Towards a Whole-School Information Literacy Policy

Information Literacy in the School Curriculum

In its early development Information Literacy was seen primarily as a library skill with implications for lifelong learning. In today’s world we are seeing it take even greater precedence. The growing use of disinformation as a tool of anti-democratic and extremist forces, establishes Information Literacy as a tenet of the open society, and a competence on which the future of liberal civil society depends. The role of schools may be seen as crucial not only to their students but to the wider community.

It is surprising how few schools publish a whole school Information Literacy Policy, routinely as part of their overall prospectus or website. Whilst the campaign for Child Protection Policies led to most schools developing professional policies and making them available to parents, this seems less evident in the vital field of Information Literacy. Whilst most schools devote at least an annual session to updating and training in Child Protection, Information Literacy does not always play the central role it needs to have in the annual induction days before the school year starts.

One problem appears to be the shortage of trained librarians in schools or the absence of a director of studies who might carry the authority within the school to bring together staff from disparate disciplines in the formulation of a coherent policy and strategy. For some teachers the concept represents their worst fears of bureaucracy and more box-ticking.

Information Literacy on governmental level

Despite these problems there are good examples of leadership in Information Literacy at all levels from the classroom to the national government.

1. One of the best English language schools Information Literacy Programmes I have seen is that of the Scottish Government which contains all the elements of a good public policy:
   • a powerful vision statement,
   • guidelines for schools,
   • effective processes for assessment and review, and
   • a battery of links to provide resources and examples of good practice in Scottish schools.

   Their website is hosted by the Scottish Libraries Association which also works with the Libraries and Information Association CILIP which in turn has a specialist Information Literacy group of its own.

2. The Welsh Government also publishes examples of schools practice and a flyer on the benefits of Information Literacy in Schools.
3. In England, complementing the work of the School Libraries Association, some Information Literacy concerns are covered by the National Curriculum for Computing whilst others appear in a range of curriculum areas including Child Protection.

Information Literacy in the International Baccalaureate (IB)

As the IB has a focus on inquiry-led learning, it has long had a commitment to Information Literacy. There is much online from the mainstream IB site through to the Big6, the brainchild of Mike Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz who have worked to create a powerful online forum to promote Information Literacy in an accessible way through the “Big 6”, namely:

1. Task definition
2. Information seeking strategies
3. Location & access
4. Use of information
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation.

The Teacher Librarian

The need for whole school Information Literacy strategies has led to the evolution of the “Teacher Librarian” whose role reflects the cross-curricular nature of Information Literacy. This is well established in Carol Gordon’s book “Information Literacy in Action” (in: The Effective International Schools Series, 2000, John Catt Educational Ltd., Charlesworth Press, ISBN 0 901577 57X). The library is a central resource for inquiry-based learning and yet many schools still operate without a trained or qualified librarian relying on a piecemeal approach.

As we have seen there is a new generation of Teacher Librarians who are promoting Information Literacy in their schools. Many aspects of Information Literacy such as scientific method, data-analysis and source-evaluation are long established core elements in subjects like sciences, maths and history. Furthermore, in many schools, philosophically trained teachers are teaching Theory of Knowledge, critical thinking and the deconstruction of arguments. Of course, teachers preparing students for written examinations understand the need to develop their skills in writing evidence-based propositions. Therefore it is reasonable to argue that in developing a coherent whole school Information Literacy policy, a school’s best resource is its own staff.

As Carol Gordon writes

“Information skills must emerge from the academic areas in which they are embedded.” (Ibid. Page 13)

The role of the Teacher Librarian, director of studies or any other leader seeking to give birth to a whole school Information Literacy policy, is the role of the Socratic midwife delivering ideas from subject specialists.

Whole-school strategy for an Information Literacy Policy

It would appear that although most schools seem to understand the need for a whole school strategy, barriers remain in putting it into practice. The role of leaders and project managers is to dismantle these barriers and generate conditions in which teachers can share experience of Information Literacy and collaborate to design a whole school policy appropriate to their school. Taking a pre-ordained Information Literacy Policy off the peg will not do the job because the process is part of the strategy. In collaborating across disciplines, teachers raise their own perception of Information Literacy and its importance. The collaboration on policy and the accompanying cross-curricular dialogue should not only generate a school policy but also stimulate long-term cross-curricular co-operation.

In the development of Child Protection Policies and strategies to apply and promote them, best practice involved including parents and the wider school community. Similarly, in the development and promotion of Information Literacy, schools should enlist not only students and teachers across the curriculum, but also the wider school community.

Lessons learnt?

We would be delighted if schools which have undertaken this project would be willing to share experience with us. We would also be happy to hear from school leaders who could help other schools through this process.