#LILAC23 The social turn in literacy development and education strategy: impact on library practice

Pam McKinney here live blogging from the second day of the #LILAC23 conference in cambridge. This session is led by Professor Sheila Corrall, who presents the results from a research project to investigate the range of “literacies” taught by academic librarians, and how pedagogies and roles have developed to take account of the breadth of new literacies. The social turn is a term in use since the 1970s to encompass increase in socially engaged practices, it is associated with an increase in collaborative pedagogies and constructivist theories of education, use of critical theory, and embodied activism characterised by a nuanced sense of the intersection between the personal and the political. The social turn is also related to participatory culture, which is has low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, where societies work together with a greater sense of community. 

Citizen science and citizen journalism are examples of the social turn from the wealth of nations to the wealth of networks. The democratisation of professionalism is exemplified by the move from librarians doing online searches on behalf of library users in the early days of the Internet, to a situation where users do their own searching but librarians work alongside users to support search activity. Universities have moved from elite institutions only accessible by the elite (e.g. in the UK in the 1950s only 5% of the population went to university) to a transformative socially inclusive model of education, with a widening participation agenda. More recently we see a move from the university as a purveyor of entrepreneurship support, to one where the university is a force for civic engagement and citizenship education. Academics engaging in research in partnership with community groups, and support life wide learning.

Looking more specifically at academic libraries, the social turn is evidenced by a move towards personal and first-year librarians, who are engaged in pre-arrival programmes and resources, manage recreational reading resources, are engaged in sustainably development and decolonisation projects and deliberative forums and civic literacy. There is recognition of the need to tailor resources to different students, and educate the whole student, addressing the social issues that affect students in higher education today. Library spaces are used to support health and well-being, which has been a growing concern even before the pandemic, libraries have played a major role as a learning space on campus where students can go for support, working in partnership with student support departments.

The social turn  in literacy thinking in practice has moved from thinking about literacy as a basic skill set to thinking about literacy as a suite of skills that enable people to engage in society, it is a situated practice, best understood as a social constructivist process of meaning making. This is related to the shift from skills based conceptions of information literacy to a much more learning related framework, based on knowledge dispositions and threshold concepts in learning.  Sheila presented a table from her new book which summarises the literacies taught or facilitated by academic librarians, which she categorises into multiliteracies taught from the 1980s, infoliteracies  taught from the 1990s such as critical literacies, digital and information literacy and the 21 century literacies which are characterised by lifelong and life wide literacies that students need to engage in modern society, for example quantitative literacy and financial literacy. 

The pandemic really put the spotlight on how important information literacy is in everyday life, for example the data shared on TV about the pandemic statistics showed how important it is to have data literacy. Koltay has chacterised core and derived literacies for living with a pandemic which is a complex-pluralist literacy landscape.

The educational practices of academic librarians are in constant development. Librarians adjust their pedagogies to reflect trends and developments in teaching practice generally, and how students learn in these new environments. For example pedagogies developed for maker spaces in libraries, social justice education, identity conscious strategies, contemplative strategies etc. Librarians have a vital part to play as 3rd place professionals who can work across the university to support learning. Library pedagogies have evolved from behaviourist transmissible models of education to collaborative interactive, inclusive and participative centred models. A side by side approach to supporting users can be more welcoming and inclusive, and we have to recognise that while self service is great, people still need support. 

Professional development frameworks need to be revised and expanded to develop collaborative capacity, focusing on relationship management, cultural competence and critical reflection. Academic libraries are moving from collecting to connecting, and information literacy practitioners are leading the way here.
Photo Pam McKinney, Cambridge Zoology Museum (where the reception was held)