1. Literacy and Society, Culture, Media, & Education
Ghent University 9-11 February 2012
Participatory Workshop on Information
Literacy in Education and Policy Actions
THE SCHOOLS SECTOR
Facilitator
Dr. Sabina Cisek
Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
EMPATIC project
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2. http://empat-ic.eu/eng/
Project funded by the European Commission
under the Lifelong Learning Programme
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3. Presentation contents
• What is Information Literacy? And why to care about it?
• IL is closely related to the EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM – in general
and the TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS – in particular
• Information Literacy is widely recognized as an essential
competence for participation in general and higher education,
the workplace and society
• European Union, Lifelong Learning, Information Literacy and
the School Sector
• What is SCHOOL SECTOR from the EMPATIC point of view?
• Information Literacy in the Schools Sector – EMPATIC’s DRAFT
Recommendations to Policy Makers
• What we would like you to do?
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4. What is Information Literacy?
And why to care about it?
• Information Literacy (IL) – both as a notion/research
problem and practice – is not a simple issue, has
various aspects and functions in different contexts.
• IL has two interrelated dimensions:
– social (IL = social objective)
– individual (IL = cognitive acquisition of individuals)
• Information Literacy is – at a minimum – a set of
knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to
successfully find, retrieve, analyze, evaluate and use
information.
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5. What is Information Literacy?
And why to care about it?
• As a result there are many characteristics of IL
but most agree that:
– IL is MUCH MORE than computer, digital, internet or
even media literacy
– IL is IMPORTANT for all – people, businesses, nations
… (For whom and why – see slide 7)
– IL is closely related to the EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM in
general and the TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS in
particular (Why? See slide 6)
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6. IL is closely related to the EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM – in general
and the TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS – in particular
• Both CRITICAL THINKING and LIFELONG LEARNING (LLL) are not
possible without IL competences
• Pupils/students LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY if they are
information literate
• „Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is
common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all
levels of education. It enables learners to master content and
extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and
assume greater control over their own learning.”
(ACRL, http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/sta
ndards/standards.pdf)
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7. Information Literacy is widely recognized as an essential
competence for participation in general and higher
education, the workplace and society.
The UNESCO’s Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and
Lifelong Learning (2005) says:
“Information Literacy (…) is crucial to the competitive advantage of
individuals, enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises),
regions and nations; provides the key to effective access, use and
creation of content to support economic development, education,
health and human services, and all other aspects of contemporary
societies (…)”.
“Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers
people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information
effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and
educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and
promotes social inclusion of all nations.”
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8. European Union, Lifelong Learning, Information
Literacy and the School Sector
• EU promotes Lifelong Learning (LLL)
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifel
ong_learning/c11054_en.htm
• EU introduces European Qualification Framework (EQF) for Lifelong
Learning
– “As an instrument for the promotion of lifelong learning, the EQF
encompasses all levels of qualifications acquired in general, vocational as
well as academic education and training. Additionally, the framework
addresses qualifications acquired in initial and continuing education and
training. The eight reference levels are described in terms of learning
outcomes. (…) In the EQF a learning outcome is defined as a statement of
what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a
learning process. The EQF therefore emphasizes the results of learning
rather than focusing on inputs such as length of study. Learning outcomes
are specified in three categories – as knowledge, skills and competence.”
http://ec.europa.eu/education/pub/pdf/general/eqf/broch_en.pdf, p. 3
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9. European Union, Lifelong Learning,
Information Literacy and the School Sector
• Because Lifelong Learning is not achievable
without IL, therefore IL should be developed.
• If (1) there is a common European LLL area and
the common EQF, and (2) IL is important and sine
qua non for LLL, then (3) coherent, EU-wide,
embracing all learning sectors (school, HE, adult
and vocational) IL development policy is needed.
• At the moment such policy does not exist.
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10. European Union, Lifelong Learning,
Information Literacy and the School Sector
• In addition, Information Literacy is unappreciated, its role is
undervalued, and it has been frequently equated with the
Digital Literacy*
– For example – in the official EU document Key Competences for
Lifelong Learning – A European Framework – there is a
separate part on Digital Competence, defined as “the confident
and critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for
work, leisure and communication”, but not on Information
Literacy.
*Basili, C. 2008. Theorems of Information Literacy. A mathematical-like
approach to the discourse of Information Literacy. http://www-
old.inib.uj.edu.pl/wyd_iinb/s3_z5/basili-n.pdf
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11. What is SCHOOL SECTOR from the
EMPATIC point of view?
• According to EU EACEA Lifelong Learning
Programme (Comenius programme) it is „the
first phase of education, from pre-school and
primary to secondary schools”
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/
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12. Information Literacy in the Schools
Sector – EMPATIC’s DRAFT
Recommendations to Policy Makers
• Some elements of IL development strategies
are present in European countries and “taken-
for-granted”, but clearly formulated national IL
policy assumptions are required.
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13. Information Literacy in the Schools Sector – EMPATIC’s
DRAFT Recommendations to Policy Makers
• National IL development strategies should be flexible and built on
an all-European scheme of IL standards, and those in turn should
be formulated in terms of learning outcomes. Consequently there
is a strong recommendation to prepare the IL standards scheme.
– Detailed Information Literacy strategies are needed. However,
educational systems, information cultures, and experiences with IL
development in every EU country are different, so what works in one
part of Europe may not work in another. As a result it would be better
to formulate European Information Literacy standards in terms of
learning outcomes; these would identify a set of IL goals to be
achieved in different appropriate ways and by various means within
formal, informal and non-formal learning environments. In other
words, the aims of IL should be the same across Europe in general, but
IL development strategies need to be national in specifics.
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14. Information Literacy in the Schools Sector – EMPATIC’s
DRAFT Recommendations to Policy Makers
• Identification of roles for multi-dimensional
cooperation of different IL stakeholders (local
authorities and other local figures, parents, school
authorities, students, teachers) is crucial.
– It is not simple to indicate who is to be responsible for
the introduction and development of Information
Literacy, but surely it could be national, central units.
Generally, central bodies are appropriate to set goals but
the cooperative work of all interested parties and
stakeholders at local level, in local communities, is where
real work is or can be achieved.
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15. Information Literacy in the Schools Sector – EMPATIC’s
DRAFT Recommendations to Policy Makers
• School management and teachers are the most important
stakeholders in the schools sector, they must be aware of
what Information Literacy is, why it is so important and
how to learn/teach IL in schools.
– All the changes related to Information Literacy development
in the school (formal education) learning sector should start
with the involvement of teachers; they need to be convinced
and trained in the IL didactics. School teachers are the basis
of educational systems and send the most influential
messages to their students/children in schools.
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16. Information Literacy in the School Sector – EMPATIC’s
DRAFT Recommendations to Policy Makers
• Librarians/information professionals, who are
traditionally engaged in IL-related matters
everywhere, must cooperate with all other
parties/stakeholders involved in the educational
processes, to include: headmasters, teachers,
parents, students, local authorities, and other
people having important social functions in their
local communities (police officers, fire-fighters,
priests, etc.).
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17. Information Literacy in the Schools Sector – EMPATIC’s
DRAFT Recommendations to Policy Makers
• Real work at the local level is the most important
factor for IL development in the school sector in
Europe, and as a result it has to be strongly
supported by national and European law and
policy makers;
• The young generation, so-called „digital
natives”, do not necessarily have an „inherent”
culture of information; they also must undergo
education and training in the field of Information
Literacy.
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18. What we would like you to do?
• The main purpose of the EMPATIC
recommendations is to stimulate action.
• Participants of the conference are asked to
examine, discuss and finalize them and also
help refine a strategic plan for their
dissemination and utilisation.
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19. What we would like you to do?
A few exemplary questions
• Would you agree that IL is „a must” in the today’s
Information Society and as such needs to be taught/learnt
from primary school on?
• Who is to be responsible for the Information Literacy
development? Do we need a central body or central goals?
• What are the main challenges in the area of IL
development?
• What actions related to IL should be taken within the
school learning sector?
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20. If you are interested
• http://empat-ic.eu/
• http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.bl
ogspot.com/
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