Exploring Literacy and Social Identity Transformation in Marginalized Communities

Abstract

Literacy is widely recognized as a key foundation of education and human development, shaping opportunities for participation, agency, and empowerment within society. In marginalized communities, however, literacy extends beyond technical skills and functions as a transformative social process that reshapes identity and belonging. Despite this significance, little is known about how individuals themselves experience such transformations, leaving unanswered the question of how literacy programs influence the lived reality of social identity among marginalized populations. This study applies an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) to explore the subjective meanings attached to literacy participation and to reveal how these experiences contribute to identity reconstruction. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with adults engaged in community-based literacy programs and analyzed thematically to capture the essence of participants’ narratives. The analysis revealed four interrelated themes: rediscovering self-worth, shifting social recognition, building confidence and agency, and experiencing literacy as a bridge to collective transformation. These themes demonstrate that literacy programs not only improve functional skills but also empower individuals to redefine themselves and strengthen their role within the community. The findings highlight that literacy should be understood as a lived phenomenon, emphasizing identity, empowerment, and social inclusion as central outcomes. By foregrounding participants’ experiences, this study advances current knowledge of literacy as a social practice and offers insights for designing literacy initiatives that go beyond technical training. However, this study is limited by its small sample size and context-specific focus, which may not fully represent the diversity of marginalized groups in other settings. Future research should expand the scope to include comparative or longitudinal designs to examine how literacy-related identity transformations evolve over time and across different cultural contexts. These results provide valuable implications for theory, practice, and future research in education and community development.