News Literacy Project and AASLS and Information Fluency guidelines
I think the concepts of lateral reading, critical observation and reverse image combined with PEP (Patience, Empathy, Perseverance) promoted by the News Literacy Project, plus following the AASL standards of inquiry, inclusion, collaboration, curation, exploration and engagement can help us teach our students and staff how to identify and vet credible information sources. It's a work that cannot be simplify to a couple of lessons, tools or apps but an in depth work with students and teachers on both, how to have academic integrity, and be kind. Teaching students from the beginning of their schooling with age appropriate materials and methodologies the many ways to recognise facts from opinions, fiction from real, and the sources of their information is crucial. Those skills are building blocks for middle school and beyond. Teach students to think critically, and collaborate in the creation of knowledge, how they can be good citizens, all that is embedded in the likelihood that they will become creators of fake news, or on the contrary, mindful people that are responsible on the way they consume and create information. I think that librarians as expert of information can help the greater community find common ground. We follow a code of ethics and the principles of free speech, we resist censorship, we open barriers, we provide diverse reading material and sources with different perspectives. In many schools, with cut of budget, certified librarians have been laid off. School Libraries don't have budget to update their collections, and in many of them the resources are not only old but with misinformation, or racist concepts and opinions. Teachers have turned to the internet because the school library is of no use; students don't check out books because is not a librarian in charge of motivating and teaching them how to use the resources, and also because who wants to read a book that was published in 1991, looks old, not attractive, and doesn't mirror or open any window to the world? Libraries and librarians need to have a place in schools, that is not the romantic idea of a space filled with books, but a vibrant place (physical and virtual) where technology and print are seamless, and where the library team can provide services, collection and places where inquiry, sharing of ideas, collaboration, critical thinking and kindness are their pillars and where the greater community is welcomed and participates actively.
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I agree this requires in depth work, and at the very least, a variety of tools rather than just relying on one or two.
Hi Pia:
Thanks for joining our conversation. I love your notion that kindness should be a part of this conversation and teaching! I also love this idea: "Teach students to think critically, and collaborate in the creation of knowledge, how they can be good citizens, all that is embedded in the likelihood that they will become creators of fake news, or on the contrary, mindful people that are responsible on the way they consume and create information."
How have you been able to do those things in your school even with the budget challenges?
Wow, I didn't even know that people commented on what I wrote. I feel honored. My apologies for being so late in responding, Cindy and Susan. To be honest, at this point I haven't been able to do much. The district and administrators are consuming their energies in how to bring the students back to the buildings (We are still in distance learning mode). Also, been new in the school that I am working at (I started last October), has been very difficult to make connection with students and teachers. My new principal is very supportive but he think teachers need to get a training of what the library/rian system can offer. The district has been for too many years without certified librarians. One of the high school doesn´t even have a library. They think they do just because they have the books. They told me they didn´t put a librarian because the previous year the students checked out only 2 books. It´s a vicious circle. Teachers and students have been going like this for more than 10 years and they don´t know any better. The idea that they don´t need a library because they have the internet is very common. There is so much work to do. I have been rocking the boat little by little, and advocating for more resources and a diversification of the collection. Still, not too much waves. Unfortunately, Covid safety protocols can eat up our best efforts.