This study examines the effectiveness of a community of learning, through a book club, on student performance for students underachieving in literacy. This first chapter introduces the study, the researcher and how they are situated within the research, and the context and rationale of the study. The second and third chapters detail current research in literacy, learning, and communities of learning. They detail the methodological approach and rationale. The fourth and fifth chapters explain what took place during the study, what it means, and why this is important for teachers and teacher practice. Despite its limitations, this study finds that communities of learning, established through a book club, positively affect both academic and social performance. Book clubs create interconnectedness between its members that increases student engagement, which increases the amount of authentic dialogue. From this, book club members collaboratively co-construct knowledge resulting in general improvement, both academically and socially.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/29491 |
| Date | 11 August 2011 |
| Creators | Walters, Robert |
| Contributors | Kooy, Mary |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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