Part A
Today many share a continuing concern for the conservation of community based institutions integral to society and cultural harmony. Working in the changing information environments of contemporary libraries, Teacher Librarians play an important nurturing role in shaping Global Citizenship Education in the 21st Century. In my personal professional practice, the pedagogy of Social Constructionism and the Information Literacy model of Collaborative Inquiry Learning have greatly underpinned the teaching and learning which I have engaged in during my studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Information and Communication and have been greatly influenced by access to exemplary leadership and project management demonstrated in the professional learning networks of which I now consider myself an a member.
Part B
Global Citizenship Education and 21st Century Learning
“What is the library? If one believes Mallarmé’s antithesis, then the library would first of all be the place of instrumental spirituality. As a consequence, it would be a place of “production,” because the instrument exercises (instruire) a material, which it trans-forms. It would be the place of the life of spirit, of its genesis—but of its material genesis. In short, the library is a place of writing. It is at once the place of the conservation and elaboration of forms of knowledge—of their memory. But this memory is dead: supported by inorganic, yet organized objects, those which Husserl names “spirit-invested objects.” On the other hand, the library is trans-formed as a network, which is to say that it is digitized—and so it requires “new spiritual instruments.“”
(Stiegler, 2014, p.85).
The late French philosopher Bernard Stiegler’s concern for the effects of late Capitalist media’s saturation and intersection with digital technology resonated with my own experience as a teaching professional, having witnessed detrimental effects of technology with greater prevalence after the dramatic shift to online learning in response to the global health crisis of the pandemic. A concern for the psychological and social impacts of information overload in society led me early on to explore the field of Bibliotherapy as a collective resource of resilience, utilising the healing power of guided reading to navigate turbulent times. The manufactured pressures of industrialised outcomes-based educational agendas seemed to me increasingly outdated in an era where many struggle to manage the cognitive and executive demands of accelerated digital economies.
The approaches I encountered towards accessibility as a unifying theme in Global Citizenship Education and Information Literacy throughout my study and in my personal practice have been connected and coherent. Exploring The Dynamic Information Environment with Lori Korodaj, helped to expand my awareness of the importance of accessibility and equity within emerging online platforms for collection and curation and positioned my own practice as staunchly aligned with advocacy in the accessibility space.
This more informed approach to professional practice has allowed me to identify and seek out opportunities to work towards extending greater equity and access to the high quality knowledge products available to citizens of the Commonwealth and emerging global society. Reflecting on my own experience of the library as a place of “instrumental spirituality”, I have made a concerted effort to situate my professional practice as a TL within the transformative cultural context of the museum library and archival systems, which I have come to view a common instrument of spirituality at the heart of our Commonwealth, instruments which likewise, require subtle tuning and recalibration to retain their transformative powers in society.
A unique area of practice that I have proposed research into is the issue of accessibility and awareness of biodiversity and biocultural heritage in Australia amongst visitors and new Australians. During my internship I was able to engage in integrative learning in the selection and cataloguing of valuable works of biodiversity heritage and enact ethics of open access and shareability in a purposeful and authentic way while at the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). Connecting the relevance of this national endeavour to the global project of increasing awareness of sustainability and appreciation of conservation practices is one that I hope to develop through my future practice. Applied through my participation as a volunteer with the BHL, it is my intention to continue to work towards proficiency in collection management to ensure I can continue to make a meaningful contribution to the current discourse of contemporary digital curation and conservation as a part of the larger goals of elevating information literacy in the interest of conserving our shared heritage of biodiversity, for generations into the future.
Social Constructionism
This shift in my own disposition towards Information Literacy led me to examine alternative educational models internationally. These appealed to myself, as an expert teacher, as more adaptable and malleable to change than the more prescriptive pedagogical models which have come to dominate the curricular infrastructure of educational models within certain states of Australia.
Recent scholarship from Columbia documenting over a decade of Constructionism in Thailand provided an influential model of highly individuated and adaptable learning in which technology enriches collective bonds rather than alienating and exacerbating growing economic and cultural divides (Blikstein & Fields, 2020). To the same effect, Nordic educational models, in particular Finnish Learning Hubs, presented a glimpse into the changing potentials of information landscapes that paradoxically may emerge more connected in their deconstruction of now well entrenched, deterministic forms of schooling (Korhonen & Lavonen, 2017).
Makerspaces and their potentials reimagining libraries as a nexus of community connected through peer production in ever widening and widening circles seems to reflect a common shift across the library and knowledge management sector embracing the extensibility of works, allowing for the construction of new intellectual objects. This transformation of form and function of course entails a need for reformation and order. In this respect, having attained a substantial amount of insight into Creative Commons and Copyright through my studies has also been of great importance to reinforcing my professional confidence in protecting the property rights of users, who are themselves increasingly creators.
Collaboration is an invaluable asset in contemporary information environments. During my professional placement at the Melbourne Museum it was my privilege to take part in frequent, ongoing formal and informal conversations about information literacy and archival practice with leading and emerging professionals from diverse fields of professional practice across the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museum sector. The BHL team and myself worked together to research, plan and design effective digitisation and cataloguing of rare and historical biocultural materials to ensure timely and accurate delivery of digital assets to users.
Despite working in an internship role, I felt collective ownership of project goals and outcomes and this was enfranchising as an emerging professional. Exemplary in this respect, was the leadership of my mentor Nicole Kearney, who, in initiating and leading professional discussions with colleagues to evaluate practice, prioritised and gave ample time to investing in the working relationships integral to the daily operations of the project on a local and international scale. Nicole arranged learning walks allowing me to develop a whole project picture of practice in the area of biodiversity heritage. This assisted me in developing insights into my own professional practice as a Teacher Librarian, with a particular focus on collection curation and inquiry-based learning. Volunteering at the Museum, likewise, has allowed me to access Professional Learning Communities like The New Cardigan and the Australian Society of Archivists.
The community outreach of engaged professionals like Nik McGrath has had a profound impact on my feelings of connection and contribution to larger professional discourse and dialogue. My dialogue with Nik deeply drove home the decisive role today’s professionals have in navigating the road towards reconciliation so integral to our unity as a people. While, I had previously investigated how I could reinforce the promotion of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples histories and cultures in the Annotated Bibliography I completed in the subject Resourcing the Curriculum, Nik’s personal anecdotes of working one on one with community members in uncovering the trauma of colonial history through the archives made me aware of the issues of well being and vicarious trauma that are emerging as professionals work towards reconciliation.
On the other hand, collaborating on an international project was challenging in imagining the four qualities of online participation that differ from experiences in face-to-face communities of Persistence, Searchability, Replicability, and in particular, remembering the Invisible Audience (i.e. anyone could be reading our work at any time) (Coughlin & Kajder, 2009) that extend potentialities beyond traditional information services.
In this respect, one of the moments I am proudest of in my own learning is the ability to work collaboratively as part of an international team and overcome the challenges of communicating on a peer production project. It felt very satisfying to receive thanks for the work I had contributed to the BHL, knowing I was a small part of something that was lasting and connected to the ongoing inquiry between humanity and nature and now, even machines.
In my final project in the subject Literature in Digital Environments, I hope to apply what I have learnt through dialogue with my peers online, who I am indebted to for having greatly supported and constructively critiqued my work, in a piece of digital literature I have entitled Thylacine Dream. The motivations driving the creation of this text can be greatly attributed to learning experiences which have supported inquiry and exploration of domains of knowledge I may not have had the confidence to contribute to without the collaboration and guidance of peers.
Collaborative Inquiry Learning
Perhaps the most central of challenges to information literacy in society is that of protecting and promoting the space for critical analysis and reflective practice in response to the vast oceans of information ordinary citizens contend with today. This is the industrialised populism that of Stiegler forewarned which we have, as educational professionals in the service of society seen accelerated to deleterious effect in recent time (Stiegler, 2014). Certainly , it can be overwhelming to contend with the erosion of order and decline of domains of knowledge which seemed integral to our understanding of the world.
In this respect, I am greatly indebted to Dr. Simon Wakeling, whose guidance in the subject of Research in Practice encouraged and reinforced my own critical inquiry into this issue of the erosive potentials of industrial Populism by guiding me towards the research paradigm of Margaret Archer’s Critical Realism as that remained responsive yet responsible in changing times. In particular, it was of lasting significance for myself as learner to have a mentor to help me to better negotiate expectations and expression of my individual research in a way that is accessible and of immediate utility and purpose to others by connecting my learning to deeper philosophical aspects of information studies. Archer’s underpinning belief in the morphological nature of information in society has provided me with a theoretical framework that responds to the dynamic information environment of global society (Archer & Morgan, 2020). In this way, I believe my professional practice has matured from one of theorised angst to one of applied, empowered and actualised praxis which is of greater service to others.
As a reflection, one of the most effective educational and professional strategies I have encountered in my studies in the School of Information at CSU with which to meet such contemporary challenges of Information Literacy is that of Collaborative Inquiry Learning. This Information Literacy model embraces inquiry and dialogue, reframing scholarship as a process rather than outcome. In my own professional practice much of my discourse with Marina Hunt, Liaison Librarian at the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne has helped me to understand the importance of establishing trusted Professional Learning Networks to fully inform and empower community driven outcomes within larger Knowledge Organisations. This can be the key to empowering informed change and guiding discourse that is at once professional and inclusive.
Over the course of my studies I have had the opportunity to engage in self and collegial reflection. This has been particularly important in the research and development of collections and their curation, as well as in the creative process of digital storytelling informed by peers. It has become clear to me the importance of ongoing evaluation to ensure personal pedagogies and ideologies align with the aims of the contemporary learning and teaching culture, as I have modified my own approach to information literacy by grounding it in common concern of sustainability as a unifying point in practice. Although sometimes contentious, I was able to use feedback from the evaluation I received in the course to inspire new directions in my professional practice while remaining true to the values at the heart of it. As an active participant and designer of my own professional learning journey, I feel a greater sense of direction in navigating the changing pedagogical and information literacy landscapes of contemporary education. I believe the positive review I received as feedback at the conclusion of my professional placement has assisted in repositioning my future professional practice towards the emerging space of Science Communication, connecting my skills in curation and communication to a larger audience of learners and educators.
Returning to Stiegler’s initial exhortation for the re-enchantment of the world in the face of Industrial Populism, I would like to express my gratitude for the revitalising spirit of those in the digital information ecosystem who work so tirelessly to not only connect learners to “new spiritual instruments” but also guide them on how to effectively use them to feel less the burden of that which is created than that which has the spirit to create. As such TLs may assist communities and their diverse members to contribute to “the conservation and elaboration of forms of knowledge—of their memory” (Stiegler, 2014, p. 85).
Part C
Overall, the experiences and knowledge gained during this course will assist in developing my skills and attitudes as a professional Teacher Librarian towards attaining excellence in practice. I will continue to seek opportunities to extend knowledge of effective teaching strategies applicable to students from a diverse range of backgrounds by engaging with professional literature that considers emerging as well as established perspectives in education. Specifically, I commit to continuing to engage with Koorie Heritage Trust in closing the gap of information literacy in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in solidarity with the spirit of reconciliation. I hope to deepen my advocacy within accessibility spaces by designing, resourcing and implementing activities that support the participation of students with difference, in particular those who share Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). To this effect I would like to develop my computer literacy to empower my ability to organise and curate content in new and engaging ways.
Responding to Bernard Stiegler’s communicative caveat towards compassionate computation in the Anthropocene as articulated in The re-enchantment of the world: the value of spirit against industrial populism, one distinct space I am interested in exploring more is the intersection of multimodal resources and listening for understanding in audio learning resources. In this way I hope to contribute to connecting learners of all types to supportive information-rich environments that are innovative and imaginative. By engaging in a greater capacity with the professional learning networks I have recently been invited graciously to participate in, I believe that I can reinvigorate my own practice as an educator. Likewise, I am interested in pursuing more curatorial and archival integration within emerging digital spaces of virtual and augmented realities. As such, technology may be positioned more caringly towards communities of inclusion, where new perspectives are empowered by innovative new literacies. I would like to continue to work in the area of boundary spanning praxis between digital content creation and archival curation in a concerted effort to work towards the re-enchantment of learners, who are owed the experience and wonder of exploration and learning through reading.
Engagement in such networks has helped to guide me to new potentials in my own professional pathway, in particular within the emerging discipline of Science Communication. I believe that by continuing to engage in critical conversations surrounding information literacy, Science Communication and the appreciation of biodiversity and biocultural heritage in support of more sustainable futures, I may contribute meaningfully not only within the context of my own personal practice, but within the larger profession of teacher librarianship as a model of exemplary service, able to deliver new spiritual instruments within the places of production at the heart of digital networks of spiritual instrumentality, revitalising libraries for learners.
Reference list
Archer, M. S. & Morgan, J. (2020). Contributions to realist social theory: an interview with Margaret S. Archer. Journal of Critical Realism, 19(2), 179-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767430.2020.1732760
Blikstein, P. & Fields, D.A. (2020). Principles and practices core to the success of the Constructionist movement in Thailand. Transformative Learning Technologies Lab.
Coughlin, E. & Kajder, S. (2009). The impact of online collaborative learning on educators and classroom practices. Cisco Systems.
Korhonen, T. & Lavonen , J. (2017). A new wave of learning in Finland: Get started with innovation! in S. Choo , D. Sawch, A. Villanueva & R Vinz (Eds), Educating for the 21st Century: Perspectives, Policies and Practices from Around the World. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1673-8_24
Stiegler, B. (2014). The re-enchantment of the world: the value of spirit against industrial populism. Bloomsbury.