School librarians build research & critical thinking foundations
This is a great and timely question for librarians. I have worked in a public library, but my full-time library career has been as an elementary school librarian. Many of the issues we see with adults and working in the public library start at the earliest stages of inquiry for students. The top five things I think we can do are as follows:
1. We have to ensure and continue to advocate that licensed librarians are in schools in every state and that these librarians have access to training and professional development, and that librarians are able to carry out their job as intended.
2. As school librarians, we should scaffold skills from our youngest researchers to our high school students on understanding how we find information, how we chose which information to use, the purpose of that information, and how to detect the author’s point of view, and in some cases, bias.
3. Mandate research and inquiry skills be part of all curriculum and subject areas. The more students are exposed to these skills, the better they will be able to use and understand them.
4. We need open and honest conversations with our fellow teachers and students about misleading information, disinformation, outdated information, and the power that communication can have in our digital world. This includes how social media affects how information is consumed.
5. Promote ourselves as a resource to finding answers to questions, and use that as an opportunity to teach skills.
There is plenty of room for collaboration with teachers, administrators, news organizations, and other associations to cross-promote these endeavors. Some of this could also be used in other library fields. I would also be curious to see if there is a link between the widespread cut in school library funding or taking licensed librarians out of schools and the rise in the acceptance of misinformation by significant portions of the public
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Comments (8)
I too think it's important to focus on teaching research skills to kids when they are young. While librarians in all settings have a role to play in teaching patrons research skills and directing patrons to credible sources, school librarians are uniquely positioned to teach these important skills to classrooms full of kids. I agree that it's important to advocate for trained librarians in each school and to advocate that librarians teach research skills. Research skills are not outdated -- in fact, teaching students to find and evaluate sources is more important than ever.
I really think we need to put some thought into your third point -- how to mandate that research and inquiry skills are part of the curriculum.
The Common Core Standards adopted by 42 states already require research skills instruction at all grade levels. It's important for school librarians to be involved in the implementation of these Common Core Standards and to take primary responsibility for teaching these research skills standards. I would like the Common Core Standards to explicitly state that school librarians be primarily responsible for teaching these standards and for school librarians to incorporate these standards into their state library curriculum.
There have also been efforts by the AASL (American Association of School Libraries) to draft school library standards and to explain how these standards align with the Common Core Standards. However, AASL has failed to get these standards widely adopted by states, mandated and implemented.
Until school districts and school librarians are required by law to teach research skills, I do not think principals and administrators will hire trained school librarians and give them the support necessary to do their job.
It's interesting about the lack of mandates while simultaneously adopting Common Core. I remember when they were pushing this out, and the entire idea was that we would be teaching kids critical thinking skills and "communication" skills - things are applicable to any job in the real world. But, at the end of the day, if it doesn't apply to high-stakes testing, it doesn't happen in the classroom, or the library, for many.
I think the The Common Core Standards is generally a good framework and is the framework guiding education today. As you note, one central goal of these standards is to promote critical thinking skills. These standards also explicitly require states to teach research skills in grades 1-12.
For school librarians to play the central role they should in teaching kids research skills, librarians need to be involved in effectively implementing The Common Core Standards.
Two things librarians need to do:
1. Adopt school library curriculum that makes librarians responsible for teaching the Common Core research standards. (See CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.7 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9)
2. Research skills need to be assessed on standardized tests.
Kate, your point that the advocacy piece is huge is spot on. I have been a public librarian for 20 years, and this is my 4th year as a school librarian, though I worked part time in a high school library and visited the middle school library in our neighborhood every week. This is my 3rd year in this school, and I do see the tide turning. A teacher yesterday saw one of her 4th grade students beginning her biography research on wikipedia and the teacher came directly to me. I went into the class and did a 30 minute session and one-on-one research help with students. It was so gratifying! The relationship building takes time. I have found that so many administrators haven't been exposed to the core place of information literacy in schools. There is a big gap in the education leadership programs. I also totally agree with you that it has to begin in elementary school.
Kate, I think you make an important point about advocating for librarians in schools. Not only do librarians support teaching and learning but also, support for professional librarians and the inclusion of research and information literacy in the curriculum indicates a collective commitment to combatting misinformation and prioritizing literacy and critical thinking. Your point about promoting ourselves as a resource is key too -- children should learn from an early age what libraries and librarians offer to society. If they learn this early, they can become lifelong library users. I
Interesting question Deb! I live just north of Chicago and they have cut the majority of their school librarians. There are so many other variables that would have to be considered. I covered a 6-week paternity leave from one of the CPS librarians when I just got my educator's license, and I worked with 9 grades throughout the day, at least 35 students in each class, and no break. It's pretty amazing what school librarians accomplish given the many challenges, including that fact that the city wanted the librarians to focus on coding and computer science.
Christie - I think about the situation in Chicago often, and I am so sad for those schools, the students, and all the librarians!
Christie, I have had similar experiences to what you've described of school librarians being cut and asked to teach subjects other than research skills / information literacy skills. In one of the schools where I last taught, they got rid of the computer lab and now have the school librarian teaching STEM.
Many principals, teachers and, honestly, even school librarians who have not stayed up-to-date think research skills are outdated. The average person working in education does not realize that teaching research skills is more important than ever.
We need to explain to principals, teachers and administrators what research skills are in an era of Google searches and why research skills are critically important. In addition, adopting school library curriculum that librarians are required to teach would prevent principals from asking school librarians to teach coding, STEM etc.