Abstract

Importance
The intensifying pressures of neoliberal governance- characterised by the prioritisation of market-oriented principles, standardised outcomes, and competition within the Further Education (FE) sector in England- restrict autonomy and relational pedagogy, which emphasises relationships, reciprocity, and collaborative learning between educators and students. These pressures create fragmentation, surveillance, and deficit discourses that systematically disadvantage multilingual educators and students. Understanding how migrant educators navigate these contested institutional spaces is vital for developing equitable educational practices that support professional identity formation and institutional transformation.
Research Gap
Yet research remains limited on how migrant educators' lived experiences illuminate the intersection of power, identity, and pedagogy within neoliberal educational contexts, particularly pertaining to the relational emergence of professional identity and resistance practices.
Objective
This autoethnographic study examines how a Central and Eastern European (CEE) migrant lecturer, positioned as "white but not quite," navigates contested institutional spaces and develops professional identity through literacy practices that both reproduce and resist neoliberal governance structures.
Methodology
Data were generated through autoethnographic inquiry and analysed using Karen Barad's agential realism (which views individuals, objects, and knowledge as interrelated and co-constituted through interactions) and Bracha Ettinger's matrixial theory (which emphasises the shared, relational aspects of subjectivity). The study introduces the concept of 'matrixial literacies,' referring to literacy practices that emerge from relational, co-creative processes rather than individual skill development. This approach examines how professional identity emerges through relationships and interactions, as opposed to individualised skill acquisition.
Implications
The findings suggest that educators and institutions should adopt a politically engaged and historically informed approach to literacy and professional development that acknowledges education's entanglement with coloniality and neoliberalism. The study proposes 'PhEmaterialist matrixial pedagogy' as an alternative educational framework; this approach integrates feminist, materialist, and matrixial theories to privilege vulnerability, co-emergence, and ethical transformation over standardisation and competitive individualism, thus creating space for emancipatory practices centred on relationality, criticality, and social justice.