Strengthening Reading Literacy and Creative Writing for Teenagers Through Community Literature Workshops Based on Local Culture

Abstract

The low interest in reading and writing skills among adolescents is a fundamental problem in Indonesian education today, especially at the elementary and secondary levels. This condition is exacerbated by the dominance of digital media, which is often consumerist and does not encourage critical literacy skills. This community service program aims to strengthen adolescents' reading and creative writing literacy through a local culture-based approach within the Community Literature Workshop. This program adopts a constructivist and transformative literacy approach enriched by Capra's theory of cultural ecoliteracy and Freire's participatory learning. The method used is community-based training with a workshop model, literary discussions, and creative writing practices based on local culture. The activity was carried out for three months in a local literacy community, involving 30 adolescents aged 13–17 years. The results of the community service program showed a significant increase in the ability to write poetry, short stories, and cultural essays. Evaluation using pre-test and post-test instruments and observation sheets showed an average increase of 43% in aspects of expression, imagination, and writing structure. In conclusion, the local culture-based Community Literature Workshop is effective as a space for empowering adolescent literacy and strengthening their cultural identity.