Disciplinary Reading, Action, and Social Change

In their Four Resources Model, Freebody and Luke (1990) described four roles that readers take as they engage with texts: the code breaker, meaning maker, text user/analyst, and text critic. In this article, we propose the addition of a fifth role, the text actor. In this role, readers engage with texts that can incite, inform, and inspire them to take action to produce change within the many communities in which they reside, including the classroom, local community, and national community. Creating opportunities to assume this role is a potentially important part of preparing students for active social and civic participation, and it is especially important in this historical moment, when we are confronted with significant challenges that require global problem solving and participation. We describe the text actor role and share examples of how students can take on this role in disciplinary learning.