This relatively short book is another excellent source for instructor librarians. In discussions about the genesis of the book, the authors pose the question, “Would ideas that didn’t always lead directly to outcomes find a home in our profession?” What a refreshing question to consider in the context of library instruction. This book represents a very comfortable home from which librarians consider the praxis approach, problem-based learning, and the necessity and possibilities of critique. It includes the work of librarian-practitioners, as well as librarians and scholars who are developing critical information literacy praxis and, recognizes those scholars who have established the relevance of critical pedagogy to library instruction.
The book is arranged into 5 sections that can be read in any order, starting at any point.
Accardi, Drabinski and Kumbier want their “collection of provocative challenges to contemporary practice” to spur more dialog. Randomly selecting one chapter from each section might be a fun way for instructor librarians to engage colleagues in discussions about critical library instruction, especially those who are new to the issues.
Tags: Theoretical; Practical; Critical Information Literacy
Luvell Anderson (Assistant Professor, Philosophy, Syracuse University) and Verena Erlenbusch (Assistant Professor, Philosophy, University of Memphis) present a framework of how to improve diversity in academic philosophy by suggesting five different models to construct diverse syllabi. One overarching challenge in the field is the domination of white male philosophers and professors in the discipline. The proposed models include 1) The Status Quo Model, focusing on ideas, rather than figures 2) The Critical Model, seeking to present critical voices as a corrective for the exclusionary silence of traditional texts 3) The Reform Model, which insists on the centrality of marginalized perspectives in shaping the history of philosophical conversations and advocates a broadening of what constitutes philosophy 4) The Pluralist Model, presenting multiple traditions in a single course and 5) The Abolitionist Model, which would abolish the traditional philosophy canon all together. This article is not specifically focused on library instruction, but it can be useful to librarians who are working with faculty members to implement inclusive pedagogy and diversity into their syllabus. The article also provides insight on the struggles of how to implement inclusive pedagogy within a humanities discipline.
Tags: Theoretical; Foundation Work
Armstrong (chair of women and gender studies at Lafayette College) uses a series of thoughtful questions to make a case that inclusivity can work in any classroom, regardless of discipline, course content or student population. The author recognizes that diversity and inclusivity are complex topics on university campuses, but instructors can make a difference by implementing pedagogical methods in their classroom. The article recognizes that vastness of research on inclusivity in teaching and learning and describes several well-known texts, such as Steele’s Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. The author also offers some simple common practices that can work in any classroom, including 1) Bring inclusivity into your syllabus and assignments, such as respectful behavior 2) Learn how to pronounce names correctly and discover the cultural background of students 3) Be aware of your own cultural references and how those affect others 4) Be aware of the cultural references and language jargon in your own discipline 5) Ask for feedback from the students and 6) Research your university’s statements and commitments to diversity. The strength of this article is its application to any discipline, including library instruction.
Tags: Practical; Foundational Work
Callan (a Stanford professor who studies the philosophy of education) distinguishes between the ideas of “dignity safety” (trust that one will be treated with respect) and “intellectual safety” (trust that one can continue to resist new ways of thinking). He states that dignity safety can be eroded, not just by overt oppression, but also by the cumulative effect of microaggressions and stereotype threat. Civility is defined as “the personal virtue we show when we express respect for others’ dignity in how we interact directly with them” (70). Thus, civility on campus leads to dignity safety, but not necessarily to intellectual safety. However, to truly achieve a useful conversation about a difficult topic, civility is not enough; the listener must be willing “to interpret what is said charitably” (76). Callan’s work is applicable to library instruction in that we need to be mindful that we need to maintain everyone’s dignity safety, but intellectual safety is not guaranteed. Also, this can apply to a campus as a whole.
Tags: Theoretical
Considine, et al. focuses on how to incorporate inclusive excellence into college classrooms. They define and explain diversity and inclusion as well as the history, theories, and strategies that shape culturally-relevant pedagogy. The approaches to inclusive teaching include 1) Non-verbal immediacy, 2) Active-learning, 3) Trusting the community of learners, and 4) Peer teachers. They address impediments to inclusive excellence, such as low incentives to incorporate changes, pragmatism, and threats to self-concept. However, the greatest barrier other than time is that these principles are being advocated by instructors, who lack the political power and pull to change institutions systematically. Thus, instructor agency will be needed to incorporate these theories and practices into their classroom in tandem with the creation of coalitions of practitioners who will work toward inclusive excellence.
This article has many implications for library instruction: it requires forethought in instruction design, it requires that instructors reflect on their mindset and familiarity with inclusive pedagogy, and the approaches mentioned within the article can be interpreted and embedded into library instruction sessions. However, this article has limited coverage of the intersectional barriers that come into play with student and professor interactions.
Tags: Theoretical; Practical; Foundational Work; Stereotype Threat
Active learning used in one-shot library instruction is improved by the awareness of social constructivism. Critten and Stanfeld, both Assistant Professors and Instructional Services Librarians at the University of West Georgia, suggest that active learning done in information literacy classes should reflect the awareness that information is socially constructed. Also, students should be given the opportunity to engage in authentic learning, which allows them to connect what they are learning in the one-shot to their personal lives and interests. Three examples of social constructivist practices are introduced: group work and class discussion, in which students use their lived experiences to negotiate meaning, authentic learning, in which students focus on a problem or issue that impacts them personally, and reflection and making meaning, in which students are given the opportunity for metacognitive moments. Librarians are encouraged to think strategically about how they ask students to engage in active learning, differentiating it from guided learning, which would be a useful exercise for those librarians exploring critical pedagogy.
Tags: Critical Information Literacy
If one is new to Critical Information Literacy (CIL), this book is a must read. Even those well-versed in the tenets of CIL will find Downey’s presentation thoughtful and engaging. New instructor librarians as well as library directors will benefit from this book. It is a short read but packed with substantial information on Critical Information Literacy as distinct from more traditional (skills-based) information literacy. It also underscores the idea that instruction librarians often lack the theoretical underpinnings necessary for good teaching. Theory and praxis are essential. This book offers much for wider discussion.
Downey lays out in accessible language the foundations of CIL and takes the reader through the educational theory which provides context. Critical theory, critical pedagogy and critical literacy are discussed, with distinctions and definitions clearly articulated. Downey critiques traditional library instruction as represented in the old ACRL Standards which are viewed as too focused on assessment, falsely portraying neutrality and objectivity, being too mechanistic, and neglecting the sociopolitical, historical, cultural and ideological processes of knowledge construction. Downey acknowledges that the ACRL Framework published in 2015 represents some “progress toward teaching information literacy as a rich and complex set of ideas and skills… but the legacy of the Standards cannot be underestimated.” (p. 22)
Critical information literacy is rather a practice that promotes critical engagement with information sources. It considers students as collaborators. It recognizes the affective dimensions of research and (in some cases) has liberatory aims (p.41 & 42). CIL takes into account the complex power relationships that undergird all information, including its creation, presentation, storage, retrieval and accessibility (p.42). Addressing “the sociopolitical, economic and cultural aspects of all types and stages of information and the research process” is necessary (p.173).
Downey covers the following areas in 8 chapters:
This entire book provoked a sense of urgency to learn more and do more. Downey does an excellent job in directing the reader to other relevant articles and books. She is successful in her goals "to give librarians and others who are interested in teaching critical information literacy the inspiration, foundational knowledge and tools they need to get started with their own critical information practice” (p.27). We owe her our thanks.
Tags: Foundational; Theoretical; Critical Information Literacy
This chapter provides an excellent introduction to critical information literacy by exploring - and explicitly problematizing - the concepts of literacy, criticism, and information before bringing them together to consider what is critical information literacy. Elmborg crafts a deeply theoretical background though he does provide possible connections to how these theories might inform the day-to-day practice of librarians wrestling with the inherent white, middle-class values of higher education.
Tags: Theoretical; Foundational Work; Critical Information Literacy
Galvan makes a compelling argument that, despite diversity initiatives, librarianship continues to be overwhelming white because our recruitment and hiring system is designed to value whiteness, which in this essay is defined as “white, heterosexual, capitalist, and middle class.” Galvan highlights barriers that manifest as early as college as well as the ways the profession reinforces them. The article concludes with thoughtful list of ways that librarians, particularly white librarians, can interrogate whiteness and bias that exists in our recruitment, hiring, and retention practices. It is important for inclusive pedagogy practices that instructional librarianship become more diverse and this piece provides practical considerations for how to accomplish this goal. Further, Galvan provides a good model of interrogating whiteness and bias that can also be applied to pedagogical practice in order to create more inclusive library instruction.
Tags: Practical; Foundational Work
Gannon questions how higher education institutions are addressing the disparities with degree completion rates for black and Hispanic students. He posits that one way to solve the problem is an institutional emphasis on inclusive teaching and that pedagogy should be at the center of such efforts. Commitment to inclusive teaching includes 1) Treat all students equitably 2) Students have full access to learning and appropriate tools 3) All students feel welcomed, support and valued. Inclusive teaching benefits all students and it values course design, discernment and a sense of belonging. The article makes a strong case for institutions to make a long-lasting commitment to inclusive pedagogy that applies across the board to all disciplines, including library instruction. The description and definition of inclusive pedagogy is very helpful to the novice reader and provides an excellent introduction to the topic. Librarians would need to interpret the author’s suggestions of how to implement inclusive teaching methods and devise strategies that work in a library instruction session.
Tags: Practical; Foundational Work
Anne Jamonville Graf (a faculty librarian at Trinity University) writes here about critical reflection, and how it is crucial to a practice of critical information literacy. It allows the teacher librarian to learn from past successes and mistakes, as well as identify his/her values and goals for teaching.
Tags: Critical Information Literacy
April Hathcock, the Scholarly Communications Librarian at NYU, advocates for fuller recruitment and inclusion of librarians from non-dominant backgrounds in this article. She defines “whiteness” as any kind of hegemony, whether it be based on race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other category. And then she states that this kind of whiteness underlies our current diversity efforts in LIS. Consequently, we are not keeping diverse librarians in the profession, and those who do stay are under too much pressure to represent groups to which they belong, while also fixing the diversity “problem.” This article is a continuation of the work done by Galvan’s 2015 article entitled “Soliciting Performance, Hiding Bias: Whiteness and Librarianship.” The two solutions put forward are changing our diversity programs to accept more applicants of non-dominant experiences and providing mentoring opportunities for new librarians of these experiences.
Tags: Structural Racism; Diversity; Inclusion
This scholarly, historiographical article highlights the lack of race-based scholarship in the field of Library and Information Studies and the resulting myopic and destructive view. The author asserts that the canon of library literature incorrectly places the study of race beyond its boundaries. According to Michael Harris who is quoted in the article, since Library and Information Studies is a “mediating profession concerned with knowledge derived from all other disciplines,” scholarship in Library and Information Studies would benefit from a review of the scholarship of those associated disciplines e.g. social sciences.
In order to unravel the fundamental epistemology, the author investigates the establishment of the public library and the ways in which research and reporting on this foundation have failed to recognize the racial and racist motives and the clear lack of purported neutrality. The author criticizes library historians and theoreticians for a lack of investigation of white hegemony and highlights the role of public libraries in the assimilation of immigrants as an example of this shortsightedness. Additionally, the author characterizes the emphasis on multiculturalism as an emphasis that omits critical analysis of race and racism.
Although the majority of the examples in this article are derived from public librarianship, the extensive research and analysis of foundational concepts in the field of Library and Information Studies encourages wider applicability; and as a result, this article deserves a more expansive audience.
Tags: Theoretical; Structural Racism
This book chapter offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction of the social-psychological science behind threatening environments. The authors describe what contributes to threatening environments, and how the stress of these environments impact student learning. This is an excellent text for anyone who wants to learn the mechanisms of certain phenomenon, like stereotype threat, and how they might affect the classroom. While the chapter provides essential information about threatening environment, it does not go into much depth about how to minimize a threatening environment. The chapter ends by discussing one strategy—how framing intelligence as something that can change over time (as opposed to something that is fixed at birth)—can foster an inclusive environment, but beyond that does not outline many practical tips. However, by reading the chapter closely, librarian educators can glean their own ideas for how to improve the tone of their classroom environments.
Tags: Theoretical; Stereotype Threat
Library instruction can be a challenging place to practice critical pedagogy, even for those librarians with critical dispositions. Keer, a Senior Assistant Librarian at CSU East Bay, articulates numerous reasons for this tension, including the lack of opportunity to build trusting relationships with faculty and students and the rise of neoliberalism in education, which commodifies information literacy as a workplace skill. Although its emphasis is on challenges, this article may provide some reassurance for those librarians with a critical mindset who find it difficult to use critical pedagogy in library instruction, especially when read in context with other chapters in the book.
Tags: Critical Information Literacy
Mathuews does a good job of highlighting how social justice underpins many of the stated professional ethics of academic librarianship. They also make a strong case that academic libraries should leverage their role as connector on campus to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders on social justice initiatives on campus. Some modest examples of work are provided, though the article focuses mostly on theoretical reasoning.
Tags: Inclusion
This article reexamines one of the core values of libraries and librarians, defined by the ALA as the “highest level of service to all library users,” considering the service provided to the white working class in the United States. The author, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, cites specific examples of this particular class (e.g. union members, drug-addicted individuals, and veterans), providing historical and current boundaries to inclusive service and respectful interaction. She also offers practical and constructive examples for building improved relations plus an attached copy of the ALA Policy Statement, Library Services to the Poor as an Appendix. Despite the dated and insensitive title, the ALA Policy Statement provides fifteen sound recommendations to address the lack of effectiveness of traditional services for these constituencies.
Although this article concentrates on public library services, the emphasis on education and civil discourse is certainly applicable to academic libraries. While many of the students on a largely undergraduate liberal arts campus may not belong to the constituent groups specifically mentioned, it is certainly possible that family members are part of those groups. In addition, campus faculty and staff may belong to these constituent groups.
Tags: Practical; Inclusion; Diversity
In Moule’s primer, the focus in chapter 3 is dedicated to unconscious bias, unintentional racism, and micro-aggressions. She highlights the hard work of honesty, overcoming fears, and reprogramming responses and digs into how to do so.
The chapter makes room for connections and reflections, how to address stereotypical and prejudicial statements with steps and examples, and lastly provides applicable classroom activities. This could be enlightening as well as practical for librarians as they do their own foundational reflection and equips them with the tools to address problematic statements made in the classroom.
Tags: Foundational Work; Practical; Microaggressions
Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators is an excellent resource and it should be read by all types and levels of educators, including librarians. Chapter 4, “Understanding Privilege and Racial Consciousness among Whites,” is a challenging and powerful article. The chapter examines the concept of White privilege, including the ways that European Americans are afforded certain benefits and rights based solely on the color of their skin. The author also points out how it is difficult for Whites to acknowledge the existence of such privilege. Throughout the chapter, the concepts of racial consciousness and how Whites think about race and racial differences are explored. For example, “White” and “American” has become synonymous in many people’s minds. Numerous examples are provided that demonstrate how White privilege is infused into the very fabric of American Society. In order to acknowledge white privilege, Whites need to take personal responsibility to change and grow, including becoming aware of and working through unconscious feelings and beliefs about one’s connections to race and ethnicity. The author also includes a description of identity development in the college classroom. Educators need to be aware of the existence of white privilege and its influence on teacher-student behavior. If white educators can acknowledge the centrality of race to a non-white student and grasp the nature of their own attitudes and about racial differences, the cultural distance between them can be reduced. One of the best attributes of this chapter is the inclusion of two reflection exercises, “Becoming Aware of Race” and “Costs of Racism to White People.” Librarians will greatly benefit from completing the exercises and reflecting upon them. Highly recommended.
Tags: Practical; Theoretical; Foundational Work; Structural Racism; Microaggressions
This book contains thorough descriptions of basic concepts of cross-cultural teaching and includes a set of principles for inclusive teaching. Topics include cultural competence, unintentional bias and racism, ethnocentricity, microaggressions, privilege, bias in curriculum delivery, etc. Chapters on working with specific ethnic and religious communities are especially timely. Chapter 2, “Understanding Racism and Prejudice” outlines the differences between racism and prejudice and further defines the various types of racism that hamper real inclusiveness in the classroom. The author defines individual, institutional and cultural racism and addresses the issues of intent and denial. Each section is followed by a helpful discussion of the implications for teachers. While the work is geared toward the K-12 classroom, examples of teaching strategies, typical classroom scenarios, and a comprehensive bibliography make this book a good resource for librarians new to these topics.
Tags: Foundational Work; Practical
This article reports on a study to evaluate how students with vision impairments use digital technologies during their transition to university life. As a result of the findings, the authors expand current theories regarding transition and propose a paradigm shift, Transition 2.0. Transition 1.0 is characterized as an individualized experience during which the student acts as an independent learner and adapts to surroundings through specialized services and resources. Much of the previous research regarding technological tools in Transition 1.0 concentrate on assistive technologies to compensate or lessen the impact of the impairment, neglecting the impact of other emerging technologies.
Transition 2.0, in contrast, incorporates digital equipment (e.g. cameras and audio recorders), social media, online resources, and mobile devices in the various stages of the transition process and introduces a collective approach as well. In addition, Transition 2.0 identifies five distinctive stages during transition (exploring university as an option, discovering university life, coping with turning points, readjusting the transition experience and settling in at university) while previous theories identified only three. The researchers found that students with visual impairments operate similarly to non-disabled students, utilizing digital tools to collaborate, participate, learn and adapt.
The visually impaired students relied heavily on social media, websites, videos, digital cameras and recorders which could have an impact on library instruction. Libraries might also want to consider loaning cameras and audio recorders.
Since this study focused on qualitative results, the applicant pool was very small. The fact that the students and university were located in New Zealand might also affect its applicability.
Tags: Theoretical; Inclusion
This companion volume to Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook, Volume 1, edited by Pagowsky (Associate Librarian and Instruction Coordinator at the University of Arizona Libraries) and McElroy (Student Engagement and Community Outreach Librarian at Oregon State University Libraries & Press) provides thirty sample lesson plans to illustrate how critical pedagogy can be used in library instruction. In her forward, Safiya Umoja Noble notes this volume’s importance as a “collection of clear and direct pedagogical practices that can be implemented in a variety of classroom settings, in the context of a commitment to social justice and transformative engagement” (vii). This volume’s emphasis on praxis will be especially useful to those librarians who prefer practical applications over theory. Each lesson plan includes an introduction, learning outcomes, materials, preparation, session instructions, assessment, reflections, a final question, and a bibliography. The lessons address different instructional scenarios, but are always sensitive to the limitations of the one-shot.
Of particular note for inclusive pedagogy are chapters 1 (“Mapping Power and Privilege in Scholarly Conversations,” Wallis), 2 (“Moving Students to the Center through Collaborative Documents in the Classroom,” Smale and Francoeur), 6 (“Speaking Up: Using Feminist Pedagogy to Raise Critical Questions in the Information Literacy Classroom,” Ladenson), 9 (“Critical Engagement with Number and Images,” Photinos), 10 (“Critical Consciousness and Search: An Introductory Visualization,” Polkinghorne), and 20 (“From Traditional to Critical: Highlighting Issues of Injustice and Discrimination through Primary Sources,” Carbery and Leahy).
Tags: Practical; Critical Information Literacy
Melissa Kalpin Prescott, as an advocate for antiracist pedagogy, posits that we are all racialized, and we are continuously having our privilege or oppression reinforced. Prescott suggests that librarians look at their intersectionality, especially focusing on the race aspects, in order to be practitioners of antiracist pedagogy. She provides questions to help librarians to prepare to teach and to reflect upon that teaching when it is finished. There are definitions in this chapter that may prove to be helpful.
Tags: Structural Racism; Critical Information Literacy
In this opinion piece, Richards, an associate professor of sociology at University of Richmond, laments the institutional racism that is pervasive throughout American academia, or what she terms historically white institutions (HWI). While racism is most often viewed as behavior by individuals based on prejudicial attitudes towards people of color, Richards suggests that institutions also perpetuate attitudes and behaviors that reflect racial prejudice. To identify institutional racism, Richards proposes that administrators, faculty, and staff look at five questions designed to reveal the state of real inclusivity at institutions of higher education. These questions concern 1. Belonging. 2. Dominant norms, values & perspectives. 3. Power holders. 4. Institutional policies. 5. Institutional Interests. Additionally, she suggests that institutions could develop workshops and mandatory racism awareness programs, along with changing institutional policies to include establishing real consequences for behavior that demonstrates racism. Library administrators could benefit from looking at these same issues to investigate latent institutional racism in library services.
Tags: Theoretical; Structural Racism
Saunders examines the ACRL framework through a social justice perspective and analyzes the opportunities and limits of a new frame. She lays out a convincing argument to add another frame which she calls “Information Social Justice.” Her proposal follows the format of the existing frames which include a definition, knowledge practices and dispositions.
Saunders’ proposal is apropo given ACRL’s representation that the framework is not considered exhaustive or prescriptive. She also invites other librarians to adapt and implement her proposal. Saunders does an excellent job of making the case that key elements are missing from the current frames and she is not persuaded by arguments against a frame on social justice or information as a human right. Whether the Saunders’ proposal is accepted by the ACRL or not, her article is a timely reminder that instruction librarians should adjust their teaching as they see fit particularly where the framework is concerned. Saunders’ proposal clearly enhances the current frames which do not adequately address issues of inequity with regard to information. This proposal encourages the type of engagement among instruction librarians that will lead to continuous improvement in the frames. Any librarian who has felt unsettled by various aspects of the frame would benefit from Saunders’ perspective.
Tags: Theoretical
Gina Schlesselman-Tarango (library instruction coordinator at California State University San Bernardino) and Frances Suderman teach students about the types of information sources that emerge and flow from a critical event. Sources that developed from the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman are presented to show how time and “sociohistorical context” impact those sources.
This lesson plan offers a varied list of sources and a useful “Deep Reading Handout” with provocative questions for small group discussion to be paired with a list of deeper questions for a larger group of students.
Tags: Practical; Critical Information Literacy
The phenomenon of stereotype threat is a vital theme to inclusive pedagogy because it underscores the impact of stressors that might emerge in a non-inclusive environment. While there is a wealth of literature on stereotype threat, this particular article stands out because it is the foundational study on the topic. The authors focus specifically on how negative stereotypes related to race and intelligence can cause members of the stereotyped group to self-conform to the stereotype and underperform academically. The article does not go into much detail about how to prevent stereotype threat--although much of the literature borne from this study test interventions to diminish the effects of stereotype threat. Taken in a larger context, the findings from the study suggest that the mere existence of a stereotype can be harmful to a student. Librarian instructors might consider whether there are any stereotypes related to libraries or research (i.e. help-seeking, ability to cite information) that could form a stereotype threat.
Tags: Theoretical; Foundational Work; Stereotype Threat
This article provides a helpful definition and typology of microaggressions. Whereas most microaggression literature relies on retrospective interviews with student and faculty who perpetrated or were victims of microaggressions, this study incorporates actual classroom observation of microaggressions in real-time. This article can serve as a guide for library instructors who are seeking to learn how to avoid committing microaggressions or to detect microaggressions in the classroom. However, this article does not lend much in the way of classroom strategies for resolving the conflict created by microaggressions. The authors stress that the article focuses specifically on microaggressions that occur at community colleges. It is worth noting that the character and nature of microaggressions described in the study might vary from those found in other educational settings.
Tags: Practical; Microaggressions
This qualitative study ties the difficult conversations and experiences students have when racial micro-aggressions appear in the classroom. Touchy dialogues are fueled by strong emotions, personal histories, and worldview that are often difficult for students and instructors to participate in. When these conversations are not adequately facilitated the dignity of students of color is abused and the biased and privileged worldview of white students are upheld. The overall impact of a race dialogue hinges on the mindset, preparation, and facilitation of the instructor.
The article does present specific ways in which teachers can pursue professional development and approaches that can ease these difficult dialogues. The articles are foundational for the understanding of micro-aggressions and their prevalence in the classroom learning environment. This article has implications that can be quite insightful for instructors/librarians.
Tags: Foundational Work; Practical; Microaggressions
UNC-Chapel Hill biology professor Kelly A. Hogan, in response to troubling data showing that minority or disadvantaged students failed her class at higher than average rates, devised an inclusive approach to teaching that has proven successful. First, she identified widely held misconceptions about college students such as: facility with reading long assignments, knowing how to take notes, knowing how to study, knowing how to express what they’ve learned, and comfort level in asking for help. After a realization that her traditional teaching methods may have contributed to the inequity in her classroom, Hogan revised her class. She began with flipping it and devoted class time to structured active learning, regular practice, and lessons designed to provide experiences that the students might have lacked in their secondary education. These actions helped to level the playing field. Evidence from the class data demonstrated reduced failure rates for minority students. This article describes many of the specific actions Hogan took to make her classes more structured and more inclusive. These specific actions could be adapted to library instruction classes, library web page and libguide designs and to the teaching done at the library reference desk.
Tags: Theoretical; Inclusion
This web page features a collection of links to online resources that define inclusive teaching and provide specific strategies for practicing it. Although some are specific to the University of Michigan, most are applicable to anyone in higher education who is seeking information on inclusive teaching. The links range from the theoretical to the practical. There is some redundancy.
While nothing is specific to the library or information fluency, there is much to be gleaned for librarians. Links that were especially helpful were:
Overview of Inclusive Teaching at the University of Michigan: Contains an excellent definition of inclusive teaching and has 5 questions the instructor in any academic discipline can ask themselves to examine their teaching. Includes four educational insights from recent research about bias and systemic inequities in teaching and learning. The brevity of this introduction is helpful.
Framework and Strategies for Inclusive Teaching: This is a checklist of 56 practical strategies for inclusive teaching in content, instructional practices, instructor-student interactions and student-student interactions. Running through these is a way to reflect on your practice and your class, and remind yourself of what you’d like to include in the future.
The Research Basis for Inclusive Teaching: This webpage provides an overview of the kinds of evidence that demonstrate inclusive teaching practices can benefit all students' learning. This is more theoretical than practical, but good to have a short, curated list, with links to full text.
Tags: Practical; Stereotype Threat
Haruko Yamauchi, faculty librarian at CUNY Hostos Community College, incorporates a critique of library classification systems (Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress) into the practice of searching for books, finding and using physical books, and evaluating books as sources. Students are given room to question the power and limits of the choices made to organize books in a system.
This hands-on activity can be performed with actual or substitute books and includes small group and class discussion with a focus on questioning.
Tags: Practical; Critical Information Literacy
Ying Zhong (NSME and Web Librarian at California State University - Bakersfield) provides an excellent overview of Universal Design for Learning and its application to library instruction. A survey-based study is presented that examines student learning styles in two English courses. A lesson plan that incorporates UDL strategies to teach search skills and Boolean logic is shared. Shows the benefits that apply to a wide array of learning styles with the use of UDL teaching practices.
Tags: Practical; Inclusion
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