Disciplinary Literacy: Exemplary Processes and Promising Practices

Toward Transdisciplinarity: Constructing Meaning Where Disciplines Intersect, Combine, and Shift

“…This model is based on ideas from the Industrial Revolution and is considered the most efficient way to educate children (Carl, 2009; Vande Zande, 2010). It is an artificial approach to learning filled with imposed constraints (Ingersoll et al, 2018). The education system is fragmented by silos and children are not taught how the pieces fit together or how they need to fit together to effectively support each other and to create the most useful whole (OECD, 2018).…”

“…It is often used interchangeably with content area literacy, but they are quite different. Content area literacy suggests that educators across the content areas should work together to support students' general reading comprehension strategies (Lent & Voigt, 2018), whereas disciplinary literacy considers the ways experts within a discipline uniquely read, write, think, reason, and process information (Dobbs et al, 2020). The challenge is that supporting students as they read, write, speak, listen, view, and think like experts in and across disciplines can be a complex pedagogical exercise (Collins et al, 1988).…”

Secondary Teachers' Adolescent Literacy Efficacy and Professional Learning Considerations

“…For instance, there is often a misconception about what “counts” as text, with an emphasis on textbooks and other print‐based materials and an overreliance on Lexile numbers instead of examining how non‐print‐based texts can provide the provocativeness, ambiguity, and complexity that yield high‐level critical thought (Savitz et al., 2023; Strong et al., 2001). Therefore, professional learning should ensure mutual understanding and the ability to select and use complex, equitable texts within instruction, where certain texts are not privileged in specific content areas over others (e.g., ELA, SS, science, and math); there is a need to explore and understand how other content areas (e.g., music, fine arts, and physical education) also use texts to connect with adolescents (Chandler‐Olcott, 2017; Dobbs et al., 2017; Hinchman & O'Brien, 2019; Lent & Voigt, 2019).…”

Disciplinary Literacy: Virginia School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists’ Knowledge and Confidence

“…A top priority for educational leaders in U.S. schools is to prepare students to meet the challenges of a more global economy (Dobbs, Ippolito, & Charner-Laird, 2017). There has been a recent focus on preparing students for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers to keep the United States in the forefront of research, innovation, and technology (Cervetti & Pearson, 2012).…”

“…Educators who adopt a disciplinary literacy approach emphasize what information is important within discipline areas (e.g., chemistry, U.S. history, calculus) and teach their students strategies that are specific to a discipline. For example, instead of focusing solely on learning new vocabulary when reading an historical text, a history teacher who has adopted a disciplinary literacy approach might focus on how the language used in primary sources reveals clues about the time period or the author’s intent (Dobbs et al, 2017). Researchers have made recommendations regarding strategies for content-area teachers to use in specific subjects, such as history, science, and mathematics (Elish-Piper, Allier, & Manderino Domenico, 2016; Schleppegrell, 2004; C.…”