How to Bring Disciplinary Literacy into the Classroom

By Matt Strader, Director of Academic Design, McGraw Hill

As the world becomes more connected, we are increasingly challenged to think in interdisciplinary ways. Never have we had such access to information that can be used in concert to shape our understanding and influence our decision-making. Solving the problems of today (and beyond) will require thinking across fields. For example, the climate crisis is not only ecological and biological but also anthropological and economical in nature; to offer solutions from only an ecological perspective would be insufficient. For these reasons, disciplinary literacy is a critical skill for today’s learners and thinkers.

How do we bring disciplinary literacy into the classroom? To begin, let’s define disciplinary literacy and distinguish it from other types of content reading. Disciplinary literacy is students’ ability to access the discourse of the discipline (Fang, 2020). “Disciplinary literacy refers to reading, writing, thinking, and reasoning within the academic fields (Gao, p. 35). Pause for a moment and reflect on these questions from Dr. Tim Shanahan (2017):

• What does it mean to work as a historian, scientist, geographer, mathematician, or literary critic?
• What do they read and why?
• How do they report their results?
• What constitutes evidence in their field of study?
• What does criticism look like?

In short, disciplinary literacy might be described as the ways of knowing that are unique to each discipline. When considering the discourses of the disciplines, it becomes clear that disciplinary literacy is different than content reading. Content reading includes the knowledge of a discipline, but not the discourse. For example, nonfiction texts may include scientific knowledge but do not discuss the ways in which that knowledge was found, provide multiple presentations of data related to the knowledge, or use the precise, technical language of scientific discourse. It is frequently a misconception that providing students with content reading is synonymous with providing them with disciplinary texts. However, this is not the case, and students cannot develop their disciplinary literacy skills through content reading alone (Shanahan, 2017).

Here are brief (and non-comprehensive) examples of the discourses in the basic disciplines:

• History — sourcing, corroborating, contextualizing, inferring, and perspective-taking (Fang, 2020)
• Science — precision, information derived from experimentation and observation, multiple presentations of data and findings (charts, graphs, tables, prose, etc.), complex and technical language aimed at increasing accuracy (Shanahan, 2017; Fang, 2020)
• Math — theorems, proofs, conceptual knowledge, reasoning and logic, precision, relationships, sense-making, and argumentation (Shanahan, 2017)
• Literature — layers of meaning, interpretation and analysis, critique, the usage of language and the impact on meaning, supporting thinking through evidence, communicating ideas

Effective disciplinary literacy instruction approaches content through the language of the texts (Fang, 2020). However, the language itself is not the end goal. Rather, careful examination of the language is the vehicle by which students create an understanding of the content, the organization of the text, and any perspectives or meanings hidden beyond the literal meaning (Fang, 2020). Learning the techniques of this type of instruction is rarely taught in teacher preparation programs and takes time to learn (Fang, 2020). It is worthwhile for teachers to investigate these disciplinary linguistic strategies as they are different than commonplace strategies used to teach reading (e.g., comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, etc.) (Shanahan, 2017; Fang, 2020). Studying these strategies, however, will take some time and practice. In the meantime, here are a few things teachers can do to prepare to incorporate disciplinary literacy in the classroom:

• Inventory the texts used in your classroom. Are the texts primarily content readings (or other types of readings that pre-digest information for students, such as textbooks or slides)? Are there opportunities and appropriate time for students to grapple with actual disciplinary texts? For example, do your students read about the results of a report as bulleted points, or do they read the actual results section of the report?
• When planning for disciplinary texts, are you using the same reading instruction strategies as with content or literary texts, or are you teaching strategies for students to attend to the discourses of the discipline? For example, are students corroborating across historical primary sources or connecting visual presentations of data to the text in a science report?
• Disciplinary literacy instruction is challenging but rewarding. Prepare to motivate students through the productive struggle of challenging texts. Design activities that have a satisfying payoff for students, such as creative ways to express what they learned from the disciplinary text or getting to demonstrate their own ability to utilize the discourse.
• Especially in secondary school, collaborate with colleagues to learn more about the discourses of each discipline. Plan lessons to incorporate disciplinary texts across classes.

These thoughts are not themselves the strategies of disciplinary literacy instruction. Rather, they are actions you can take right now to prepare for implementing disciplinary literacy in your classroom. For specific strategies, readers will need to find approaches in their discipline, such as Functional Grammar Analysis. Gaining facility with such strategies is a worthwhile endeavor and will certainly support students as 21st-century learners. In the meantime, teachers can build their awareness of the content discourses and ensure disciplinary, rather than content, readings are present in their courses.

Matt Strader is the Director of Academic Design, Literacy 6–12 at McGraw Hill. A former teacher and administrator, Matt’s work focuses on building educational systems that work for all students. He has trained teachers across the United States and abroad and partnered with districts to leverage EdTech to improve educational outcomes. Matt is a doctoral candidate at Texas A&M University studying self-efficacy in digital learning environments.

References

Fang, Z. (2020). Toward a linguistically informed, responsive and embedded pedagogy in secondary literacy instruction. Journal of World Languages, 6(1–2) 70–91. DOI: 10.1080/21698252.2020.1720161

Gao, S., Hall, J. L., Zygouris-Coe, V., & Grysko, R. A. (2022). Understanding the role of science-specific literacy strategies in supporting science teaching and student learning: A case study of preservice elementary teaches in a science methods course that integrated a disciplinary literacy framework. Electronic Journal for Research in Science & Mathematics Education 26(1), 33–55.

Shanahan, T. (2017, March 15). Disciplinary literacy: The Basics. Shanahan on Literacy. Disciplinary Literacy: The Basics | Shanahan on Literacy