Literacies of Engagement in Regional, Rural and Remote Areas of the Northern Territory: Building Bridges to Classrooms

In regional, rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory effective literacy and numeracy post compulsory education reflects regional students' literacies in terms of their social, physical, historical and cultural location. The impact of any disparity between those students' realities and assumptions of school institutions, curriculum and educators may impact on their engagement in learning experiences that involve literacy and identity as literate learners. Importantly, people's identity or knowledge and view of themselves, and the way they are identified by others, determines the way they interact within their literacy domains. The literacy domains people operate within can include the workplace, social situations, formal and informal learning, participation in community and cultural activities. When these are not represented or legitimised by formal education situations, learners can have difficulty placing themselves within the literacy learning context leading to feelings of inadequacy, irrelevance or antagonism to the learning experience. Addressing these issues means a shift in the way we define, understand, assess and interact with learners' literate practices and literacy learning. We need to build bridges between students, educators and communities' understanding of each other's knowledge and use of literacies to develop learning experiences that support regional students and communities' identities.