Disciplinary
Literacy Blog Post – History & ESL
As a teacher of English as a Second Language I will
be responsible for supporting students’ literacy development across subjects
therefore it is important that I gain an understanding of the literary
practices across disciplines. For the purpose of this assignment, I have chosen
to focus on the discipline of history. I have read six articles so far, all of
which agree that implementing disciplinary instruction when studying history
enabled students to “effectively explore historical content…and demonstrate
content knowledge on post assessments” (Brugar, 2016, pg. 107).
One theory of learning that appeared in my research
is that of schema theory (Mac, 1996, pg. 144-146.) Schema has major implications
for learning. According to this theory, as humans receive information, they
organize it around previously developed “schemata” in order to create a network
of ideas (pg. 144). If students do not have the previously developed schemata
to connect new information that they are trying to learn to, they will struggle
with the new material. I appreciate this theory especially as it relates to
students who are newly arrived from other countries and first generation
students, as are common in ESL classrooms. Mac (1996) calls this process of
knowledge development the “construction zone,” and encourages teachers to “equip
students with the skills necessary for them to make sense of the abundance of
information and use it to make responsible decisions in their personal and
civic lives” (pg. 144) through the development of schemata with engaging
disciplinary specific learning activities.
Hangen (2015) focuses on historical digital literacy
as a means to provide genuinely exciting ways for students to learn about
history. She does discuss the importance of relating new information to
previous experiences of students as is emphasized by Mac (1996), but she
incorporates a new element as well: teaching students to think about history as
incomplete and seeing themselves as creators of historical knowledge through the
incorporation of disciplinary practices of historians (pg. 1192-1193). Several basic digital tools are identified in
her article, “Historical Digital Literacy, One Classroom at a Time,” including
Google Docs and Wiki pages which are interactive digital platforms. Historians
are constantly in conversation with one another because the writing of history
is “a profoundly collaborative endeavor” (pg. 1193). This is in contrast to the
typical rote memorization that most students experience in history classes. The
availability of these platforms that allow for simultaneous collaboration
regardless of place and time facilitate historical conversation more than ever
before.
Wikispaces, free for teachers: https://www.wikispaces.com/
Monte-Sano (2012) elaborates on the issue of
historical writing in his article “What Makes a Good History Essay? Assessing
Historical Aspects of Argumentative Writing.” Historians do not merely report on
ancient history, they interpret it. Therefore historical writing needs to
transition from informative reports to formulating historical arguments, which
is a Common Core standard (pg. 296). Facts need to be accurately reported (this
relies on the development of background knowledge or schemata), evidence from
reliable sources needs to be presented and sourced, and it needs to be corroborated
in a way that supports the student’s claim (pg. 296-297).
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| Students at Green Bay Avenue Elementary School in WIcreated a "Wax Museum" where they "became"their favorite Black historical figure. |
Collin and Reich (2015) explain that content areas a
comprised of seven dimensions: “identities, relationships, forms of knowledge,
actions, forms of significance, connections and politics (Gee, 2005,pg. 11-12).
Therefore, students need to be supported in taking on the identity of a
historian when they enter the history classroom at any grade level. When
students enter those classrooms teachers need to make sure they do not just
open different textbooks, rather, that
they are switching on their knowledge of identities, politics, and other forms
to “rebuild” the content area as a place where novice historians think and act
like professionals in their field (Collin & Reich, 2015, pg. 466). Access to technology and interacting with
different tools, whether it’s for collaborating on a Google Doc for discussion,
transcribing primary sources such as famous speeches, or curating a set of sources on a historical subject,
makes for an exciting learning community of novice historians (Dalton, 2014,
pg. 296-302). Discipline specific practices should not be reserved for advanced
or high achieving students, ESL and other student groups should also be
involved because, as these authors have shown through their studies,
disciplinary practices increase student engagement and could help close the
achievement gap for low socioeconomic status (SES) families (Brugar, 2016, pg.
107).
Link to the Smithsonian Digital Volunteer Transcription Center: https://transcription.si.edu/
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