ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we define multimodal disciplinary literacy as the discipline-specific competences and practices that are recontextualized in school subjects. We provide a rationale for a multimodal literacy infused science pedagogy to develop and use these competences within senior high school biology, chemistry and physics pedagogy and argue for greater attention in teacher education to the expertise required across intersecting fields of science education and multimodal semiotics. In the first part of the chapter, we outline some of the potential areas of conversation within the literacy and science education community that have been essential in developing the transdisciplinary research that informs subsequent chapters of this volume. This includes an orientation to research which has advanced understandings of verbal, visual, symbolic and mathematical representations in science and science learning. In part 2 of the chapter, we review motivations for long-standing research interest in infusing literacy and multimodal literacy within senior high school science pedagogy and provide a map of research perspectives that have contributed to designing pedagogic practices. We argue that effective pedagogic design requires explication of learning theories which inform intersecting fields of science education and multimodal semiotics and a metalanguage which can mediate the interpretations of recontextualized practice.
