Constructing Knowledge Together: Classrooms as Centers of Inquiry and Literacy

Children entering schools today come from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and many have to learn a second or third language to take advantage of the opportunities offered by public education. Under such conditions, what should be the goals for literacy learning and how can teachers ensure that all children are enabled to achieve them?

The book answers these questions, providing a richly detailed interplay of case histories with discussions of literary and sociocultural theory of learning and teaching. Together, they offer a framework for teachers to reflect on their goals and practices, inspiring them to become innovators in the classroom.

Gordon Wells is a Professor of Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Toronto. He teaches and researches in the fields of language, literacy and learning in the Department of Curriculum and in the Joint Centre for Teacher Development.

Gen Ling Chang-Wells is a researcher and teacher. As a researcher, she has worked in two major educational research projects in Canada, in which one of her responsibilities was to help teachers define and examine their classroom inquiries. As a teacher, she has worked at university, secondary, and elementary levels. At present she is with the Toronto Board of Education, teaching a multilingual third and fourth grade class in an inner city school.