How to Know the Subjects We Teach -
Subject Knowledge and Their Common Categories

Information for students to learn is categorized by subjects or disciplines.

The more teachers know and understand subjects or disciplines, the better they facilitate students' learning.

Subject Definitions - To understand each subject, people often turn to definitions.

Science definitions
Mathematics definitions
Literature definitions

Definitions are insufficient to know what is necessary and sufficient to be literate in a subject.

Subject Literacy Definitions:
Definitions are interesting and connect necessary important ideas to each subject in a powerful emotional manner. They can provide unique insight into one or more significant aspects of the subject. However, even the most comprehensive definition lacks sufficient information that teachers and students need to know to be literate in that subject.

To provide that depth, various learned societies have created panels of experts and organized their ideas around a concept of "literacy" for different subjects. Information in those documents describe ideas people should know and do to be literate in the respective subject area. Some of the publications address the idea of literacy related to students' progression through school and are known as standards, benchmarks, and other documentation to facilitate literacy.

Science
NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) Standards on line - at NSTA
NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) Standards Hob OUTLINE

Mathematics, Science, and Social Science
AAAS Project 2061 - Science for All Americans, Benchmarks, Atlases, & Investigations
AAAS Project 2061 HoB 2061 Outlines

Mathematics
NATM (National Association of Teachers of Mathematics) Standards - HoB outlines
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics HoB outlines

To assist elementary teachers who have to organize information in many subjects? The following pattern of similarities among subjects can assist understanding and remembering the dimensions for all subjects.

All subjects or disciplines essential knowledge can be thought of as being related to one of four categories.

1. Process and or skills: What people do to create knowledge in the discipline (the how: inquiry, investigation, problem solving, observation, classification, representation, reasoning, search for answers, communication of those answers, resolution of conflicting opinions, ...).
2. Content knowledge: Information that is created by the processes of the subject or discipline (the what: facts, concepts, generalizations, principles, theorems, and laws).
3. Attitudes or Dispositions or Habits of Mind: Values and behaviors people have and use when investigating or learning the subject in a successful way. Attitudes to have when doing the subject to create knowledge in the discipline. Attitudes that are usually valued in using or studying most subjects include: curiosity, desire to understand, open-minded, skeptical, persistent, ...).
4. Perspectives>: Relationships of the discipline to society, culture, history, the discipline itself and society, culture, history to it, how it can and can not be used in all respects.

A comprehensive literacy description for any subject or discipline includes substantial references to each of these areas.

Comparison Charts - with the four categories aligned to the national science and mathematics standard categories

National Science Teacher's Association Content Standards - categorized by content, process, disposition, and perspectives

Project 2061 - categorized by content, process, disposition, and perspectives

National Science Teacher's Association Standards and Project 2061 by content, procss, attitude, and perspectives

Mathematics NCTM standards categorized by content, process, attitudes, and perspectives

Summary - Generally the better or more outstanding a teacher is the more comprehensive their understanding is of all the categories of a subject. They have deep understanding of: content knowledge, processes / skills, attitudes / dispositions, and a perspectives. Knowing these helps teachers understand, remember, and create more and better opportunities for their students to learn what is essential for literacy in a subject.

As you study the different subjects you will continue to learn more about each subject and what it means to be truly literate in a subject. What each person must know to have substantial expertise in each of these four categories. As you do you will also find commonalities among different subjects, within the same categories. This will assist in understanding subjects in more comprehensive ways that provide greater leverage for connecting the subject's knowledge to real world situations and across subjects, that's literacy.