From rhetoric to reality: advancing literacy by cross‐curricular means

Abstract

Cross‐curricularity, literacy and critical literacy are currently promoted as components of a curriculum appropriate for the twenty‐first century. The first two, in particular, are prescribed elements of classroom experience in Northern Ireland, which is the immediate context of this article, but also more widely in the UK. Teachers are implementing cross‐curricular and interdisciplinary initiatives, but rhetorical imperatives can translate into superficial realities. The reasons for this are explored, as are the reasons why interdisciplinary studies, literacy across the curriculum and critical literacy are deemed to be of significance for education at the present time. The ‘Making Science: Making News’ project is described, in which Key Stage 3 science and English classes worked together, with input from a research scientist and a journalist, to produce articles on space science which were published in local newspapers. The outcomes of the project are discussed from the perspectives of both teachers and learners. It is argued that this project is an example of genuine interdisciplinary activity; that it went beyond literacy skills to a deeper development of scientific discourse; and that, through its media connection, there was potential for building an ongoing awareness in pupils of critical literacy and scientific literacy.

German Teachers’ Views on Promoting Scientific Media Literacy Using Advertising in the Science Classroom

“…In contrast, their more skeptical colleagues made up a group of pure science teachers with two science subjects. Since the teachers researched in the study by Alexander et al (2008) showed a willingness to participate in such approaches and presented different ideas for doing so, it seems necessary to launch and carry out more projects like the one discussed here.…”

Subject-based and cross-curricular approaches within the revised primary curriculum in Northern Ireland: teachers' concerns and preferred approaches

“…This position includes the idea that topics should not be too broad, but be more limited in scope (Palmer and Pettitt 1993;Barnes 2011) and that topics should have links which are natural, meaningful and purposeful and have conceptual coherence, rather than being tenuous and spurious (Martin 2002;Alexander et al 2008;Rowley and Cooper 2009). In addition, various authors have advocated that teachers should vary their planning approaches between whole class topic work, individual topics and modular units of work with a single curriculum focus, taking into consideration the context of the school and the children's specific needs.…”

Hopes and Prospects for the Sustainability Cross-Curriculum Priority: Provocations From a State-Wide Case Study

“…He acknowledges the demands that cross-curricular teaching have on educators as it can often increase workload and challenges educators to embed something they may not be overly familiar with themselves (in this case, sustainability) into their own teaching and learning. This is reiterated by Alexander, Jarman, McClune, and Walsh (2008), who suggest that for teachers, ‘all too often, this could mean paying lip-service to the themes and making token gestures in their direction, with the substance of subject teaching remaining unaffected’ (p. 24).…”