The Activist Learner: Inquiry, Literacy, and Service to Make Learning Matter

This dynamic book explores a variety of ways teachers can integrate service learning to enliven their classroom, meet the unique developmental needs of their students, and satisfy the next generation of standards and assessments. The authors demonstrate how inquiry-based teaching with service learning cultivates, requires, and rewards literacy. Through the pursuit of service-learning projects, students learn how to develop perspectives on real-world issues and to develop intrapersonal and interpersonal connections and compassion. At the same time, students acquire literacies essential for creating a culture of civic engagement and for mastering the Common Core.

A powerful blend of practice, theory, and inspiration, The Activist Learner:

• Provides examples that combine inquiry and service learning to help students develop and apply literacy and disciplinary knowledge.
• Helps teachers move from information-centered teaching to sociocultural apprenticeship learning -centered teaching.
• Promotes teaching that develops students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.
• Includes templates for conducting inquiry units and charts with connections to the Core and next generation standards.
• A free online supplement includes additional unit templates, activity prompts, and other resources.

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm is a distinguished professor of English education and founding director of Boise State Writing Project, Boise State University. Whitney Douglas is an assistant professor of English at Boise State University . Sara W. Fry is an associate professor of education at Boise State University.