In talking about the often repressive liberatory pedagogy with the privileging of teachers over students, Ellsworth points out the need for dialogue in classroom interactions. She stresses the importance of "what they/we say, to whom, in what context, depending on the energy they/we have for the struggle on a particular day, is the result of conscious and unconscious assessments of the power relations and safety of the situation" (Ellsworth, 1989, p. 313). It is only after we have addressed social identity and power/social relationships articulated through "identities" that we can begin to talk about student participation and the creation of new roles for students and staff. Ellsworth (1989) highlights how curricula in a postmodern approach to pedagogy are built around students' needs and interests with emphasis on classroom analysis, and the rejection of oppression, injustice, inequality and the silencing of marginalised voices.

Parkview School offers children a unique opportunity to engage in learning outside of the school through their creative and unique literacy program. The principal, Robin, has a vision to improve literacy outcomes in her school. She believes that if they really want to see positive changes, they must continually push the boundaries that affect students and their lives. Thus, she created a supplemental literacy program with the belief that action at the school level has a wider impact than just on the students within the classrooms. The program aims to make the case for lifelong learning and literacy and it rallies support and commitment from families to transform these children's homes into ones that provide more opportunity for literacy development. In addition to helping their students, and addressing the power differential, the program is designed to help all family members become more involved by valuing their participation in the program.

This project has tremendous possibilities for extending literacy into the neighbourhood families. Goals are set for the number of projects the school aims to complete within a specified period. Upon completion of an activity, the child is required to fill out a page summarizing the highlights of the project. Each project is valued and counts toward the total.