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NE of the most pleasurable parts of being a school librarian is the autonomy we enjoy in practice.
Unlike our teaching colleagues we are not bound by a test fuelled curriculum nor judged on the outcome of grades achieved by our students. We are free to innovate, be creative and are often left to our own devices aside from the occasional meeting with a line manager. This may be a familiar scenario for other librarians working within professional organisations. However, we need to be mindful of our choices. The Innovative School Librarian (Markless, 2016) asks “Do our development objectives form a personal wish list or are they rooted in school priorities?” Unless we delve into the depths of the curriculum and understand the priorities of those we serve, our enlightened approaches may result in frustration if they are less than enthusiastically received or indeed rejected seemingly without reason. Consider this. Recently, CILIP has played a key role in setting up the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA) (2021) designed to bring together stakeholders from all sectors with an interest in this area (see pp. 32-34). This was officially launched to coincide with UNESCO’s Global Media Literacy Week held annually in October (UNESCO, 2021). Many organisations in England produce products designed to help young people deal with the complexities of life online and the increasingly large silos of information at their disposal. The question is how useful are these initiatives in practice? Will they be used by time poor teachers in our schools particularly after the fallout of lost education during the Covid-19 pandemic? Do providers or teachers ever consider the role of school librarians in disseminating this information?
The DCMS Online Media Literacy Strategy Phase 1 report (2021) showed that there were 170 media literacy initiatives and stakeholders producing material. Thirty-seven focussed on
January-February 2022
Recently, CILIP has played a key role in setting up the Media and Information Literacy Alliance designed to bring together stakeholders from all sectors with an interest in this area.
children targeting mostly privacy and mis/disinformation issues. An Ofcom survey (2019) showed that parents were concerned about data capture when their children ventured online – more so than about cyberbullying. So, are the charities and media organisations producing content that panders to caregivers rather than to the needs of the curriculum or what is being demanded by employers in terms of digital and media literacy? If we examine the curriculum in England (DfE, 2014) then we can see the online harms aspect of internet use forms much of the specific guidance within subjects such as computing, media studies, personal social health and economic (PHSE) and relationships and sex education (RSE). The focus is placed firmly on personal safety. It is only when we consider the citizenship curriculum and more specifically the GCSE examination in this subject that the issues broaden into the impact that media and information literacy can have on society and global citizenship. Maybe this is how we understand the terminology, as librarians, since it fits with the CILIP definition (2018). I would argue that it is these competencies that employers and higher education seek. How do we bridge the gap when most school librarians in England are not qualified nor employed as teachers? Do we set our own views aside? The DCMS Phase 2 report (2021) points out that delivery of media literacy in schools needs to be in line with the development of the brain. Until 11 years old the frontal cortex does not allow critical judgements to be made easily and although more developed by the age of 14 the younger teenager is prone to deception due diminishing self-esteem. Is this why the curriculum content in England is so restricted? Perhaps we need to reflect that in many European countries media and information literacy is a statutory part of school curricula from the earliest age – even in countries such as France where there has been a ban on mobile phones within schools for over three years (Adriaens-Allemand, 2021). Such countries recognise students as creators of information and consider the
Sarah Pavey is an education consultant for SP4IL and was a school librarian for over 20 years. She is a fellow of CILIP and RSA and is a committee member of both the School Libraries Group and the Information Literacy Group of CILIP.
impact their own work has on others. The emphasis is not solely placed on online harms and teacher librarian involvement is recognised as vital. Although this article has focussed on media and information literacy, it illustrates the importance of keeping in tune with what is needed by our stakeholders and the tricky path we may need to negotiate to reach our goals. It shows what we might need to question, when we might hold back on our own views as information professionals to gain engagement with our community and why it is imperative to spend time reading the requirements of the curriculum and the wider objectives of the school’s mission statement. IP
References
Adriaens-Allemand, A. (2021). Media and information literacy in France: an overview. Available at: https://me-
dia-and-learning.eu/type/featured-articles/media-and-information-litera- cy-in-france-an-overview/
CILIP ILG (2018) Definition of Information Literacy. Availa- ble at:
https://infolit.org.uk/ILdefinitionCILIP2018.pdf
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, DCMS (2021) Online Media Literacy Strategy - Mapping exercise and literature review, phase 1 and phase 2 reports. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-me- dia-literacy-strategy
Department for Education (2014) National Curriculum. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nation- al-curriculum
Markless, S. (ed), Bentley, E., Pavey, S., Shaper, S., Todd, S. and Webb, C. (2016) The Innovative School Librarian. Facet Publishing.
MILA (2021) Media and Information Literacy Alliance. Available at:
https://mila.org.uk/
Ofcom (2019) Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report. Available at:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0024/134907/children-and-parents-media-use-and-atti- tudes-2018.pdf
UNESCO (2021) Launch of the Global Standards on Media and Information Literacy Curricula Development Guide- lines. Available at:
https://events.unesco.org/event?id=Launch_ of_the_Global_Recommendations_on_Media_and_Information_Litera- cy_Curriculum_Development_Guidelines3952275575&lang=1033
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