Theory of Action and Information Literacy: Critical Assessment towards Effective Practice #ecil2013

Paulette Kerr talked about Theory of Action and Information Literacy: Critical Assessment towards Effective Practice at the European Conference on Information Literacy. She quoted Argyris and Schon (1974) talking about reflective practice and their Theory of Action, in which they distinguish between espoused theory (beliefs, assumptions or expressed beliefs) and theory-in-use (the theory or beliefs implied by actual behaviour). You can infer theories-in-use by examining actions. One can evaluate theories of action by identifying congruence between espoused theories and theories in use: if used as part of action research this would include a reflective cycle.
Kerr's doctoral work used TOA to examine the espoused and in use theory about Information Literacy of 11 academic libraries in the USA. The data she collected included policy documents, learning strategies, handouts, online tutorials and 12 interviews. She identified institutional claims and then aggregated claims about espoused theory and theories in practice. So the espoused theories included statements about knowledge oputcomes, academic success, critical thinking etc. However, examining the online tutorials revealed incongruence and well as congruence e.g. a source approach, a focus on a few aspects of IL in theories-in-use.
Her dissertation Conceptions and practice of information literacy in academic libraries: Espoused theories and theories-in-use is published by Dissertation Abstracts/Proquest
Photo by Sheila Webber: Blue Mosque, Istanbul, October 2013