An Information Literacy Progression

Navigating the world of information has become more complex and more difficult for adults, adolescents, and children. Using information in a way that solves problems and provides answers is often a daily struggle. How do people know what information is correct, current, and worthwhile? This may seem to be an adult problem but the truth is even small children are coping with a deluge of information that they must struggle to use effectively in their search for answers.

An opportunity to progress through skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and self-assessment from kindergarten all the way to twelfth grade and beyond is provided in the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner published in 2007 by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). The process of learning information literacy has always been a progression for students as they mature and develop, and these standards focus on that progression and allow school librarians the opportunity to scaffold learning. All subjects can utilize this progression to integrate information literacy skills into content area skills.

This article will focus on the progression of learning in information literacy and link the components of the standards to different age groups.

STANDARDS

Standards from professional organizations provide guidance to practitioners in the field. Standards, as found in the current AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action (2009), provide practitioners with a global approach to information literacy by including multiple literacies (digital, visual, textual, and technological). Furthermore, they focus on the learner and the learning process (2009). The AASL document includes four major standards, with each standard having the four strands of skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies. This framework encourages the scaffolding of instruction from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The four AASL standards are focused on the learner. The standards establish expectations for student learners that allow them to develop a foundation for lifelong learning. The four standards state that learners use skills, resources and tools to:

• Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
• Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.
• Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
• Pursue personal and aesthetic growth. (AASL, 2007)

Each standard focuses on a crucial area in student learning. The first standard encourages inquiry-based learning. An inquiry model allows students to learn independently and to become lifelong learners. Helping students use the process of inquiry begins early in life because the natural curiosity of children prompts them to explore topics and find answers. As they grow and develop, the questions and topics become more complex and require a more structured approach to inquiry. The second standard extends inquiry-based learning enabling students to go beyond fact-finding to make informed decisions and apply knowledge to problem-solving. The concept of creating knowledge within the framework of information literacy is a new focus for school librarians. The third standard addresses the ability to work with others in a productive and collaborative way. Teaching students about the appropriate and ethical use of information begins with the right of authorship and continues with copyright, plagiarism, and social responsibility. The fourth standard equips the student for lifelong learning to pursue personal needs and interests.

SCAFFOLDING

The overall framework of the standards allows all standards and strands to be used at all grade levels from kindergarten to 12th grade. This progression in the development of skills utilizes the concept of scaffolding and supports the notion of creating independent information users and lifelong learners. The goal is to support learning until students can work independently. Daniel Callison states, “the purpose of scaffolding is to help the learner or builder to reach higher tasks than can be performed at just the base level” (Callison 2006, 523). He further states that the base level is very important for providing a firm foundation for learning. Acquiring the base skills gives a foundation for building higher levels of skills that may become both more complex or more refined and precise (Callison 2006).

The standards allow teaching of the same concepts at different grade levels with progressively more refinement and precision. For example, Standard 1.1.2 states, “Learners use skills, resources, and tools to use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning” (AASL 2007). In the 2nd grade, this might be accomplished by students reviewing background knowledge with a KWL chart (What do I know? What do I want to know? What did I learn?). In 5th grade, students might review steps in a procedure learned previously and apply the steps to a new problem. In high school, students might read background information to develop questions for further learning. School librarians perform an active role in this progression of learning.

STRANDS

Watching children and young adults as they progress through learning how to solve information problems, use technology, and develop social responsibility illustrates the complexity of helping them chart a course through the information literacy landscape. AASL’s publication, Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action, provides examples of the progression through the Skills, Dispositions in Action, Responsibilities, and Self-Assessment Strategies (2009). Benchmarks are set at the 3rd grade, 6th grade, 8th grade, and high school levels. These benchmarks illustrate the level of understanding that would be appropriate as students develop.

SKILLS

Skills are the first strand within each AASL standard. Skills are defined as “key abilities needed for understanding, learning, thinking, and mastering subjects” (AASL 2007). Many of the skills focus on the inquiry-based process. Younger students would illustrate their knowledge of the inquiry-based process by seeking information in books or electronic resources to find the answer to factual questions or to fulfill assignments. Older students would utilize inquiry to research complex topics and to create and revise questions of importance to them. As students mature, the questions and problems that are addressed through research become more complex. Students begin to understand the value of different types of resources and different kinds of information. In discussing guided inquiry, Carol Kuhlthau states,

Inquiry learning is more than an occasional, optional research project. Guided Inquiry is a way of learning that accomplishes the objectives of 21st century schools. It is the way to meet the many requirements of the curriculum through engaging, motivating, and challenging learning. Teachers and librarians work together to guide students thinking and learning through inquiry (2010).

Science, like many content area subjects, benefits from the use of inquiry-based learning in the content area. The weather units for 2nd, 5th, and high school students in this issue demonstrate a progression of skills. Through these units, students assume a more independent role in developing the questions that will be answered and evaluating the resources that they will utilize. The subject remains essentially the same, but the process and outcomes become increasingly complex.

DISPOSITIONS

Dispositions are defined as “ongoing beliefs and attitudes that guide thinking and intellectual behavior that can be measured through actions taken” (AASL 2007). Dispositions provide a mechanism for exploring students’ more innate attributes. The school librarian has the opportunity to encourage behaviors that enable students to be effective and ethical users of information. The students’ ability to be adaptable, flexible, resilient, persistent, productive, and independent increases as they mature and grow.

Incorporating dispositions into daily lessons may be one of the most difficult parts of addressing the standards, but it is also one of the most important. Each student exhibits a different level of progression within the dispositions. The 2nd grade weather unit, “Everyday Weather”, addresses confidence, self-direction, and independent choices (i.e., Standard 1.2.2) by asking students to explore a variety of weather sources. Students must be persistent in their information search (i.e., Standard 1.2.6) to explore and record seasonal weather changes. Standard 2.2.4 addresses personal productivity, and the unit requires students to provide evidence of their learning through illustrated seasonal charts and KWL charts.

The 5th grade weather unit, “Weather or Not?”, focuses on an analysis of weather myths and requires students to pose questions and look for factual information beyond the myth (i.e., Standards 1.2.1 and 1.2.4). Having the ability to look for answers beyond what is readily known is hard to evaluate, but it is a disposition that serves students well as they deal with problems in their own lives.

The dispositions addressed in the high school unit, “Global Change: Real or Imagined?”, require more maturity although the topic still centers on weather. Students are asked to use divergent and convergent thinking to form and test conclusions (i.e., Standard 2.2.2). Debating climate change allows each student to develop a perspective based on evidence while working with others (i.e., Standards 2.2.3 and 3.21).

RESPONSIBILITIES

The standards define responsibilities as “common behaviors used by independent learners in researching, investigating, and problem solving” (AASL 2007). In reading the individual standards under the “Responsibility” category, it becomes clear that students are being asked not only to respect the legal rights of others but also to be engaged in the world community while seeking answers and resolving problems. This strand carries a weighty ethical component that relates to social responsibility.

The weather units all address the concept of relating learning to the real world (i.e., Standard 2.3.1) by utilizing actual weather data to draw conclusions. The high school unit goes further to address diverse perspective and to encourage public debate (i.e., Standards 2.3.2, 3.3.1, and 3.3.3). Information literacy lessons that focus on real-world problems provide opportunities to address responsibilities and provide students authentic learning.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

Self-assessment is a skill that becomes progressively important for students as they mature. The ability for students to understand their own strengths and weaknesses and to self-correct is important in their academic, personal, and, eventually, professional lives. Each lesson can be an opportunity for self-assessment. The weather units utilize the self-assessment strategy of having students monitor their information-seeking processes (i.e., Standard 1.4.1) by providing guidance in the form of self-evaluation forms and checklists. As students mature, they are asked to reflect on the process and to make decisions on how to deal with information (i.e., Standard 2.4.1, 2.4.2). The ability to be increasingly self-critical is one that develops with maturity, but even the youngest students can make observations about what they want to learn and the value of the information they have gathered.

CONCLUSION

As the world of information becomes more complex, the need for information literacy becomes more important. The school librarian plays a crucial role in leading students through a progression of skills helping them become lifelong learners and effective users of information. Standards for the 21st-Century Learner provides the foundation for developing complex skills to navigate the world of information.