Fostering Shared Understanding: Negotiating Interpretive Practices Across Discursive Boundaries
Keywords:
Interpretive communities, discursive practices, intersubjectivity, boundary crossing, hybrid literacies, disciplinary literacy, meaning-making, pedagogyAbstract
In an increasingly interconnected world, individuals routinely encounter and engage with diverse discursive communities, each possessing unique epistemologies, rhetorical conventions, and methods of constructing and validating interpretive claims. This article explores the theoretical underpinnings and pedagogical implications of navigating and hybridizing these varied interpretive practices. Drawing upon research in literacy studies, cultural-historical activity theory, and the sociology of science, we conceptualize "interpretive claim-making" as a dynamic, intersubjective process influenced by disciplinary norms, cultural backgrounds, and digital participatory cultures. We synthesize existing scholarship to argue that fostering shared understanding across discursive boundaries necessitates explicit instruction in disciplinary literacies, the cultivation of "boundary spanners," and the embrace of "syncretic" or "hybrid" approaches to meaning-making. This conceptual analysis proposes a framework for examining how learners (and educators) can develop agency in negotiating divergent interpretations, highlighting the critical role of dialogic assessment and the integration of out-of-school literacies. Ultimately, cultivating the capacity to engage meaningfully with multiple interpretive frameworks is presented as a fundamental skill for navigating complex contemporary knowledge landscapes.
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