Abstract (accepted) for a workshop to be held at the 2022 conference:
Information Literacy and Sustainability research
Presenters: Beth Thompson, Billie Coxhead and Julia Flood
Over the last year, Billie Coxhead, Materials and Products Co-ordinator, Julia Flood, and Beth Thompson subject librarians at University of the Arts London (UAL), have been developing a workshop for students and staff that focuses on researching objects and materials with sustainability as a central focus. We hope to share this with the wider information literacy community at LILAC, through a 60-minute workshop.
This workshop intends to demonstrate alternative perspectives in delivering information literacy instruction in an Arts educational environment. By encouraging observation, experience and reflection, all integral components of experiential learning (Smith, 2010), this workshop aims to demonstrate an approach to delivering information literacy training that approximates participants to a studio-based learning style (Appleton et al, 2017: 6.)
We will introduce object-based learning as an aspect of information literacy that allows participants to explore themes around sustainability, material narratives and histories through objects (as primary sources, Raynes & Heiser, 2019) brought to LILAC from UAL’s Materials and Products Collection.
Our workshop will have three stages:
Introduction (15 minutes)
A brief introduction to our work in information literacy training and sustainability, contextualizing this in the Arts. We will talk about the pedagogical theories central to our workshop, such as transformative and experiential learning (Burns, 2013:166), fostering criticality (Freire, 1970) as well as compassion and inclusivity in learning (hooks, 1994). We will explain how through these pedagogies we are proposing new ways of learning about sustainability through object narratives (handling), discussion and collaboration.
Workshop (30 minutes)
We will ask participants to collaboratively engage in co-creating a sustainability-focused information ‘landscape’ (Appleton et al., 2017:7) by sharing critical narratives around objects and materials. The UN’s “3 pillars” conceptual framework will provide the backdrop to a set of critical questions that will aid participants in their search for print and digital resources (Brundtland, 1987).
In conjunction with the methods described above, we will use object-based learning techniques to examine the stories of objects from the Materials and Products Collections at UAL, actively using information literacy techniques such as keyword and query building to discuss and challenge our pre-conceived ideas about material narratives.
Learning outcomes
Thinking critically and building knowledge of sustainability by engaging with objects and materials.
Building a research vocabulary through object narratives; understanding the value of this vocabulary in relation to information seeking.
Discussion and reflection (15 minutes)
Finally, we will ask participants for feedback on the session. Comments and discussions that arise will inform our ‘Critical Sustainability Literacy Toolkit’. This is a pedagogical aid we are creating for colleagues who wish to build sustainability into their information skills classes and tutorials. The Toolkit is the central focus of an academic project by Julia Flood, which hopes to gather a portfolio of pedagogical examples and interventions focusing on sustainability research that is accessible to Librarians at UAL and beyond and accompanied by session recordings and qualitative feedback from students.
Learning outcomes
Engage in collaborative discussion about pedagogical approaches.
Critical Sustainability literacy toolkit to share with information professionals and educators to use in teaching.
Bibliography
Appleton, L., Grandal Montero, G., & Jones, A. (2017). Creative approaches to information literacy for creative arts students. Communications in Information Literacy, 11(1), 7. URL: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=comminfolit [accessed: 14/01/2022]
Brundtland, G.H., (1987). Our common future—Call for action. Environmental Conservation, 14(4), pp.291-294.
Burns, Heather. “Meaningful Sustainability Learning: A Study of Sustainability
Pedagogy in Two University Courses.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education 25, no. 2 (2013): 166-175. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1016542.pdf. [accessed: 14/01/2022]
Chatterjee, H.J. and Hannan, L., (2016). Engaging the senses: object-based learning in higher education. Routledge.
Freire, P., (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). New York: Continuum.
Hooks, B. (1994) Teaching to Transgress. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francisc Group.
Raynes, I., & Heiser, N. (2019). Cartographic Literacy Through Object-Based Learning: The Value of Primary Sources in Instruction. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 15(2-3), 187-209. [accessed: 14/01/2022]