RUNNING HEAD: WHAT IS DISCIPLINARY LITERACY?

What is Disciplinary Literacy?

Chris Kasnot

Arizona State University

09/19/20

RDG 323-73086
WHAT IS DISCIPLINARY LITERACY? 2

The idea of disciplinary literacy is that we go beyond the simple concept of teaching

“what”, but instead give students the tools so that they can explore the “why” and “how” of our

disciplines. It is with this in mind that we reflect on the passage from the Doerr-Stevens video:

“We are no longer teaching students the core ideas of our discipline. Instead, we

are inviting students to engage in the processes and practices of the disciplines,

allowing them to see behind the curtain and to participate in the fascinating,

challenging, and often messy process by which experts continue to generate

knowledge in their fields.” (Doerr-Stevens, 2017)

These tools are different as you move from discipline to discipline; English teachers are going to

teach their students how to read and what information to look for and process much differently

than a Social Studies teacher would. Take, for instance, Thomas Paine’s 1775 classic Common

Sense, which advocated for the independence of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain. An

English teacher may approach this document having their students examine the word use,

sentence structure, and tone, whereas a Social Studies teacher would have their students identify

themes, content, and historical significance (Wilson-Lopez, A. & Bean, T., 2017, p. 4). Both

literacy disciplines are perfectly valid, but each discipline requires its own skill set that is unique

to the subject area and requires guidance from the respective teacher. When students are able to

combine all these different forms of disciplinary literacy together, they become a well-rounded

student that is able to function and thrive in a world where interpreting data in as many ways as

possible is becoming more and more critical. English content area literacy may give you the skill

to write a resume and apply for a job, but disciplinary literacy will allow you to read and

interpret multiple resumes to synthesize the good parts and eliminate the bad ones. Social studies

content area literacy will tell you how the three branches of government work, but disciplinary
WHAT IS DISCIPLINARY LITERACY? 3

literacy will allow you to understand how a current event, such as the executive branch

attempting to co-opt military funding for a border wall project, will actually function.

The 2019 International Literacy Association brief notes that:

“In order to thrive as literacy learners, students must feel a sense of

collective and individual belonging (Comber, Woods, & Grant, 2017), have

opportunities to contribute to and negotiate the literacy culture, and feel safe to

take risks (McKay & Dean, 2017). Teachers cultivate these learning

environments through providing opportunities for students to engage in

learning.” (International Literacy Association, 2019).

Disciplinary literacy forces us to ask many questions of students that go beyond a simple

understanding of the core concepts: What counts as evidence? What kinds of texts and media are

reliable sources? What kinds of questions are you asking yourself when reading a source? What

is the confidence level of your self-understanding? What kinds of conclusions can you draw from

your readings? Can you access and interpret the primary sources that a secondary source author

is commenting on and do you come to the same conclusions? All these questions engage that

disciplinary level of literacy and also engages other core literacy components like Media, Digital,

Data, and Visual literacy in addition to the Foundational and Civic literacy the research

assignment and topic predisposes. By moving beyond simple content literacy and into the

domain of disciplinary literacy, we can better teach and engage students. By helping our students

understand the process of learning, we can move beyond knowledge retention and mold our

students into knowledge gatherers and interpreters. This core difference will make our students

better prepared for the world ahead and better people for living in it.
WHAT IS DISCIPLINARY LITERACY? 4

References:

Doerr-Stevens, C. [CDoerrStevens]. (2017, February 7). Content Area Literacy vs Disciplinary

Literacy Minilecture [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH49UMw02Jc

International Literacy Association, (2019). Engagement and Adolescent Literacy. International

Literacy Association No. 9448. Retrieved from:

https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-engagement-

and-adolescent-literacy.pdf

Wilson-Lopez, A. & Bean, T. (2017). Content Area and Disciplinary Literacy: Strategies and

Frameworks. International Literacy Association No. 9429. Retrieved from:

https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-content-area-

disciplinary-literacy-strategies-frameworks.pdf