CODA: Teaching Literacy in the Disciplines: More Complicated Than We Think!

This article makes the case for Shulman’s notion of “pedagogical content knowledge” when it comes to disciplinary teachers teaching students HOW to read and compose texts from the discipline and that do disciplinary work. Using examples from science, this article explores how next-generation standards and assessments, such as the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards, require teachers to know HOW to teach students HOW to do the discipline, including how to read, compose, and solve problems in the discipline. The article further explores ideas for framing and delivering instruction that helps students to read and compose complex texts in disciplinary settings in ways that meet next-generation standards as well as the demands of disciplinary expertise.