It is frequently the experience of librarians that a request is made to engage with a class in the process of research, either for a specific inquiry or to learn about a new database, to explore a new searching skill or simply to gain some research tips and tricks. This is the perfect time to stop to consider what this idea of “research” is. Why would we bother teaching it when access to information seems to be easier now than it ever was? Is it a passing skill and are other priorities taking it’s place? Continue reading What is research anyway?
Category Archives: Information Literacy
Library curriculum integration through a Complex Systems approach.
The challenge of mapping library integration into the curriculum
(2500 words) Authentic and meaningful integration throughout the curriculum and the learning context for students is a perennial challenge for school libraries. Learning is non-linear, therefore, while mapping specific library lessons across the curriculum in a linear format is an enticing solution it is at risk of becoming disconnected from student learning. Continue reading Library curriculum integration through a Complex Systems approach.
Language, Literacy & Life Competence
This graphic came out of a reflection on the many powerful ideas presented by Stephen Krashen in “Compelling Reading and Problem-Solving: The Easy Way (And the Only Way) to High Levels of Language, Literacy and Life Competence.”
Academic Honesty lessons using a complex systems approach
(3500 Words)
Complex systems thinking provides a holistic framework for discussing Academic Honesty with students. Complex systems thinking leads us away from hierarchical structures of power and authority toward an emphasis on connections, dialogue and individual autonomy. Complex systems thinking embraces individual identity and diversity where students construct their own meaning through respectful and meaningful interactions with their peers. Rather than attempting to homogenise student understandings of academic honesty, a complex systems approach provides a rich context for individual and shared understandings to emerge by fostering interactions, collaboration and iterative feedback.
The imperative from the class teachers: “We are concerned that academic misconduct may be on the rise and while teachers have discussed this with students having someone different to lead some sessions with this grade level may help them to understand academic honesty better and understand the importance of academic honesty with the hope that their behaviour will improve”. So the librarian was invited to take two sessions with this grade level which included 29 students.
Purpose of the lessons:
Continue reading Academic Honesty lessons using a complex systems approach
There is no Information Literacy if there is no Dialogue
(2200 words)
Information literacy is dehumanising if it is not dialogic. In the same way that a fluency in a language is gauged through dialogue, information literacy has meaning when it is participatory, connected, responsive and dynamic. Fluency with information is demonstrated through participation in civic dialogue where individuals connect and knowledge is shared, refined and remoulded into new meaning for each participant. This is not merely an expansion of the term information literacy by definition but it is an expansion through action.
Continue reading There is no Information Literacy if there is no Dialogue
The Library Element 