Running head: DISCIPLINARY LITERACY PHILOSOPHY 1

Allison A. Kikkert

Final Course Reflection: Philosophy of Disciplinary Literacy

Arizona State University: Mary Lou Fulton Teacher’s College

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Disciplinary Literacy in English Language Arts

Practicing disciplinary literacy in English Language Arts has expanded and evolved to

become more than just knowing how to read and write, but fostering habits of thinking within

student work (Wickens, Manderino, Parker, & Jung, 2015, para. 5). In order to truly go beyond

simple cognition, students need to think critically like someone who studies literature does, such

as applying context and finding the relevancy of topics in relation to a larger issue. Habits of

thinking in ELA can be described as the ways “members of different communities read, inquire,

reason, investigate, speak, write, and co-construct their respective knowledge bases” (Wickens,

Manderino, Parker, & Jung, 2015, para. 8). These techniques are the catalysts in producing

high-order thinking skills that can be applied to life and circumstances outside of the classroom.

Students consistently practicing these habits of thinking will have increased literacy achievement

and enhanced opportunities for college and career pathways. The concept of content literacy in

the English classroom includes critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

“Teachers cannot just teach students how to understand content; they must also teach students

how to think and how to learn” (Chauvin & Theodore, 2015, p. 3). Authentic learning activities

are at the forefront of meaningful and engaging learning experiences for students and that can be

transferred into real-life critical thinking skills once they enter the workforce. Students are in

control of their learning, constructing their own knowledge, while teachers are simply facilitators

in this interaction. Inquiry based learning classrooms are an important part of developing

disciplinary literacy in students by providing opportunities for use of academic language and

modeling self-questioning while reading and examining complex texts (Chauvin & Theodore,

2015, p. 7). For example, instead of simply checking comprehension and understanding of a text,

English teachers can foster disciplinary literacy by connecting content back to relevant and/or
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personal experiences, as well as examining the context of the text at hand through think-alouds,

classroom conversations, and open discussions. These exercises help students develop the habits

of practice needed to expand thinking in an English classroom setting. In order to integrate these

methods into this particular urban high school, I plan on working in teams consisting of teachers

in varied disciplines to create more meaningful learning experiences for students.

Cross-disciplinary lessons and units contribute to the overall goal of the school: to prepare

students for college and the career workforce. Infusing English with other content areas

interconnects concepts that students tend to view as separate entities. This approach creates the

ability for students to think analytically and critically about concepts that go beyond the

classroom walls. Becoming part of a team among other teachers to develop lessons that define

and present topics for students to problem-solve is important in order to align with the school

initiative.

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

In order to truly increase student literacy achievement, it is important to account for all

students with varied needs and support. Embracing the school initiatives includes reenvisioning

how we as teachers view students with differentiated instruction. This school encompasses a

wide range of students from various backgrounds, including ethnicities and bilingual statuses.

Studies show that “emergent bilinguals in secondary schools arrive with disparate levels of

academic language and literacy skills, content knowledge, and prior schooling experiences”

(Menken, 2013, p. 444). In order to support students for their particular learning needs,

instruction should be tailored to teach in the most effective way possible. Many students in this

school setting may be emergent bilinguals, so there are numerous strategies teachers can embrace

as part of their classroom in order to set students up for the success they deserve. To increase
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students' content literacy in English, I plan on implementing a gradual release model. This model

is a way of approaching writing with struggling adolescent readers. In this method, the teachers

will begin doing most of the writing, and gradually pass over the responsibilities of writing to the

students. A study on struggling 9th grade writers in the United States found a “statistically

significant improvement in the number of words students were able to write in a minute of a

given topic”, as well as an "improvement in reading level, and the ability of 79% of the students

to move on to high school level English classes compared to 50% school-wode for comparable

students” (Menken, 2013, p. 464). This approach is a great way for students to gain confidence in

a required skill for college and career success. Not only does this method improve students'

reading skills, but enhances their overall communication skills. Improving and refining students’

disciplinary literacy skills through the gradual release model has proven merit within the

secondary classroom. At this school, I plan on teaching with a biliteracy philosophy. Instead of

separating students’ native language and English, it is important to embrace and harness those

student strengths into skills they can apply in a real-world setting. To educate meaningfully,

teachers must utilize their own and students’ "discursive practices fluidly in order to educate

effectively” (Menken, 2013, p. 465).  

Examples of Literacy Practices in ELA

As noted above, disciplinary literacy is providing students with opportunities to think and

perform like experts in the field. In the English Language Arts classroom, novices (students)

thinking like an expert looks like purpose-driven reading and examining texts beyond simple

comprehension, but instead interpreting. Experts tend to seek patterns, make hypotheses and

claims, and “advance interpretive moves that were supported by both textual and contextual

evidence” (Reynolds, Rush, Lampi, & Holschuch, 2020, para. 9). In order to increase students'
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literacy achievement, I plan on practicing higher-order thinking practices within my classroom.

The heuristic of generating, weaving, and curating create a memorable and applicable learning

experience. This method clearly outlines the tactics empowered by experts, which makes these

interpretive processes easily adoptable by students. Generating involves recognizing patterns in

the texts and using predicting and questioning to make sense of the text itself. Weaving

encompasses applying information they’ve gathered from generating and making connections

from one portion of a text to another in order to form a cohesive hypothesis. Lastly, students

curate a text by selecting pieces from what they’ve already woven together to make an advanced

interpretation of the text (Reynolds et al., 2020, para. 11-3). The close-reading method of

generating, weaving, and curating transforms the text into brand new meaning for students to

explore and explain.

Final Reflection

Throughout this semester I have learned a lot not only from others, but also myself. My

confidence and knowledge in literacy fluency teaching methods has increased as well as ways to

meet the needs of diverse learners through differentiated instruction. At first, I entered this

course with some self-doubt surrounding my capabilities in an innovative and creative sense, but

I have now learned how to utilize my current strengths in order to enhance my capabilities in

areas I could improve. Working in an interdisciplinary setting while collaborating and

communicating with my peers has allotted me the opportunity to learn ways to utilize everyone's

skills in order to reach a common goal. I plan on implementing these strategies into a real,

classroom setting to maximize the learning opportunities and successes in my students and the

resourcefulness of fellow teachers. I have learned how to create an engaging and meaningful

learning experience for students in an in-person and online setting. Instead of being hesitant to
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utilize online resources, I have embraced the learning power they possess to reach students on

their current level, but simultaneously preparing them to advance in that skill. Content literacy in

the ELA classroom goes beyond reading and writing skills, and is a way to set students up for

success in college and career settings by fostering effective communication, intepretation, and

intentional reading. I am proud of my professional development throughout this course, as I

know I will be able to apply these techniques to become an innovative, effective teacher that can

provide all students with a fulfilling education.

 
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References

Chauvin, R. & Theodore, K. (2015). Teaching Content-Area Literacy and Disciplinary Literacy.

SEDL insights, 3​(1), 1-10. Retrieved from

https://sedl.org/insights/3-1/teaching_content_area_literacy_and_disciplinary_literacy.pdf

Menken, K. (2013). Emergent bilingual students in secondary school: Along the academic

language and literacy continuum. ​Language teaching, 46(​ 4), 438-476. Retrieved from

https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/conte

nt/view/A1550CE4E703D1B7FA693EF2C61DD9B7/S0261444813000281a.pdf/div-clas

S-title-emergent-bilingual-students-in-secondary-school-along-the-academic-language-an

d-literacy-continuum-div.pdf

Reynolds, T., Rush, L. S., Lampi, J. P., & Holschuh, J. P. (2020). English Disciplinary Literacy:

Enhancing Students’ Literary Interpretive Moves. ​Journal of Adolescent & Adult

Literacy, 64​(2). Retrieved from

https://ila-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/full/10.1002/jaal.1066

Wickens, C. M., Manderino, M., Parker, J., & Jung, J. (2015). Habits of Practice: Expanding

Disciplinary Literacy Frameworks Through a Physical Education Lens. ​Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59​(1). Retrieved from

https://ila-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/full/10.1002/jaal.429