Abstract

This work explores the pedagogies of engagement, incorporating a focus on the identity resources that learners bring with them. It illustrates literacy pedagogy that begins with the cultural knowing and identity of the learners and describes the strategies that were implemented, to enhance the self esteem of students and assist them in transition as they engaged with the educational environment. This enhancement is transformative in a much broader sense, not simply in instrumental ways such as job-readiness, but in terms of specific skills development as a foundation for capacity building and reconnection to culture.