Although literature has extensively documented the stereotypes of developing learning communities in schools through book clubs— especially to improve literacy— little is revealed about varied indicators of improvements, such as student self-identification, authentic dialogues, and transforming small groups into learning communities. In this respect, formal efforts on adopting book clubs to improve literacy in Saudi Arabia are simply absent. This thesis presents research findings that seek to explore the effect of book clubs on improving literacy and building a learning community among seventh-grade, under-performing students in Canada. This thesis is contextualized through a thorough review of related literature and discussion of findings from classroom observations, and students’ interviews. The completion of this thesis indicates positive, causal relationships between using a book club as a learning tool and building a learning community, thus improving literacy. The research concludes with implications for using book clubs in Saudi Arabia.

Although literature has extensively documented the stereotypes of developing learning communities in schools through book clubs— especially to improve literacy— little is revealed about varied indicators of improvements, such as student self-identification, authentic dialogues, and transforming small groups into learning communities. In this respect, formal efforts on adopting book clubs to improve literacy in Saudi Arabia are simply absent. This thesis presents research findings that seek to explore the effect of book clubs on improving literacy and building a learning community among seventh-grade, under-performing students in Canada. This thesis is contextualized through a thorough review of related literature and discussion of findings from classroom observations, and students’ interviews. The completion of this thesis indicates positive, causal relationships between using a book club as a learning tool and building a learning community, thus improving literacy. The research concludes with implications for using book clubs in Saudi Arabia.

Collaborative planning is an often-debated approach in conjunction with attaining more sustainable cities. Many models were theorized to help implement a more collaborative planning process, such as when municipalities employ densification to grow the city sustainably. However, not all planning processes that are collaborative are also rational. Hence, this thesis is interested in comprehending Västerås Municipality’s planning process through performing a case study regarding DP-1858. To that end, this thesis will follow Innes & Booher (2018) Collaborative rationality theory and use its DIAD model as a lens to understand the positions of the stakeholders involved in the DP-1858 case. In the same vein, to probe for how the collaborative planning process regarding DP-1858 resonates with the DIAD model of Collaborative rationality.Nevertheless, the reaction of the Hammarby-residents raises the need for framing to understand if a concept such as insurgent citizenship is sensible to norms. Thus, it is essential to know how insurgent citizenship manifests itself in a Swedish context. The method used to collect primary data was semi-structured interviews with elite respondents. Among other conclusions, this study found enough evidence suggesting that the planning process in conjunction with DP-1858, even though having embedded collaborative mechanisms, has critical shortcomings when contrasted with the collaborative rationality DIAD model. In the same vein, insurgent citizenship can occur even when laws were respected while norms were not.