What does decentring the human in literacy research do?

Purpose The article aims to reimagine literacy education by challenging dominant discourses that define literacy as an individual, print-based, measurable skill. It asks: what becomes possible when we understand literacy as a distributed, relational process shaped by human and nonhuman forces? Design/methodology/approach This article draws on posthumanist theory and data from a doctoral study conducted with children in Australian schools. Using the figuration of decentring the human, the study employed multimodal methods –including interviews, photography and field notes – to explore how literacy emerges through children’s entanglements with digital technologies. Findings Vignettes featuring children’s interactions with mobile phones, voice search, autocomplete and algorithms illustrate how literacy is co-produced through affective and technological relations. Children’s practices, such as searching, watching and composing with digital tools, are not distractions but expressions of becoming-literate in a more-than-human world. Research limitations/implications The study’s qualitative design offers depth rather than generalisability. While focused on a small group of participants, the findings raise broader questions about the epistemological assumptions underpinning literacy education and assessment, especially in an era shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) and platform logics. Originality/value This article contributes a novel theoretical framing to the field of literacy studies by positioning technologies as co-authors and literacy as a sociomaterial event. It opens space for more ethical and inclusive pedagogies that attend to the lived realities of children’s digital lives. By decentring the human, it invites new imaginaries for what literacy education could become.