International Association of School Librarianship Conference Proceedings
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School Librarians Conducting Research across Cultures and Countries: Connecting and Collaborating While Enhancing our Professional Practice
No full textIn an increasingly multicultural world it is essential that school library studies are not solely focused on Western, middle class subjects. However, school librarians who have been trained in cross-cultural practice may not feel as confident in engaging in cross-cultural research. Researchers should be thoughtful as they design their research project and consider at each step in the process whether the study is accessible to all, regardless of cultural background. Furthermore, they may wish to consider the consultation of study participants as they design their research project. They may also consider knowledge paradigms, study context, power issues, and the role of the researcher vs. the research participant. Finally, researchers must keep in mind specific considerations that are specific to research that occurs with children or within schools. Finally, researchers should be aware that new laws regarding how educators question children about family beliefs or values are up for debate in many American states
What the Shelves Aren\u27t Saying: An Exploration of Self-censorship in High School Libraries
No full textCensorship attempts in libraries have been occurring since the 1850s, with variations in frequency (Steele, 2020). Recently, school libraries in America have experienced a significant increase in censorship attempts, particularly around books about BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ issues and experiences (ALA, 2021). Efforts range from Texas politicians’ inquiries and accusations about school library collections to individual citizens and private groups nationwide flooding libraries with book challenges. Not all attempts to censor, however, are external; some acts of censorship occur as perceived preventative measures. Fear of a potential challenge can sometimes result in a librarian self-censoring when developing the collection (Hill, 2010)
Academic Integrity Policy and Instruction in K-12 schools in Australia, Canada, England and the United States
No full textThis study was formulated to explore the current status of academic integrity policy and instruction in K-12 schools, particularly in developed English-speaking countries. The data reveals that in participating countries, 45.7% of public schools and 40.6% of private schools offer academic integrity education at the primary level. Participating SLPs indicated there are a number of reasons for this, including - a lack of support from school principals or from program coordinators; teachers put little emphasis on information literacy and AIL skills integration into core subjects; there is no clear policy on AIL instruction; and, SLPs do not have a dedicated lesson or no school/district-wide AIL scope and sequence documents to teach academic integrity, or have limited opportunity/time to collaborate
School Libraries\u27 Roles in Promoting Religious and Ethnic Diversity among Nigerian Children for Evolving Global Information Landscape
No full textThe issues of religiosity and ethnicity is one that calls for urgent attention the world over. Worse still, the Nigerian education system seems not to be giving much attention to encouraging peaceful coexistence among the citizens; thus, the role of school libraries in promoting learning geared towards appreciating religious and ethnic diversity in Nigerian schools. This study, a continuation of study done in 2021, assesses the need of school children for diverse learning resources that capture Nigerian religious and ethnic background and analyze documents (textbook contents) that could be used in the classroom for promoting religious and ethnic diversity among school children
Teaching and Learning Online During Covid-19 Lockdown, Encouraging and Discouraging? The Perspectives of Students and Staff of Library and Information Science in Nigerian Universities
No full textThe study examined the teaching and learning online during the covid-19 lockdown, in terms of whether it is encouraging or discouraging from the perspectives of students and staff of the Library and Information Science Department in Nigerian universities. Three Library and Information Science(LIS) schools were selected from three different universities. The population was the LIS lecturers and students. FIVE students and FIVE lecturers were selected from each of the three Library schools. This gave a total of 15 students and 15 lecturers which amounts to a total of 30 respondents who represent the sample for the study. A pure qualitative method was adopted using focus group interviews which were conducted for the students and the staff in each of the schools as a method of data collection. The findings show that the experience of lecturers and students in learning and teaching online during the Covid-19 lockdown was encouraging, the lesson is very easy to prepare and interesting and the learners are enthusiastic and wanted others to know they were part of the class. The respondents want learning and teaching online to continue due to its flexibility, interesting nature of teaching online, and a high percentage of participation. The benefits of teaching and learning online during Covid-19 include flexibility, ease of learning and teaching, increased interactivity and class participation, social presence, improvement in critical thinking skills, and high engagement of lecturers and students. The challenges of learning and teaching LIS during Covid-19 are slow bandwidth, poor network, cost of data (lecturers and students bear the cost of data), and unstable electricity, high withdrawal rate, inadequate skills for both lecturers and students due to their first experience, high cost of data and electronic devices among others
Identifying Critical "Soft Skills" for an Academic Career: An Exploratory Study
No full textThis study examines the soft skills required for work as a faculty member, doctoral supervisor, and academic administrator. Nine faculty members working in the area of school libraries were interviewed to better identify gaps and ways to improve doctoral degree programs. Participants shared the following soft skills: advocacy skills, active listening, advising skills, understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion, leadership skills, time management skills, social justice stance, work life balance, building and maintaining relationships with colleagues, networking skills, and presentation skills. The participants noted that their doctoral programs prepared them for some of their work in the Academy with graduate research and teaching experiences, mentoring, networking support, and formal coursework. Participants developed some of these soft skills from work as teachers and school librarians/teacher-librarians
Digital Learning & Media: A University-School-Public Library Partnership
No full textThe University School (pseudonym) is a teacher training lab which provides real world learning experiences with research-based instruction for K-5 (ages 5-12) students. The two research questions were: In what ways does professional development centered on the NC Digital Learning Competencies for Educators influence teacher/staff/student knowledge of NCWiseOwl? In what ways does professional development centered on the NC Digital Learning Competencies for Educators influence essential digital literacy skills? The researcher conducted a survey in April 2021 of University School faculty and staff to define current levels of knowledge as a first step. Several themes immediately arose from the results of the focus group interviews which include intentional professional development, awareness of digital content offerings, adding to teacher toolkit, use of credible resources, self-reliance/weaning off support from non-classroom educators, and the after effects of COVID-19 pandemic/resistance to online learning
Expanding the Range of Evidence Use in School Library Practice
No full textThe study explores the involvement of school librarians from Croatia and Hong Kong in EBLIP. The main goal of this study is to find out what types of evidence school librarians from Croatia and Hong Kong use in their library practice and how useful they find different evidence types. The research method used in this study is survey and data were collected with an online questionnaire created and delivered with SurveyMonkey. The study reveals that school librarians in Croatia and Hong Kong use a wide variety of evidence sources in support of their library practice. Most often they use evidence from observation, professional interactions and library statistics. School librarians in both regions agree that these three types of evidence are the most useful for their library practice. However, if school librarians wish to demonstrate to stakeholders how school libraries contribute to teaching and learning they need to generate some more objective evidence through formal research. LIS educators and local school library associations may be encouraged to develop educational programs that will enhance school librarians\u27 competences in formal research and involve them in a participatory research community
Data Analytics to Improve School Libraries
No full textTo improve programs, school librarians can analyze and apply data. Standards can help with the process, such as California’s model school library standards. To meet those standards, it is important to recognize and focus on variables to improve library programs. Data analytics can help librarians identify which data to collect, how to organize and analyze the data, and make informed recommendations for library improvement. Data analytics based on the California school library survey offer a predictive model for school library program effectiveness. Data analytics based on the American Association of School Librarians survey offers a longitudinal look at school library programs. A sample scenario that addresses one of the key variables provides the basis for employing data analytics to improve services
The 21st century skills of the school library ―Keyword is "Why ? "―
No full textAssessment and teaching of 21st century skills were defined by P. Griffin and B. Mcgaw. When we focus on various contents we can assume that school library could contribute as the leading role not to mention as the supporting one. Keyword is "Why? " I’ve worked as a school-librarian for a long time, and have witnessed children’s "Why? " occur. Through my reference service with children, "Why? " started to occur in me as well. To clarify my awareness or question I would like to propose a concrete idea of the 21st century skills of the school library