The document discusses the role of librarians as teachers of information literacy in the digital age. It outlines how information literacy involves developing independent learners and includes the social dimensions of information. It also describes a project at the London School of Economics where librarians partnered with students to develop workshops on topics like evaluating information, research practices, and digital identity. The project helped librarians understand how to better support students' transition to university and develop as independent learners.
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Librarians as teachers_secker
1. Librarians, learning and information
literacy in the digital age
Dr Jane Secker, London School of Economics
Librarians as Teachers, ARLG West Midlands
10th June 2015
Image: Kevin Dooley, flickr.com CC BY-NC 2.0
2. 2015: time to reflect
What has changed in the last 5 years in your role?
Are you more or less recognised as a teacher?
#LibTeach2015
3. Librarians as teachers ...
We are talking about
information literacy
(IL) in the digital age
But what do we
mean?
4. Librarians as teachers ...
We are talking about
information literacy
(IL)
But what do we
mean?
Library instruction
5. Librarians as teachers ...
We are talking about
information literacy
(IL)
But what do we
mean?
Library instruction
User education
6. Librarians as teachers ...
We are talking about
information literacy
(IL)
But what do we
mean?
Library instruction
User education
Bibliographic
training
7. Get outside the library bubble
Kitty behind the bubble by Beatnik photos licensed
under CC-BY
8. The role of the teacher in the digital age
Signpost by thepicturedrome licensed under
CC-BY-NC
9. Threshold concepts & liminality
“A threshold concept can be considered as akin to a
portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible
way of thinking about something.” - Jan Meyer & Ray
Land
10. Information literacy ...
… supports transition
Higher education is “not just more education, but
different”. Students coming from school are not sure
what learning is - it’s always been managed for them.
(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.20)
Secker and Coonan, 2011
11. Information literacy ...
… develops independent learners
It involves students being able to articulate the expectations
of a new information context, and also being able to reflect on
their own learning. Part of the process of becoming an
independent learner also involves helping a student
understand more about the process of learning.
(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.22)
Secker and Coonan, 2011
12. Information literacy ...
… includes the social dimension of information
As a profession, we need to think about what students
need to know and be able to apply in the information
environment. Our commitment should be to life-long
learning rather than the longer life of our library resources.
(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.28)
Secker and Coonan, 2011
13. Information literacy is a continuum of skills,
behaviours, approaches and values that is so deeply
entwined with the uses of information as to be a
fundamental element of learning, scholarship and
research.
It is the defining characteristic of the discerning
scholar, the informed and judicious citizen, and the
autonomous learner.
(ANCIL definition of information literacy, 2011)
16. Challenging perceptions of IL
“… if the teachers, whether they’re school or
university teachers, don’t have the same view
of IL that we do, it’s always going to be
[about] the skills. And the skills are fine but
anybody can teach the skills; it’s teaching the
changing attitude and the different approach
that I think has to come from the teachers.”
(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011)
18. “Being able to use different ways of finding
information and being able to judge whether
the information is trustworthy or accurate is
vital: it opens up choices, empowers us and can
give us more confidence.”
(Welsh Information Literacy Project, 2011)
20. “Information literacy .... 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 ... ”
(UNESCO, 2005)
22. “If the learner/user becomes information
literate, that is, self-sufficient, then the role of
the information professional is necessarily
redefined as the one of facilitator of learning,
rather than provider of information.”
(Andretta, 2005)
24. The SADL Project 2013-2015
Collaborative Project:
Library
Learning Technology and
Innovation (LTI)
Teaching and Learning Centre
Student Union
IT Training
Engagement with 4
academic departments
Social Policy, Statistics,
Law, International Relations
40 student ambassadors
25. Undergraduate support at LSE
2012 Audit of undergraduate
support proved a catalyst
Used ANCIL as audit tool
Report: Bell et al (2012)
Found support was ‘patchy’
Transition was offered by all / none
Help offered at point of need / crisis
Assumptions that others were responsible
Assumptions : dangerous!
26. Working with students as partners
Key focus in UK with Jisc
Change Agents Network
Building student engagement
in conjunction with the ‘top
down’ approach ie having a
strategy
Digital literacy is a key area
were we have a lot to learn
from students
Avoids falling for the digital
native rhetoric
27. SADL workshops
Workshop 1: Introduction to the SADL project:
finding and evaluating information
Workshop 2: Reading and research practices
Workshop 3: Managing and sharing information
Workshop 4: Managing your digital identity
All resources on project website:
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources/
28. How do you
approach an
assignment?
Workshop 2:
reading and
writing in your
discipline?
30. SADL Senior Ambassadors
Senior ambassadors
appointed to mentor
students
Planned and helped
teach each workshop
Invaluable source of
advice and support for
teachers
Useful experience for
students
Our greatest
champions?
31. Lessons learnt to date
Developing relationships with students
takes time and need to build trust
Workshops require:
Clear aims and objectives but flexibility
A lot of preparation time
A suitable learning space
Valuable staff development – new techniques,
activities
Ambassador role requires clear expectations and
ways to facilitate peer support and mentoring
Need greater support from academic departments
and other students to make a wider impact
32. The librarian as teacher?
Photo by Andrew_Writer licensed under CC-BY-NC
33. What did the little bird tell us?
http://visibletweets.com/
34. There are no answers, only more questions...
j.secker@lse.ac.uk / @jsecker
http://janesecker.wordpress.com
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl
http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com
35. Further reading
Bell, Maria and Moon, Darren and Secker, Jane (2012) Undergraduate
support at LSE: the ANCIL report. The London School of Economics and
Political Science, London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48058/
Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy
http://www.ilthresholdconcepts.com/
LSE SADL Project website and resources (2014) Available at:
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources
Secker, J and Coonan, E (2011) A New Curriculum for Information Literacy.
Available at: http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com
Secker, Jane, Karnad, Arun , Bell, Maria, Wilkinson, Ellen and Provencher,
Claudine (2014) Student ambassadors for digital literacy (SADL): project
final report. Learning Technology and Innovation , London, UK. Available at:
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59479/
Notas do Editor
The CILIP debate was won on this topic in January
What does it mean to be a teacher in the digital age?
Librarians are teachers – not trainers, but teachers
15 years of working in the profession – time to consider how far we have come as a profession, but I’d like you all to take a moment to reflect on your personal journey. Where are you now, what has changed in the last 5 years in your role? Are you more recognised as a teacher? Are you teaching more or less? Share that with the person next to you.
Turn to them, say hello, and share one observation.
Emma Coonan and I did our ANCIL research in 2011 trying to meet the needs of undergraduates of the future so we reflected last month on whether this work was still relevant.
In January the ILG hosted a CILIP Debate - Emma Coonan and Geoff Walton won the CILIP debate that librarians were teachers – so do we need to keep talking about this?
Has this battle been won? Are librarians teachers or in fact are they something else?
Librarians as teachers is the theme of today’s conference and in my mind this means IL. And by IL we DON’T mean:
library instruction
user education
bibliographic training – we have moved a long way from Database training – which button to press which are functional low level skills (they have a place as as foundation) but we are looking to develop students higher order cognitive abilities
We mean IL in the sense that UNESCO mean IL, we mean the ANCIL definition. We need to be rethinking IL with a broader definition, but also in a way that is learner centred. IL is not a pre-defined set of competencies and while these can be useful they are artificial. They reduce IL to a set of tick boxes. They imply it is something that has a pre-defined level that once achieved it dealt with, rather than it being an on-going iterative process.
The longer you teach IL, the more you find yourself wondering if you CAN teach IL – it’s a way of thinking
Librarians as teachers is the theme of today’s conference and in my mind this means IL. And by IL we DON’T mean:
library instruction
user education
bibliographic training
We mean IL in the sense that UNESCO mean IL, we mean the ANCIL definition. We need to be rethinking IL with a broader definition, but also in a way that is learner centred. IL is not a pre-defined set of competencies and while these can be useful they are artificial. They reduce IL to a set of tick boxes. They imply it is something that has a pre-defined level that once achieved it dealt with, rather than it being an on-going iterative process.
The longer you teach IL, the more you find yourself wondering if you CAN teach IL – it’s a way of thinking
Librarians as teachers is the theme of today’s conference and in my mind this means IL. And by IL we DON’T mean:
library instruction
user education
bibliographic training
We mean IL in the sense that UNESCO mean IL, we mean the ANCIL definition. We need to be rethinking IL with a broader definition, but also in a way that is learner centred. IL is not a pre-defined set of competencies and while these can be useful they are artificial. They reduce IL to a set of tick boxes. They imply it is something that has a pre-defined level that once achieved it dealt with, rather than it being an on-going iterative process.
The longer you teach IL, the more you find yourself wondering if you CAN teach IL – it’s a way of thinking
Librarians as teachers is the theme of today’s conference and in my mind this means IL. And by IL we DON’T mean:
library instruction – it’s very strange that American librarians ‘instruct’ students (I think they mean teach)
user education
bibliographic training
We mean IL in the sense that UNESCO mean IL, we mean the ANCIL definition. We need to be rethinking IL with a broader definition, but also in a way that is learner centred. IL is not a pre-defined set of competencies and while these can be useful they are artificial. They reduce IL to a set of tick boxes. They imply it is something that has a pre-defined level that once achieved it dealt with, rather than it being an on-going iterative process.
The longer you teach IL, the more you find yourself wondering if you CAN teach IL – it’s a way of thinking
I think the one thing I’m clear we need to do is to get outside the library world – start talking to other groups about the teaching that librarians can and are doing. The role of the librarian has changed a lot and I think we all know that.
But it may be outside the library world that people still don’t realise
And don’t realise the overlaps between what they are trying to teach and how we can help them
What is the role of the teacher in the digital age? Does everyone know the picture of the person with the content being poured into their head.
Certainly the role of the teacher in HE Is to be a facilitator of learning.
Content is no longer scare – content is everywhere so in fact we should be questioning the role of the teacher in higher education
The learner needs a guide, but most of all they need to be equipped with abilities to ask questions
The role of the teacher is now arguably that of learner
These feature in the new ACRL Framework for information literacy. Their attempt to move away from a standards based approach that says the information literate student will be able to do X Y and Z.
Threshold concepts are also about a state of liminality – or transition– Emma and I recognised that IL is about transition and a degree of uncertainty, anxiety in learning – to learn you have to lose something
It is defined as the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct, dress, etc.
In the research I did back in 2011 with Emma Coonan – here are the first few strands
Transition is not just the first few weeks at university – it can happen when a student gets their first bit of feedback, when they first write a dissertation
Is that scary? Maybe
Is it overly ambitious? Yes definitely
Is it the preserve of the librarian – no definitely not!
Emma and I spent 3 months reading the literature, talking to experts and testing out our emerging theories to develop what is known as ANCIL.
Our ten strands of ANCIL attempt to view the learning process holistically and from the perspective of the learner. That process should also not focus on simply finding and managing information, but how you use information in a new context (as an incoming undergraduate). How you start to develop independent learning skills, how you start to learn the rules of the game in your discipline, what are valid sources, who are the key thinkers? How is evidence used in your discipline. And then from finding, evaluating and managing information, through to presenting, communicating, using information to develop knowledge and finally to consider that social and wider implications and be able to apply what you have learnt in a new context – the workplace – your home life.
In developing ANCIL we are partly trying to broaden our understanding of information literacy, but also to show how the teaching that librarians do fits into a broader framework for universities and colleges.
ANCIL is about developing students as lifelong learners. Its not about teaching tools and technologies, but it is teaching students problem solving abilities to adapt.
In the course of today’s talk I can only give a brief overview of ANCIL – however I urge you to take a look at the full curriculum document which is available from the new curriculum website referenced at the end. And if you are excited about it, get in touch with us!
PART OF WHAT HAS GIVEN ANCIL ITS LONGEVITY?
We looked hard at whether we needed to include ‘digitalness’ or technology as a discrete strand in our curriculum, but ultimately we figured we were looking at it the wrong way up and that ‘digitalness’ is a bit of a red herring.
Our view is that information literacy refers to all forms of information, including analogue, digital, visual and and anything else as a part of a broad landscape of information. What matters is not the platform or the format, but the context, and the uses to which students are expected to put various types of information at each stage of the scholarly career. Our research doesn't split off digital or other literacies into a separate conceptual container - the focus is rather on developing students' abilities, attitudes and values across all aspects of information use and handling so that they are equipped to deal with information judiciously, no matter what format they encounter it in – and no matter when.
There are some perceptions around IL – in the library world and outside that we need to challenge.
Librarians may be guilty of thinking IL is Going to save us
NOR Is it necessarily understood by other support staff or by teachers
But also: IL doesn’t belong to us (it’s not appropriate to see it as ‘the saviour of the library’ in a digital era).
As Katy Wrathall has said “Ownership if a flawed concept”.
Clare McCluskey’s research in LIR explored how to build partnerships to explore librarians as full partners in higher education, not just providers of services. This builds on earlier work by Claire McGuiness who had found most interactions between faculty and librarians were of the functional service provider nature.
Faculty perceptions of IL McGuinness article back in 2006 : faculty perceptions – its related to student motivation, they will pick it up over time, they (the faculty) are already doing it, they pick it up from fellow students]
We need to establish common ground and have a collective vision of the kind that could be achieved through a strategic framework like ANCIL (it’s happening at LSE, Derby, Worcs, YSJ … all in line with each institution’s particular needs.) Building partnerships is all about having a better understanding of what we each do.
Through carrying out these audits at LSE so interesting notions around the perception of librarians emerged. So for instance … what stops faculty from taking us seriously as teacher?
It’s not perceptions of capability but of credibility
The perception problem is because of a complex legacy assumption that “librarians look after books”. They may do other things as well, but our primary role is to tend the stuff. So every time you teach a session they think you’re doing them a special favour! They think they’re taking you away from your “real job” which is doing stuff with books.
You say IL (or, you talk about your teaching or your provision or your support) -- what do faculty colleagues hear? …
IL = finding books and journal articles
IL= library tours
IL = ICT support
Think about the preconceived ideas from staff about what your session IL teaching will cover. Does this convey the breadth of information literacy as defined by ANCIL?
E.g. Sarah Faye Cohen [excellent blog posts on ‘starting with the WHY of study and research’] – but when she was being introduced her faculty colleague said “Sarah is going to tell you about the library now”.
(Rhetorical question: how many of you even use the word ‘library’ when you teach? Or do you find yourself talking about ‘information’ instead in a broader way?)
A process of empowerment?
And on the capability side – part of the issue is NOT being seen as a teacher, but part of the issue is not having the confidence of qualifications to be a teacher when we enter the profession. So in many cases we are seeking qualifications on entering a professional post, when it becomes apparent we need to teach.
So quick straw poll – can I ask how many people in the room have a formal teaching qualification?
How many of you are studying for one at the moment?
I think it is worth noting that few if any library and information courses in the UK have a core teaching component. Every course has a core module on library management, even though most librarians won’t need it until they get to management level in about 20 years. But why not teach something every librarian will need as soon as they walk into the job? And it’s not just about the practical side of teaching, it’s about understanding learning.
And finally, on teacher training, in the future we may be spending far less time teaching students and more time teaching academics about information literacy, so they can teach students IL. I think it’s vital that we integrate information literacy into our educational qualifications (PGCEs etc.) as a priority.
How about a basic human right?!
That’s what UNESCO says information literacy is!
In evaluating, judging, producing and using information, you make your voice heard, you make a difference. This isn’t about writing essays – it’s about lifelong learning, about social uses of information, about understanding power and how it’s used. But it includes precisely what higher education is supposed to produce: a judicious and informed individual capable of creative, holistic, and critical thinking.
So how we teach – or how we help the development of information literacy values and behaviours in our learners in higher education - supports the emergence of that judicious, informed individual, that empowered citizen, that agent – that person who acts. Process, not thing.
Or is it?
the idea of a continuum or spectrum of information literacy teaching.
Materials provision vs. agency – a continuum
How much of what you do is about organising what’s out there (published) and how much is about what’s in there (head) and still taking shape? It’s not going to be one or the other, is it. So where on that spectrum does your teaching fall ... Both in terms of theories espoused – the framework you adhere to, the values that guide you – and also in how your practice manifests. Because it’s not going to be the same thing!
But more importantly, and less obviously, than that:
All our teaching, both theories espoused and theories in practice, is situated in a wider institutional context which itself has already constituted the student’s experience of education. Our interactions with them are shaped by these touchpoints with the institution and by the values that underlie what they encounter. So as well as thinking about your own practice and embodiment of values – where you’d put yourself on the continuum – ask yourself as well what’s your library’s place on the continuum, your institution’s values, your vice chancellor – and what impact does that have on your practice?
Should libraries be trying to provide allthestuff, and support students in developing critical, evaluative and analytical abilities in order to encounter and use information? Or should libraries be only offering quality, reliable stuff - preselected so that it's guaranteed to be relevant and useful? There's no single, simple answer to this on where libraries should stand. But where do you, personally, stand? And where do your colleagues and your senior management team and the University administration and the Vice Chancellor stand? How they see the mission of the library directly affects the academic ecosystem in which you are trying to carve out, or fit in to, the role of being a teaching librarian.
It doesn’t help that existing information literacy models have tended to create definitions based on the belief that there can be universal competency standards, outlining a ‘right’ way of searching and outputting information, as though we can ‘sign off’ students once and for all when they reach the required standard (which happens once and for all).
Neil Gaiman, bless him, doesn’t get that. But Susie Andretta does ...
Personally:
I am not in the ‘right answer business’!
If information is an adventure game learners have to find their own pathways and follow the signposts of their own choosing. Yes, information –particularly the landscape of library resources ... may be a dark, foreboding forest; but I’m not Gandalf. I’m not the one who knows where the path lies for your quest. I don’t have that knowledge. You do. That’s what I’m here for, to let learners know that.
Project aims
To better understand the existing digital and information literacies of students
To explore the role of Student Ambassadors as peer support for others on their course
To explore how aspects of digital and information literacy can be embedded into the curriculum
To share good practice at LSE on embedding digital, academic and information literacies
Staff assumed aspects of IL were covered by others or students would already know it – this is very dangerous given the diverse student population at LSE
Approach to transition was often sink or swim and help offered as remedial or targeted at specific groups such as students who’s first language is not English (this is probably half of them!)
High achieving students also struggle
Bit fish in a small pond – the brightest kid in school until they get to LSE! Where the pond is full of big fish!
Funding came from a HEA / Jisc initiative about embedding digital literacies into an institution and the literature review we did back in 2014 also highligted that strategies at the top level (the framework) only get you so far!
Working from the ground up can also be effective – and these two together are powerful.
Jane
Format of the workshops
Interactive – we learnt from them as much as they learnt from us
Activity based
Quick wins where they learnt a digital skill
Meetings with students initially envisaged as focus groups
Then thought that rather than just seek information from students, should also provide development for students – 2 way
Interactive activities
Provide input
Quick win – skill they leave with
Ellen
Show some of the work done
How students approach and assignment
One is stats and one is social Policy
Shows tools used and the approach
Also shows how students interweave academic work with their lives – cook and eat, facebook chat, social media
Jane
Range of different software used – other posters with further tools
Students shared with us and each other – asked about tolls they didn’t know about and were interested in trying these out.
Maria
Set clear expectations about the role of digital literacy ambassadors
Are the students an ambassador, a champion, a mentor for others?
Be prepared for trust to take time to develop – students will open up as they get to know you
Workshops need a lot of planning and resources to ensure they are engaging and interactive – plan for plenty of activities and opportunities for you to learn from the students!
Early workshops need to be structured – makes students more comfortable. Can get more flexible as project goes on once they gain confidence and get to know us and each other
Learned how to teach Ugs, activities – adapted resources made available as OERs from Adam Edwards, Middlesex and Matt Borg, Sheffield Hallam
- Workshop 2 – fuzzy on our aim meant less satisfactory but good input from students still. Made us think and reflect better for 3 and for rest of project objective.
and space has an impact on the atmosphere you are creating – if you want informal, then don’t use a board room!
Staff development issues – time consuming and need others able to teach this style of workshops
We are all in the maze
The librarian as a teacher can act as a bridge to another place
They can help transform the students understanding by working with discipline experts
I don’t have all the answers – we have to keep on searching and questioning!
I’m still in that liminal space trying to work things out
By continually searching for answers I hope that together we will get there!