Exploring gender equity in a multimodal novel study.

This study documents one teacher's attempts to address a gender gap in language arts. Concerned about the interest and achievement of grade seven boys in a northern Canadian resource town, the researcher developed a gender-equitable novel study based on research recommendations. Using professional inquiry that drew on action research cycles and traditions of critical reflection, she taught the unit to gender separated groups of boys and girls. Although student choice of mulitmodal [sic] activities appeared to support learning for both genders, the key finding was related to teacher learning. The researcher developed awareness of classroom power dynamics and resolved to shift from an emphasis on controlling students to facilitating their learning, which corresponds to a systemic shift from sorting to learning as the primary function of schools. The study contributes an example of the power of professional inquiry to shift paradigmatic assumptions to support substantial and sustainable changes in practice. --P. ii.