‘You’re Deeping It’: Pupil Voice, Moral Positioning and the Social Performance of Ethical Reading in the English Classroom

This article explores how ethical reading is shaped by pupil voice, teacher authority, peer recognition and classroom talk. Drawing on classroom episodes from an initial teacher education placement, it questions whether literature automatically produces empathy or independent moral thought. It argues that ethical interpretation is socially shaped, influenced by teacher authority, and sometimes performed for others, while asking how English teaching can help pupils examine moral positions with greater care, independence and complexity.