stories, voice cultural knowledge, challenge stereotypes and dominant discourses, and construct new understandings of themselves. By reclaiming oral storytelling as a legitimate and powerful mode of knowledge production, this study transcends the limitations of written dissemination, employing sonic forms of output that amplify marginalised voices while foregrounding authenticity, emotional resonance, and relationality within education research. This method of dissemination disrupts the oppressive logic of the GCSE literature curriculum, simultaneously recentring students’ agency through the stories I tell with them, not for them.
The composite sonic counter-narratives are crafted using the direct words of Black Caribbean male students, drawn from one-to-one narrative interviews. Individual quotes are carefully woven together to form a collective voice. These narratives illuminate ways in which race, identity and power shape students’ perceptions and interpretations of literature as well as their lived experiences. In their reflections, participants illuminate the enduring echo of historical depictions of ‘otherness’ within the GCSE literature curriculum, an ideology intricately woven into their lived realities. By critically engaging with Victorian representations of ‘otherness’ embedded within canonical texts such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the students uncover the persistence of racist ideologies and their intersections with contemporary experiences, exposing enduring struggles with identity, stereotyping, and systemic exclusion. Crucially, the students’ reflections and interpretations challenge dominant readings of the literary canon, reframing racialised texts through critical perspectives to disrupt the assumed neutrality of the curriculum (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995). Their insights interrogate the operation of the GCSE literature curriculum as a predominantly White framework, a site constructed to centre Whiteness and maintain existing power structures (Dixson et al., 2016). The voices within the counter-narratives make clear that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not simply a story about good and evil, morality or science, but one that is inextricably entwined with race, belonging and societal control – inviting us to reconsider how literature reflects and reinforces contemporary power structures.
Ultimately, the students’ interpretations reposition The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an allegory for racial identity, resistance and survival. Through sonic counter-narratives, their voices refuse silence – disrupting canonical interpretations, confronting racialised ideologies embedded in the curriculum, and exposing persistent Victorian fears of “otherness” in contemporary schooling. By inviting audiences to hear – not just read their insights, this study challenges us to reimagine classrooms as spaces where students need not conceal their identity in the pursuit of belonging, but as environments where they can see themselves, hear themselves and know their stories matter. It calls on educators, researchers, policymakers and the wider public to listen differently, teach differently and imagine differently.
To delve deeper into the research findings and to experience the students’ voices, access the poster and composite sonic counternarrative, Unmasking Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, now available on Figshare.
Biographical statement
Keisha-Ann Stewart is a PhD researcher and Graduate Teaching Assistant at Edge Hill University. Her doctoral research explores the experiences of Black Caribbean male students with the literature texts studied at Key Stage 4, examining how these experiences influence their engagement, interpretation, and academic response within English classrooms in England. Her work is grounded in a strong commitment to equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive teaching. Follow her work on ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5090-5287 and LinkedIn at Keisha-Ann Stewart | LinkedIn
References
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Stewart, K. 2025. Beyond the page: Literature as a catalyst for identity and resistance. Edge Hill University. Poster.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.25416/edgehill.29616704.v1 (Accessed: 20 August 2025).
