Curriculum Literacies: Expanding domains of assessment

Abstract

In this paper we explore the literacy-curriculum interface reconceptualising this relationship in terms of curriculum literacies . The reconceptualisation is an outcome of a major Australian research study that examined the literacy demands of curriculum in senior schooling. The study was multidisciplinary, multi-theoretical in nature, involving a team of international researchers with expertise in literacy and in curriculum. The paper argues the need for exploring the coherence of literacy demands that students encounter in managing their learning in different contexts and disciplines and the need to incorporate these demands explicitly in instruction and assessment. Our conclusion is that the reconceptualisation of curriculum literacies challenges current constructs of assessment and calls for the domains of assessment to be expanded to include curriculum knowledge, and epistemological domains that take account of diverse ways of working with and in semiotic systems. Student success across the years of schooling hinges on their increasing control of this combination of knowledges and ability to use these productively.