Developing Elementary Graduate Students' Disciplinary Literacy Perspectives and Practices Through Disciplinary Inquiry

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Disciplinary Literacy Across Teacher Education Contexts

Abstract

Elementary teachers can prepare their students for more advanced literacy practices by teaching them how to approach texts through different disciplinary lenses. The intent of this study was to provide elementary teacher educators with a better understanding of the development of preservice and inservice elementary teachers’ disciplinary literacy pedagogy and practice. The specific objective was to examine how infusing an inquiry-based Disciplinary Literacy into a content area literacy course impacted preservice and inservice elementary teachers’ knowledge about disciplinary literacies and how their knowledge influenced their instructional practices. Data came from six elementary education graduate students at a large, rural institution. Findings reveal an increase in students’ identification and understanding of the distinct literacy practices associated with their particular disciplines.

Authors

• Stephanie M Bennett, Mississippi State University

• Steven Hart, California State University - Fresno