Here you will read about the learning circles we learned about.

You can read a selection of narratives about selected circles.
You can read summaries of what we learned in each community type: urban, rural and Indigenous. You can read snapshots of circles we learned about but did not study in depth.

In our initial scan, we discovered that learning circles are created for many purposes, and are organized in a great variety of community settings.  In Digby, Nova Scotia, The Fisheries Group was organized in cooperation with the Bay of Fundy Marine Resource Centre to learn about fisheries policy.  In Toronto, The Multicultural Women’s Group was organized at Doorsteps Neighbourhood Services, a community organization in North York, to provide a place where women who have recently immigrated to Canada can explore cultural and social issues.  In Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, near Belleville, Ontario, The Family History Group was organized to learn about the tapestry of family histories in the community.

These groups are not always recognized as learning groups.  For example, The Fisheries Group is sometimes seen as an community action group.  The Multicultural Women’s Group is sometimes seen as a support group.  The Family History Group is sometimes seen as a hobby group.  But we discovered that learning was at the core of what these groups do.  Most fundamentally, this learning is about personal and social meaning.  More concretely, members of The Fisheries Group have learned to read complex research documents, participants in the Multicultural Women’s Group have learned skills for everyday living in their new country and participants in The Family History Group have learned about the roots of contemporary Mohawk culture. 

Click on the links below to read our narratives about the groups we worked with in depth:

Urban Circles	Rural Circles	Indigenous Circles
Multicultural Women's Group Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 375kb	The Bay of Fundy Marine Resource Centre Digby, Nova Scotia Download PDF 128kb	Family History Circle Tyendinaga, Ontario Download PDF 100kb
Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC) Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 1.1mb	The Portfolio Group Digby, Nova Scotia Download PDF 325kb	Enaahtig Healing Lodge and Learning Centre Victoria Harbour, Ontario Download PDF 150kb
Health Action Theatre by Seniors (HATS) Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 220kb	Conway Workshop /DALA Group Digby, Nova Scotia Download PDF 175kb	Barrie Native Friendship Centre Barrie, Ontario Download PDF 120kb
Storyteller’s Group, Yonge Street Mission Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 150kb	New Tusket Women's Institute New Tusket , Nova Scotia Download PDF 200kb	Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Allies (AAFNA) Ardoch First Nation, Ontario Download PDF 140kb
Hershare Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 124kb		Craft Circle, Toronto Council Fire Toronto, Ontario Download PDF 120kb
Adult Learning Group Stratford, Ontario Download PDF 220kb
Worker's Heritage Arts Centre (WHAC) Hamilton, Ontario Download PDF 175kb

Click on the links below to read summaries of each area we looked at:

Urban Summary Download PDF 120kb

Rural Summary Download PDF 100kb

Indigenous Summary Download PDF 115kb

Click on the links below to see snapshots of all the groups we looked at:

Urban Snaps Download PDF 44kb

Rural Snaps Download PDF 60kb

Indigenous Snaps Download PDF 632kb

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