Running head: DISCIPLINARY LITERACY 1

Disciplinary Literacy

When one thinks of the term “literacy”, it is almost always going to be associated with

language arts. But what happens to that term when “disciplinary” is added to it? It broadens the

definition. According to the book “Content Matters” by McConachie and Petrosky, disciplinary

literacy can be defined as “the use of reading, reasoning, investigation, speaking, and writing

required to learn and form complex content knowledge appropriate to a particular discipline”

(McConachie & Petrosky, 2010, p. 16) This may look different and have varying demands

depending on which disciple this is applied to (Girard & Harris, 2012).

Based on this definition, disciplinary literacy can be seen as the fundamental to the

success of each and every discipline and content area. For a teacher to teach disciplinary literacy,

they are able to improve their students' understanding of content area learning and even general

literacy skills (Crandall et al., n.d.) According to a study done by various experts in a social

studies classroom setting in 2014, once teachers and students were provided with a scaffolded

approach to certain historical documents, “[the experts] have demonstrated that historical

thinking is possible” (De La Paz et al., 2014).

Literacy in Social Studies

As implied by Girard and Harris, disciplinary literacy can and will look different

depending on which content area is being examined (Girard & Harris, 2012). For the remainder

of this essay, the disciple in question will be social studies. So how can a teacher or student

identify where literacy has become a factor in their teaching or learning of social studies? In

social studies, literacy can come in many forms: journals, documents, essays, timelines, paintings

and photographs (Crandall et al., n.d.). Because of all of these forms in which disciplinary
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literacy can take, social studies teachers and students are presented with plenty of unique

challenges when learning how to successfully manage it.

Challenge #1

One of the most obvious challenges when it comes to literacy in a social studies class are

the old documents that are a part of the curriculum. In most states, social studies standards

include reading and analyzing parts or the whole of documents such as the Constitution, the

Declaration of Independence, or a few Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers; documents that date

back to the 1700s (and this is only looking at some of the most popular U.S. documents, some

required readings precede that date by hundreds of years). These documents contain language

and phrases that students may not be familiar with, and that is because social studies has a

specialized vocabulary (Crandall et al., n.d.). If a student were to come across a word that they

did not know, how is it to be expected of them to grasp the meaning of the entire piece?

Recommended Solution #1

A simple way to always stay on top of the daunting task of teaching this “specialized

vocabulary” (Crandall et al., n.d.) could be to have a word wall. In a discipline such as social

studies, a word wall might look a little different; instead of having words organized

alphabetically, they could be put into sections or classifications. This way, when a student

stumbles upon a word like “dictatorship”, they can locate it in the types of government section,

and be able to understand that the text they are reading is discussing government types. Another

possible solution to the confusing, old documents is to have the entire class identify the who,

what, when, where, and why of the piece before starting their reading. This will provide students

with the necessary background information that can aid in their understanding.
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Challenge #2

Another challenge facing social studies classrooms in regards to literacy, is exposing

students to primary sources from multiple perspectives and backgrounds (Resiman, 2012). What

has just been a norm for so long, students are now looking for and expecting to read about a

historical event from many different outlooks. A general example of this could be with any war

or battle. In social studies classes, it is common to only read about the victors. So the challenge

arises when students are not being given materials to comprehend that every story has more than

just the one side.

Recommended Solution #2

This challenge in social studies literacy can actually begin to be solved in very simple

steps. First, it is important that teachers are providing their students with those multiple

perspective pieces. For every source that says “yes”, there should be a source that says “no”,

which allows the students to be able to compare multiple documents (Crandall et al., n.d.). Then,

a teacher can walk through the similarities and differences with the students in a format as simple

of a venn diagram. Having students compare and contrast sources from the same time period

about the same event will draw their attention to the inaccuracies and will help their

understanding of the facts given.

Challenge #3

A final challenge is one that seems to dominate most of the discipline literacy issues: how

does this connect to what is happening in the present. So much of the disconnect between

students and social studies comes when the students just do not quite comprehend why it matters

to learn about content. Teachers can apply as many tools and techniques as they want, but until
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their students see “Oh, that is why that matters”, they will never achieve successful disciplinary

literacy comprehension.

Recommended Solution #3

Fortunately, there are many ways to encourage students to take what they are reading,

just a step further. The simplest is to consistently have an exit ticket question along the lines of,

“How can you see today’s lesson impacting your life in the next year? 5 years? 25 years?” This

will begin a process of critical thinking in students to always be looking at the lessons with the

perspective of how. Another strategy could be to consistently have students watching the news.

By having students learn about the past and the present simultaneously, it is promoting them to

draw parallels between the past, their present, and the future of their society.

Conclusion

As determined, literacy is not just found in language arts and english classes, literacy is

found, and is fundamental in all disciplines, specifically social studies. Teachers must arm their

students with strategies such as the ones mentioned, plus many more, if they expect their

students to excel in disciplinary literacy (International Literacy Association, 2019).

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References

Crandall, B. R., Cullen, K. A., Duffy, M. A., Dussling, T. M., Lewis, E. C., McQuitty, V., . . .

Stevens, E. Y. (n.d.). 12. Culturally Responsive Disciplinary Literacy Strategies Instruction.

Retrieved September 06, 2020, from

https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/steps-to-success/chapter/12-culturally-responsive-discipl

inary-literacy-strategies-instruction/

De La Paz, S., Felton, M., Monte-Sano, C., Croninger, R., Jackson, C., Deogracias, J. S., &

Hoffman, B. P. (2014). Developing Historical Reading and Writing With Adolescent

Readers: Effects on Student Learning. ​Theory & Research in Social Education,​ ​42(​ 2),

228-274. doi:10.1080/00933104.2014.908754

Girard, B., & Harris, L. M. (2012). Striving for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: Cognitive

Tools in a World History Course. ​Theory & Research in Social Education,​ ​40​(3), 230-259.

doi:10.1080/00933104.2012.705183

International Literacy Association. (2019). Engagement and adolescent literacy [Position

statement and research brief]. Newark, DE: Author.

International Literacy Association. (2017). Content area and disciplinary literacy: Strategies and

frameworks [Literacy leadership brief]. Newark, DE: Author.

McConachie, S. M., & Petrosky, A. R. (2010). ​Content matters.​ San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Reisman, A. (2012). The ‘Document-Based Lesson’: Bringing disciplinary inquiry into high

school history classrooms with adolescent struggling readers. ​Journal of Curriculum Studies,

44​(2), 233-264. doi:10.1080/00220272.2011.591436