Disciplinary Literacy Definitions

Since some scholars do not seem to see disciplinary literacy (DL) and content area literacy (CAL) (I’m going to throw in interdisciplinary studies too) as different ways of thinking about literacy, I decided to collect definitions of DL to help me understand it all.  

 

“Eyes on Disciplinary Literacy” by Vicky Zygouris-Coe

“Disciplinary literacy…emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and tools of the experts in each discipline--the mathematicians, historians, authors, and scientists who communicate, use, and create knowledge in their respective discipline. Disciplinary literacy is not about a set of strategies we can use to help students organize text or make connections among words; it is referring to the ways of thinking, knowing, and doing that are consistent with each discipline.”

 

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
“The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction defines disciplinary literacy as the confluence of content knowledge, experiences and skills, merged with the ability to read, write, listen speak, and think critically in a way that is meaningful within our content area.”



"What is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does it Matter?" by T. Shanahan & C. Shanahan
“Disciplinary literacy… is an emphasis on the knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within the disciplines” (p.8). (2012).  see Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7–18.

Do you see DL, CAL, and interdisciplinary studies as separate approaches to literacy instruction?
 

Disciplinary Literacy Confession

Disciplinary Literacy Confession: I’m annoyed when I think I’m going to get my hands on another juicy disciplinary literacy piece, and the authors are really talking about interdisciplinary literacy.

Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate interdisciplinary literacy, and some of my own burgeoning work looks at how teachers can work together to employ disciplinary literacy approaches, but sometimes I think authors do not quite understand disciplinary literacy and fall on the familiar, interdisciplinary literacy, in an attempt to join the conversation.

 

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it :)

* “A disciplinary literacy approach emphasizes the specialized knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within each of the disciplines” (p. 7, Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7–18.).

Figure from:

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 40-59.

Content Area Reading and Disciplinary Literacy: A CASE FOR THE RADICAL CENT ER by Brozo, et al.

from Google

In the center of the mat, a referee begins to count.

Content area literacy (CAL) with its "every teacher is a reading teacher" mantra is spread eagle in the ring.

Disciplinary literacy jogs in place with arms raised high. 

Brozo, et al. seem to be saying, "Wait! This fight should not have taken place. Can't we get along? Some of my best friends are disciplinary literacy (DL) experts and sneak the ideas in their CAL courses."
 

Of course, I’m just joking, but the article has some serious things to say.

Here are my notes:

 

content area literacy	disciplinary literacy
Decades of research suggests, "general reading and writing strategies can find expression in a variety of content classrooms. It is further believed that these strategies will increase engagement in reading and learning, improve literacy skills and abilities, and lead to greater knowledge acquisition....” (p.354)	Disciplinary literacy experts argue content area literacy should be replaced with disciplinary literacy.
They also acknowledge that research suggests some strategies may hinder rather than help.	Disciplinary literacy emphasizes that "the text itself and the goals for reading the text dictate the reading processes" (p.354).
	Disciplinary literacy experts also suggest students should be initiated into a discipline. Brozo, et al. are skeptical of this and wonder about struggling students, a topic addressed fully in “Building a House on Sand: Why Disciplinary Literacy Is Not Sufficient to Replace General Strategies for Adolescent Learners Who Struggle” by Faggella-Luby, et al.

 

Possible Solution: The Radical Center

How can we use the best of both worlds to help students?

 

Other Questions raised in the piece	Answer/Response suggested by the piece
Do you think content area teachers resist content area strategies?	Maybe this happens when teachers haven’t been presented the strategies within the right context or they haven't been given the opportunity (autonomy) to decide which strategies to use.
Do you think general content area strategies prevent students from becoming experts in disciplines?	If so, perhaps this is due to a lack of communication between the content area teacher and the literacy expert. The content area teacher probably needs more help slowing down and really thinking about the process used to read and write in his or her particular discipline.

 

What do I think?

• Yes, we need to have healthy conversations whether you’re Team CAL or Team DL or somewhere in the radical center.
• DL and CAL seem fundamentally different to me.
• CAL can service DL. Meaning, I believe there are strategies and practices in CAL that can help students learn to do the work of a discipline.

 

Want to read it?

"Content Area Reading and Disciplinary Literacy: A CASE FOR THE RADICAL CENTER" by William G. Brozo, et al. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 56(5) February 2013 doi:10.1002/JAAL.153

 

"Modeling a Writer's Identity" by Robert Brooke

from Google

After working on my dissertation about young adult literature writers, I became interested in how they wrote. I thought that if I learned how they wrote, I could share what I learned with students who would then share it with their students. As disciplinary literacy proponents maintain, I wanted to know more about the “habits of mind” of writers:

 

What does a good writing day look like?

How did they get started?

What did they do when they couldn’t start?

What did they do after they got an idea?

How did they end a piece?

How did they know when a piece was ready for the public?

Where did they “steal” ideas and techniques from?

 

Recently, the use of “mentor texts” has gotten a lot of traction. I find the idea of mentor texts fascinating. As a novice, I often use a mentor text when I write.

But the author’s practices/habits are equally important to me.

Robert Brooke seems to agree. He wonders if writers really learn to write by imitating a text. Brooke writes, “…when a student (or any writer) successfully learns something about writing by imitation, it is by imitating another person, and not a text or a process. Writers learn to write by imitating other writers, by trying to act like writers they respect. The forms, the processes, the texts are in themselves less important as models to be imitated than the personalities, or identities, of the writers who produce them” (p. 23).

Brooke urges me to think about how I can help students

“act like a writer”

develop a sense of themselves as writers

understand how writers “use writing to explore, present, and hopefully understand the complexity of life around [them]”

This all sounds in line with ideas about disciplinary literacy to me.

Want to read it?

Robert Brooke, Modeling a Writer's Identity: Reading and Imitation in the Writing Classroom, College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Feb., 1988), pp. 23-41

What is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does it Matter? By Shanahan & Shanahan

There are several articles about disciplinary literacy that I have learned from, but one of my favorites is a recent one, “What is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does it Matter?” by Timothy Shanahan and Cynthia Shanahan. It was printed in an entire issue on disciplinary literacy in Topics in Language Disorders.

I like it because it gives a clear distinction between disciplinary literacy and content area literacy.

content area literacy (novices)	disciplinary literacy (experts)
Generalizable study skills	Knowledge/skills used by disciplinary experts
Reading and writing to learn a subject/content	Strategies and tools unique to the discipline
Techniques used to help students remember texts	Techniques help students do the work of an expert
Differences among disciplines are largely ignored	What's special or unique to reading a discipline-specific text?
Learners may be struggling readers or less motivated	What's special or unique when writing a discipline-specific text?
	Learners may be proficient readers ready to explore the discipline

 

It also shares some of the research Shanahan & Shanahan have done to find out what expert readers do.

Quotes for later use:

“Disciplinary literacy… is an emphasis on the knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within the disciplines” (p.8).

"The focus of content area instruction is less on providing students with an insider's perspective of a discipline and ways of coping with the unique properties of particular disciplines than on providing students with tools to better remember the information regardless of the nature of the discipline" (p.12).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shanahan T., Shanahan C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7–18.

What's on my mind? Disciplinary Literacy



Over the last few years, I have had a great time following the discussion around *disciplinary literacy.

 

 

 

I'm going to use this space for a while to help me make sense of what I think I know about disciplinary literacy and what I plan to do about it.

 

By do about it, I mean I will answer the "so what" question by sharing how my knowledge of disciplinary literacy transforms the way I work (e.g., read, teach, write).

For example, I recently ended my content area literacy class by asking students to help me think about disciplinary literacy.

I had asked them to keep a blog, and as they did so, I tried to infuse some of the rationale behind the actual practices bloggers tend to subscribe to, hoping to stress the unique features of blogging/blog posts. In essence, I wanted them to come to see themselves as bloggers.

At one point I asked them if they thought experts in certain disciplines would view using blogs as an authentic practice, and if so, how.

Here are some unedited responses to the question, How might a historian, literary expert, scientist, and/or mathematician use a blog when doing their work? :

• As a way of reporting about their research
• They may use it as an informal way to collect their info and data in one place. It may also be a way for people to solicit advice and comments from other people in their field.
• They could use the blog to take readers "backstage" in their thinking process. They could describe their hypothesis, steps they used, ways they modified their experiments or research, the results they found and how their thinking changed throughout the process.
• They would use a blog to keep track of all their research
• Much like the strategies for writing to learn, many of these experts could document their learning and clarify their understandings of content.

 

 

Again, my point was just to try to get us to think about how certain genres/formats/platforms (in this case blogs) might be useful to certain disciplines/experts.

* “A disciplinary literacy approach emphasizes the specialized knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within each of the disciplines”

(p. 7, Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7–18.).

Figure from:

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 40-59.