Investigating a Disciplinary Approach to Literacy Learning in a Secondary School

Hannant, K., & Jetnikoff, A. (2015). Investigating a disciplinary approach to literacy learning in a secondary school. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 23(3), 28-37.n

Background

This paper reports findings from a research project undertaken in a secondary school in Queensland, Australia, which prides itself on a whole-school approach to literacy within and across disciplines, and on staff professional development in literacy.

Aims

This paper reports findings from a research project undertaken in a secondary school in Queensland, Australia, which prides itself on a whole-school approach to literacy within and across disciplines, and on staff professional development in literacy.

Sample

The sample consisted of one Year 8 English/History teacher and her class of 20 students. Eleven students consented to participating in the study although only eight consented to full participation in the project.

Method

Students in the History classroom studied Shogunate Japan and were required to produce a Japanese picture scroll in the final assessment. For the English unit on Indigenous Perspectives, the students were exposed to a range of texts and opportunities to analyse them. They had to write an analytical response to a picture book for the final assessment. The planned research intervention to support student learning for both subjects was the use of written exemplars, which were unpacked to reveal language features. The data collected included group and individual interviews, observations and work samples.

Findings

Despite efforts to support a disciplinary literacy approach to learning, significant constraints were observed to hinder the development of the writing capabilities of the students. These included time constraints resulting from interruptions to curriculum programmes and reporting deadlines, the challenge of producing quality assessment tasks, the mismatch between texts and the disciplinary frames to analyse them, and curriculum designs that did not prioritise writing.

Implications

The authors recommended that schools provide the conditions and support that would enable teachers to implement knowledge gained through professional development. School staff also needed to review the curriculum and acknowledge the constraints involved. Additionally, they urged education authorities to consider how school structures supported or constrained student learning and writing capabilities.

Original article retrieved from EBSCOHost.