Apr
2021
Information Literacy in the school context
Mandy Lupton’s article Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum presents an interesting analysis of the links (and omissions) in the inquiry methods in the Australian Curriculum across the disciplines of Science, History and Geography.
These three disciplines give scope for inquiry learning, whether it’s guided inquiry with questions posed by the teacher, or open inquiry with questions posed by the student. Both of these inquiry models require the students to answer the questions using inquiry methods.
Inquiry models can be used across a variety of disciplines. It is important to have a consistent approach to inquiry so that the same techniques and methods are used consistently. Kath Murdoch’s Inquiry Cycle (Murdoch, 2019) is the inquiry method I am most familiar with as this is the model that is used in my K-12 school.
This uniform approach to information literacy is intertwined with collaboration between the TL, teachers and the principal. The vision of all three need to match so that the skills being taught and used by the students are systematic and consistent.
Lupton states that there are omissions in the Australian Curriculum when it comes to information literacy and the imbedded skills. This omission is seen as both an oversight, but at the same time an opportunity for the TL to shine in their role as curriculum innovators.
“If teacher librarians see their role as curriculum innovators, then integrating the Australian Curriculum strands into a coherent inquiry learning framework that explicitly integrates information literacy may be one of the most significant ways we can contribute to the implementation of the Australian Curriculum” (Lupton, 2014, p. 18).
This cannot be done by the TL alone. It needs to be a whole-school approach in order to achieve the best outcomes for students in their emerging and continuing skills in information literacy.
References
Lupton, M.(2014) Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum v6, Access, November
Murdoch, K. (2019). A model for designing a journey of inquiry. Retrieved from Kath Murdoch: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c7efeae4b0f5d2463be2d1/t/5d672b554646780001dbe0fd/1567042417794/%23A+MODEL+FOR+DESIGNING+A+JOURNEY+OF+INQUIRY.pdf
Amanda Wilson
April 27, 2021 at 1:06 pm (4 years ago)Hi Lisa,
I, too, chose to read Mandy Lupton’s (2014) article and found her analysis insightful. Even though I have used the Australian Curriculum to teach Science, History and Geography previously as a classroom teacher, I had never compared the inquiry skills listed under each and therefore never noticed the inconsistencies that existed. As you mention, a consistent vision between all learning stakeholders within a school is key. Shared vision is bought about through high-quality collaboration, which in turn will lead to the successful integration of inquiry skills and information literacy across the curriculum (Garrison & FitzGerald, 2019, p.3). Students having the opportunity to apply the same inquiry skills in different learning contexts would only strengthen their inquiry capabilities.
There is currently a review being conducted of the Australian Curriculum, with the aim of “refining, realigning and reducing the existing content of the curriculum” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2020, para. 8). It will be interesting to see if the omissions and inconsistencies Lupton addressed within her paper will be addressed in the revised curriculum, which is due to be available at the beginning of 2022. If the inconsistencies are addressed, it will certainly create much more uniformity when planning collaboratively with classroom teachers and ease the pressure off the teacher librarian to fill in the gaps that currently exist.
Amanda
References:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020). Review of the Australian Curriculum. https://acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum-review
Garrison, K. L. & FitzGerald, L. (2019, October 21-25). “One interested teacher at a time”: Australian Teacher Librarian Perspectives on Collaboration and Inquiry [conference paper]. 48th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship and the 23rd International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Lupton, M. (2014). Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum v6: A bird’s eye view. Access, 28(4), 8-29.