Literacy in the Social Sciences 30 October 2012

Learning intentions To develop an understanding of subject specific literacy in the Social Sciences To model a process for sharing subject specific literacy with teachers and middle leaders in the Social Sciences

Why is literacy important? A country’s literacy scores rising by 1% relative to the international average is associated with an eventual 2.5% relative rise in labour productivity and a 1.5% rise in GDP per head. Coulombe & Tremblay, 2005

What is subject specific literacy? Strong early reading skills do not automatically develop into more complex skills that enable students to deal with the specialised and sophisticated reading in specific learning areas. Specialised literacy instruction needed for all students (not just those who score below the mean in literacy measures). Shanahan & Shanahan (2008)

Intellectual values of a discipline The different reading processes are related to the intellectual values of a learning area Historians emphasise paying attention to the author or source before reading a text Mathematicians stress the importance of functional words such as “the” and “a” What are the intellectual values of your subject?

What are the aspects of literacy in each learning area? Each learning area has specific literacy demands involving: Specialist and academic vocabulary Types of texts Ways of thinking, evaluating and responding Methods of communicating Conventions, styles, structures

Strategy instruction All strategies are appropriate in subject speciifc literacy but they are actualised differently e.g. The approach to vocabulary is different in English and Geography

Do students understand the differences in literacy across the learning areas? Students need to know how literacy requirements are different from learning area to learning area E.g. an essay in English values personal response whereas an essay in Gepgraphy values …, an essay in History values …, an essay in Accounting values…

The importance of critiquing the text A Civilised Community: A history of Social Security in NZ 1898-1998 Written by Margaret McClure Published in 1998 Funded by Dept of Internal Affairs

Student knowledge needed to access text Reading immigration laws requires knowledge of: Immigration history World geography Political theory Cultural studies Mathematics

Constructing knowledge through using … Different genres (narrative, expository, poetics, music) Different symbol systems (print, graphics, tables) Different semiotic tools (image, sound, performance) Moje, 2008

The importance of discussion around texts Student achievement in comprehension and critical thinking improves when there is classroom discussion around a text. There is some evidence that students transfer their comprehension and learning abilities to new texts and new contexts. Murphy, Wilkinson & Soter, 2011

Challenges with subject specific literacy Do teachers have a deep understanding of the knowledge producing practices of their discipline? Are some students resistant to subject specific literacy? What is the role of new media in subject specific literacy? What school structures need to change to enable teachers to support students to navigate subject specific literacy? Moje, 2008