Noticing for Equity in Disciplinary Literacy

• In Event: Reimagining K–12 Disciplinary Literacy: Access, Engagement, and Innovation Across Subjects

Abstract

As researchers and educators involved in a diverse teacher education program, we find disciplinary literacies are top of mind for pre-service teacher candidates. The desire to socialize diverse students into language and literacy practices that align with those expected from schools and their respective disciplines seems consequential to new teachers. However, given the systemic harm caused to children of color who do not demonstrate proficiency in literacies related to respective disciplines, we argue for a re-imagining of what counts as disciplinary literacy. In this paper we call for an approach to disciplinary literacies steeped in leveraging the communicative repertoires of communities of color, requiring teachers to engage in noticing for equity in their everyday classroom life.

In the spirit of the 2026 AERA call, we are purposeful in “looking back to look forward, being intentional about examining historical frameworks that can inform future norms we seek to give shape to, and nurture” (Winn, 2025). Historically, we recognize the harm caused to Black (Baugh, 1999; Smitherman, 1999), Latinx (Zentella, 1997), Indigenous (McCarty & Nicholas, 2017) and Asian (Reyes & Lo, 2008) communities in schools by educators who deemed their cultural and communicative practice as inferior (Lippi-Green, 2011). We also acknowledge scholarship that allows us to imagine different futures for minoritized students in our schools, where educators purposefully leverage learners' diverse communicative practices for consequential learning experiences (Lee, 2009; Gutierrez, 2008). In imagining and planning for generations beyond our own that can be free from harms caused by narrow disciplinary literacy frameworks we argue for a stance within and across disciplines that leverage the ingenuity (Gutierrez, et al, 2017; McDermott & Raley, 2011) of communities of color which is possible when we begin noticing for equity (Authors). We offer “noticing for equity” as a conceptual approach that allows teachers to interrogate, disrupt, and transform disciplinary literacy and supports their ability to develop curricula and instructional approaches that sustain the cultural and linguistic identities of the diverse students they serve.

We approach this conceptual argument as scholars steeped within the disciplinary boundaries of the English Language Arts and Science education, respectively. Disciplinary literacy approaches have mediated much of our experiences as teacher educators, and we often experienced the tension because of narrow conceptions of disciplinary literacy within our instructional practices. We draw on these experiences, in conversation with our theoretical stances to argue for a future with disciplinary literacies that is harm-free, and inclusive of a myriad of racialized voices.

We look toward our own experiences in our teacher education classrooms to provide examples of the tensions we experience as teacher educators, and how theory provides a north star in guiding our untangling of complex and dynamic issues we seek to confront.

Authors

• Danny C. Martinez, University of California - Davis

• Alexis Patterson Williams, University of California - Davis