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.

Interpretive communities, discursive practices, intersubjectivity

Akkerman, S. F., & Bakker, A. (2011). Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 132–169. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311404435

Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy. Taylor & Francis Group.

Beck, S. W. (2006). Subjectivity and intersubjectivity in the teaching and learning of writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 413–460.

Beck, S. W. (2018). A think-aloud approach to writing assessment: Analyzing process and product with adolescent writers. Teachers College Press.

Beck, S. W., & Jones, K. (2023). Fostering agency through dialogue in classroom writing assessment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.104012

Beck, S. W., Jones, K., Storm, S., & Smith, H. (2020). Scaffolding students’ writing processes through dialogic assessment. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63(6), 651–660. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1039

Bomer, R., & Laman, T. (2004). Positioning in a primary writing workshop: Joint action in the discursive production of writing subjects. Research in the Teaching of English, 38(4), 420–466.

Buxton, C. A., Carlone, H. B., & Carlone, D. (2005). Boundary spanners as bridges of Student and school discourses in an Urban Science and Mathematics High school. School Science and Mathematics, 105(6), 302–312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2005.tb18131.x

Gray, J. (2010). Show sold separately: Promos, spoilers, and other media paratexts. NYU Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt155jkjw

Gutiérrez, K. D. (2014). Syncretic approaches to literacy learning- leveraging horizontal knowledge and expertise. In P. Dunston, L. Gambrell, K. Headley, S. Fullerton, & P. Stecker (Eds.), 63rd Literacy Research Association Yearbook (pp. 48–61). Literacy Research Association.

Jenkins, H. G., & Kelley, W. (Eds.). (2013). Reading in a participatory culture: Remixing moby-dick in the English Classroom. Teachers College Press.