Engaging Indigenous Students in Literacy Skill development: a capacity-based approach in teaching

There has been much emphasis in higher education internationally on the need for developments in learning and teaching to be supported by evidence-based practice (Cousin et al, 2005) which requires more research in classroom practice. This paper attempts to share a capacity-based approach in teaching Indigenous students in a literacy unit which provides clear evidence of effective learning and a significant impact on strengthening the students’ self-confidence in learning. Drawing from a research in teaching and learning, this paper will show how Indigenous students are better influenced in learning by the lecturer’s responsiveness to their learning needs in literacy skill development which has a strong impact on their capacity building. Poor literacy skills have long been the biggest barrier for Indigenous students in succeeding their courses in higher education. In order to help students overcome the barrier, the lecturer as a researcher explored a responsive way to students’ learning needs throughout the unit delivery which fully engaged students in their literacy development. Encouragingly, the students have gained better understanding of the domains of literacy learning and become more active learners. This paper hopes to increase awareness of the teachers of Indigenous students that there is a growing demand for the development of the scholarship of teaching to better serve disadvantaged students. It is also hoped to show that grounding teaching clearly in the needs and interests of students can achieve better learning outcomes and that explicit teaching plays a key role in supporting students’ learning.