Influence of gender and literature forms on literature circle engagement

Abstract

This is an extension of an action research project conducted in a rural high school in western Wisconsin over the course of three months. The original project looked at literature circles and the roles that gender may play in influencing the dynamics and discussions of the groups. Specifically, the focus was whether literature circles would work more effectively in single gender or multi-gender groupings. The extension of the research evolved from an observation that graphic novels were influencing male engagement more than any other literature form introduced to the literature circles. A class of juniors and seniors who took the elective literature class titled Novels was used in the study. They were given a choice of novel to read as a literature circle and were then given specific roles inside that circle. Observations were made on meeting days and data was collected through recordings of group discussions, written evaluations by students and a student survey at the end of the unit. Evidence pointed to the conclusion that there was higher engagement and efficacy with the novel if the literature circle was comprised of single gender students as well as graphic novels being the literature form with the highest engagement level for males.