IJECE Published Articles

Abstract This study examined how community engagement supports literacy development and the formation of reading culture among learners in geographically isolated island schools in the Division of Dinagat Islands. Anchored on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist Theory, Epstein’s School-Family-Community Partnership Theory, and reading engagement perspectives, the study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase explored the views and experiences of teachers, learners, parents, and community stakeholders through focus group discussions, interviews, observation, and document analysis. The qualitative findings informed a quantitative survey administered to 119 teachers and 83 Grade 4 to Grade 6 pupils. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. Results showed that community engagement in literacy support activities was consistently high, with a grand mean of 4.7370. Reading culture was also highly developed as perceived by teachers (M = 4.7256) and pupils (M = 4.6313). Correlation analysis showed that family-based literacy support (r = .186, p = .008) and community-based literacy activities (r = .262, p < .001) were significantly associated with reading culture, whereas school-community collaboration and resource mobilization were not significantly correlated. Regression analysis indicated that community engagement significantly predicted reading culture, F(4, 199) = 11.396, p < .001, explaining 18.6% of the variance. Community-based literacy activities emerged as the strongest positive predictor (β = .475), followed by family-based literacy support (β = .277). The study concludes that reading culture in island schools is shaped most strongly by relational, participatory, and socially embedded literacy practices rather than by material resources alone. Keywords: Community Engagement, Reading Culture, Literacy Development, Island Schools, Geographically Isolated Schools, Mixed-Methods Research