Shaking Up the Sediment:
Re-energizing Pedagogical Practice while Avoiding Bottle Shock
The Innovative Library ClassroomRadford, Virginia
May 12, 2015
The Plan
Tensions
Transitions
Teaching
Trust
Toolkit
Takeaways
flickr: patricia m. – lexicor020
ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
The document that launched a thousand discussions, debates, and revisions until it was finally filed alongside the ACRL Information
Literacy Competency Standards as one of a “constellation” of documents guiding Information Literacy.
“Students have a greater role and responsibility in creating new knowledge, in understanding the contours and the changing dynamics of the world of
information, and in using information, data, and scholarship ethically.”
Beilin, Ian (2015). Beyond the Threshold: Conformity, Resistance, and the ACRL Information Literacy Framework for Higher Education. In the Library with the Lead Pipe.
Upholds Limited Perspective
Accepts Existing Power Structures
Threshold
Concepts Empowers
Students
Inspires Resistance among Librarians
Social Justice
“When we limit its potentials to outcomes and standards, we run the risk of
minimizing the complex situatedness of information literacy and diminishing – if
not negating – its inherent political nature.”
Jacobs, H. M. (2008). Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Praxis. Journal Of Academic Librarianship, 34(3), 256-262.
Would peer review be more valid if it allowed the power to shift from the privileged few to the masses,
including us?
Why are scholarly journals required for this assignment, if
they are fraught with errors and lies, just like other types of
sources?
Without access to these fancy databases, how would you gather
data and info to analyze and synthesize in response to your
research question?
Whose voices are we missing if we only pay attention to sources that come to us through established
scholarly communication channels?
Authority is Constructed & Contextual
or things I encourage students to consider that might conflict with the way their assignments are
worded, what instructors have told them, or what they already believe
to be true.
The System
flickr: Steven Depolo – Stand Out from the Crowd
Realities: Local Context
• Data & Evidence• National Trends• Local Studies
• Post-Renovation• More Partners in the Library• Fewer Library Classrooms
• Fewer First-Year Courses & Requests for One-Shot Sessions
• Prioritizing Student Workers as Front-Line Staff
• Increase in Incentives for Faculty/Librarian Collaborations
Cowan, S. M. (2013). Information Literacy: The Battle We Won That We Lost?. Portal: Libraries And The Academy, (1), 23.
“And yet, despite the social-cultural-technological currents that took
information literacy and made it a concept and practice that applies to twenty-first century life writ large,
information literacy is still written about, presented, and practiced within libraries and higher education institutions as if it still naturally falls within the purview of
libraries and as if librarians are still, somehow, best positioned to create and
implement it.”
Transitions
Instruction
• Direct student contact
• Everyday interactions with learners
• Limited involvement
• In the classroom
• Library service provider
Consulting
• Instructional design
• Librarians’ expertise
• Influence assignment design
• Engagement in course design
• Partner with Faculty
Here’s to trying not to box ourselves into one perspective, approach, or lens when it comes to
teaching.
Cheers!
flickr: Maria Morri – espiritu de argentina
Instruction As We Knew It
• Situated within a structured context/timeline• Credit hours• Semesters
• Reward systems beyond our control• Students’ grades• Course evaluations
• At the request of others
• With little prior knowledge of students, situation
• Pitfall of “library day”
Information Literacy @ IU
Incentives for Faculty & Librarians
Integration & Assessment
Professional Developmen
t
Grant Opportunitie
s
Research Consultatio
ns
Instructional
Consultations
Assignment Design
Consultations
Information Literacy
in the Discipline
s
Library Services & Support
Instructional Consultation
• Drop-in office hours in the library
• Scheduled in response to requests for library instruction
• Intended to support faculty and librarians in building information literacy into course assignments and assessments
• Focus on Backward Design principles
• Resources: internal and public
• Preparation, Consultation, Follow-up
Instructional Consultation
Sustainability
Teach the Teacher
Impact
Assignment Design
Efficiency
OpportunitiesLibrary
Instruction
Considerations
Request
What Would You Need In Order to Fulfill Your Information Literacy Instructional Dreams?
Dream Think Say Make Chang
e
My Greatest Fear: Sediment
We may not notice sediment until it’s too late.
flickr: Toshiyuki IMAI – Sediment
Professional Renewal
• Find new meaning• Challenge Yourself• Challenge Your Thinking
• Begin again• Seek Out New Professional Opportunities
• Take on new expertise/role• Rekindle your own Learning
• Find another area of focus• Research• Creative Activity
Self-Care
Burnout
• Loss of control
• Overwhelming sense of stress
• Work begins to feel meaningless
• Inability to say “no”
• Feeling all of the feelings
Renewal
Larrivee, B. (2012). Cultivating teacher renewal: guarding against stress and burnout.
• Acknowledge your contribution
• Take time for yourself and your priorities
• Engage in daily rituals• Begin the day with a
wish for something positive
• Recap the day by remembering a kindness
Instructional Consultation
Library Instruction
Rethinking how we “do” information literacy, with regard to our local context.
Information Literacy
Library Instructi
on
Librarian/Faculty
Collaboration
Instructional Design
Online Learni
ng Objects
Introductions to
Research & Libraries
Designing Research
Assignments
?
Indirectly Influencing Student Learning
Teaching Students In-Person or Online
In What Ways are Librarians Enacting an Education Role?
Librarians as
Educators
Teaching
Designing Instruction
& Assessmen
ts
Building Online
Learning Experienc
es
Partnering with
Faculty Mentoring Student Workers
Supporting Other
Librarians’ Teaching
?
Librarian
Teacher
Instructional Designer
Instructional Designer
Facilitator
Facilitator
Mentor
Mentor
Instructor
Instructor
Writer
Writer
Researcher
Researcher
Information Expert
Information Expert
Collaborator
Collaborator
How do we balance these multiple professional identities?
Focus, Find, Follow-Through
Yourself
• Authentic
• Personal
• Flexible
• Self-Care
• Student-Focused
• Meaning
• Renew
Your Institution
• Mission & Goals
• Students
• Learning Needs
• Stakeholders
• Accreditation
• Support & Trust
• Openings & Opportunities