Building literacy communities of practice across subject disciplines

Wright, N. (2007). Building literacy communities of practice across subject disciplines in secondary schools. Language and Education, 21(5), 420-433.

Background

The researcher reported that teachers need to integrate the use of literacy in their teaching strategies so as to effectively develop critical thinking skills in students. However, such changes have direct implications on teachers’ pedagogical practices and pedagogical content knowledge thus posing several difficulties in the transition. With this issue in mind, the author discussed the concept of ‘communities of practice’ focusing specifically on the roles of literacy leaders in facilitating the use of literacy in classrooms.

Aims

The study examined the role ‘communities of practice’ play and whether the involvement of literacy leaders would help teachers to effectively alter their pedagogical practices over time.

Sample

The participants were secondary school teachers involved in a three-year Secondary Schools’ Literacy Initiative (SSLI) research project in New Zealand. The external facilitators and literacy leaders worked with five cluster schools for approximately eight months.

Method

The literacy team in schools consisted of the heads of department and some teachers selected from the relevant subject departments. The external facilitators conducted workshops and demonstrated literacy approaches to teachers. Literacy leaders observed classroom practices and evaluated the efficacy of using different literacy approaches through the analysis of school achievement data. Teachers then experimented with particular approaches and shared their experiences with each other.

Findings

In the initial stages of implementation, teachers viewed the change in pedagogical practices as inconvenient and cumbersome as it involved changing their personal and professional beliefs, attitudes and actions towards learning processes.

In the discussions with the literacy team, teachers learnt about the types of literacy approaches and the relevant assessments tools to guide practice and the technological tools (e.g. interactive whiteboards) to support learning. For example, some teachers applied the literacy approaches in classrooms and instructed students to provide verbal or written explanations when solving questions and reported that such active reflection helped the students to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. Notably, the involvement of the literacy community of practice helped teachers to resist reverting to the ‘comfortable’ way of older pedagogical practices.

Implications

The continued success of implementing the use of specific literacy approaches may be dependent on a strong and active commitment from the school’s principal and other leaders to actively implement those approaches as part of a pedagogical change focus.

Original article retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online.