Making the invisible visible: The importance of disciplinary literacy practice in secondary classrooms

This article describes one aspect of an 2 year inquiry project (August 2016–July 2018) which brought together 18 experienced teachers from four Christchurch secondary schools as well as teachers in the University of Canterbury’s transition programme (Student Transitions and Engagement) to collaborate and share ideas about discipline-specific literacy as a means of preparing students for successful tertiary transitions. The teachers came from a range of disciplines including mathematics, social sciences, art, PE/health, the sciences, English, and English language learning. Although the project showed improved transition outcomes for students and changes to teacher practice, this article’s focus is limited to the gains in teacher knowledge and changes in teacher practice.