Disciplinary literacy

In the United States, disciplinary literacy is the teaching of literacy within the defined disciplines of mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies. This process is defined as "the use of reading, rereading, investigating, speaking, and writing required to learn and form complex content knowledge appropriate to a particular discipline". Through the practices of disciplinary literacy, educators are encouraged to present content using real-world examples and connections, and do so in such a way as to accurately incorporate and exemplify the everyday lives of all students, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. As such, students are coached to become experts in each disciplinary field; that is, students are encouraged and expected to acquire and use skills, during reading, that professionals in each of the disciplines themselves are using. It is important to note that, while disciplinary literacy does not demand reading skills be taught during instruction of various content areas, there is still some crossover, with the need to incorporate some reading skills, such as vocabulary instruction.

The disciplinary literacy is the result of the inception of the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and 3C Framework for Social Studies. These standards encourage the reading and writing of complex texts within the various disciplines, which require disciplinary literacy approaches in order to be successful.

Common misconception

The expression, "every teacher is a teacher of reading" is a commonly used phrase in the field of education; however, researchers are encouraging professionals to depart from this ideological practice. To clarify, disciplinary literacy is not the incorporation of reading-specific skills, such as, but not limited to, phonological instruction, phonemic awareness, etc., into non-reading classrooms, and, while teachers are often encouraged to serve as reading teachers, regardless of the discipline in which they teach, it is argued that this approach is ineffective. Educators, instead, must find a way to fuse literacy and content instruction.

Internal issues in the practice

Educators are faced with the challenge of incorporating socially just content with the intellectual aspect of teaching content. While its focus is on the inclusion of morals into the classroom, socially just content encompasses a multitude of lenses. In teaching socially just content, educators must acquire culturally responsive curricula, understand and embrace the differing perspectives of the individuals in the classroom, make content valuable, and ensure learners understand the value in the content, all while maintaining the required learning targets. Thus the tension lies. Educators face difficulty completing each of the aforementioned tasks, which, ultimately, can negate or dismiss required content.

Teachers are also faced with the dilemma surrounding the ambiguity of who gets to determine what is proper or just teaching. With the lack of clarity, teachers are challenged to make these determinations independently, on a daily basis, and during every lesson or conversation with students. With the uncertainty, teachers are left to the devices of hope and supposition, rather than what is actual truth. This in mind, coupled with the pressure to complete all content within their particular discipline, leaves teachers struggling to incorporate culturally responsive teaching into the classroom, a critical element of disciplinary literacy in practice.

With respect to disciplinary literacy, teacher training is often misguided. It is the popular belief that professional development should consist of front loading all pertinent information, and put it to practice immediately, with the expectation to yield positive results instantaneously. Instead, disciplinary literacy training is an ongoing process that requires an undefined time frame. While some teachers receive improper training, others receive little-to-no professional development on the matter. With this, educators feel severely underprepared to incorporate these seemingly elusive practices into their classrooms.

In practice

Disciplinary literacy practices can be found in Math, Science, English Language Arts, and Social Studies courses at the middle school, secondary, and post-secondary education levels. Each content area develops its own set of techniques for teaching content within the classroom, which can then be used in conjunction with other content areas. Some of these practices can be reviewed in the upcoming text.

In a Mathematics classroom, educators are to embed literacy at three different sections throughout a math lesson; before, during, and after reading. To elaborate, educators are encouraged to front-load lesson vocabulary before completing a reading, as mathematical terms have multiple layers and often have different meanings in different content areas. Teachers of Math are also encouraged to use think aloud and model techniques to serve as "guided comprehension" for learners during a lesson. Lastly, teachers are compelled to use post-lesson writing strategies for consolidation of learning at the end of a lesson.

Within a Social Studies classroom, teachers are expected to incorporate the four dimensions of Inquiry Arc. To do so, teachers have created and administered lessons in which they incorporate local artifacts and primary sources into their curriculum in order to teach the desired content. Teachers will contextualize these artifacts to make connections to global occurrences in order to increase student knowledge of the mandated Social Studies content.

In an English Language Arts classroom, teachers often view the administered content as "art". The notion of English Language Arts as an art form pushes students to understand a text as a whole in order to understand the "art of language". Methods that promote this include, but are not limited to close reading, in which students are expected to read and reread a text, accompanied by annotations to identify the full meaning of the text.

It has been concluded that, in order Science classes to foster literacy, the incorporation of vocabulary and classified skills are essential. To accurately understand science content, students must understand the meanings and uses of prefixes and suffixes. Educators often use the Frayer Model as a method to teach content specific vocabulary before and during the reading of a text. Additionally, teachers of science use hands-on activities and laboratory experiments to encourage inquiry, fusing literacy skills through the recording of data during and after these activities.

Approaches to teacher training

Initially, it was believed that training should focus on the blending of content and literacy practices, however, it was discovered that, although this is one important element to professional development, teachers learning to successfully work with and learn from one another is equally important. Within this practice, professional learning communities would dictate one teacher leader who would facilitate collaboration amongst teachers to support best literacy practices within the disciplines, both independently and in conjunction with one another. It was also discovered that best practices are not the ones that already exist, but are likely the ones that are yet to be created, thus further supporting the notion that successful collaboration between teaches in regard to sharing and modifying practices is a key component to successful disciplinary literacy practice.

Professional development surrounding disciplinary literacy is a multi-step process rather than an intensive institute. This process begins and ends with assessment, with professional development at its center. Learning communities begin with a needs-assessment, in which a Content Area Literacy Survey is administered to determine the needs of teachers and students. Facilitators then begin to train teachers, using various methods, including, but not limited to, vocabulary instructional techniques in various content areas, etc., in which teachers will discourse and implement, should they so choose. Dates are then determined throughout the school year in which these trainings sessions will resume, and take place on an ongoing basis. These sessions will also serve as an assessment tool, in which teachers are interviewed, focus groups and classroom observations commenced, and reflective writings ensued, in order to determine the shift in teacher mindset and practice over time.