Shyh-Mee Tan

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS’ READINESS FOR INFORMATION LITERACY

IMPLEMENTATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Outline of the presentation 1. Background to Study2. Statement of Problem3. Objectives4. Research Questions5. Scope6. Definitions7. Key Literature8. Conceptual Framework9. Methodology10. Findings11. Conclusions12. Significance of Study13. Publications from Study

Information literacy (IL) is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and

communicate it in an ethical manner (CILIP, 2012) an important skills in today’s information rich world best developed when taught in schools

Information Literacy Education (ILE) implementation in Malaysian schools introduced in schools through school libraries by the Education Technology Division (ETD)

Ministry of Education after the 31st IASL conference in 2002 IL teaching modules were distributed to schools and school libraries Expectation that school librarians will help teach ILE

School Librarians (SLs) in Malaysia are; qualified teachers entrusted to plan and manage the school libraries.

But are they ready to teach IL?

1. Background to Study

Pg 5-8

2. Statement of Problem

ILE in Malaysia• IL is embedded &

integrated; • the secondary school

Curriculum.• school project. Eg:• -History coursework for

Form 3 (BPK,2002)• -History coursework for

STPM/ A level (Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia, 2014)

• SLs are expected to teach IL.

Research on SLs/ IL

• Focus;• on pedagogy approach• Perception of school

librarians’ role in ILE

• Findings;• SLs do not

understand the IL concept

• SLs have inadequate IL skills & competencies

• SLs are not trained in ILE

• Lack of official ILE policy

UnKnown ?

• How do SLs perceive the implementation of IL (in Malaysian secondary schools)?

• What issues/factors could be contributing to (un)successful IL implementation (in Malaysian secondary schools)?

Therefore, there is a need to investigate IL implementation from the perspective of the implementers themselves – the school librarians.

Pg 8

The main objectives of the study was  to examine ILE implementation in Malaysian schools from the

perspective of the school librarians. to investigate both individual and the organizational factors that

influence IL implementation in Malaysian schools.

Specifically:i. to explore school librarians’ perception about IL

implementation in Malaysian secondary schoolsii. to explore school librarians’ readiness for IL implementation in

Malaysian secondary schoolsiii. to identify the organizational factors influencing the

implementation of ILE in Malaysian secondary schools

3. Objectives

Pg 12

This study aimed to answer the following questions in relation to the stated objectives:

1. What is the general perception of school librarians’ about IL implementation in Malaysian secondary schools?

2. What is the level of school librarians’ readiness for IL implementation in Malaysian secondary schools?

3. How does experience and professional qualifications influence school librarians’ readiness?

4. What are the organizational factors influencing the implementation of ILE in Malaysian secondary schools?

4. Research Questions

Pg 13

The research presented based solely on; Malaysian School librarians’ perception. Information Literacy is conceptualised as in the Big Six Model

(Eisenberg, Lowe, & Spitzer, 2004). “IL is the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively from

various sources”. The self-assessed IL skills measured are based on this. Big Six Model is commonly use in Malaysian schools library research.

Nation wide study : to generalize the outcome of school librarians’ readiness.

5. Scope

Pg 17

School librarian is defined :IFLA : professionally qualified staff member responsible for planning and

managing the school library.the policy statements of IFLA; School Libraries Manifesto,the policy statements of IASL and AASL,some recent studies used the term school librarians (Ewbank , 2011, Tan, Singh & Gorman,

2012; Subramaniam et al., 2013).

The term school librarians in this research refers to ‘Guru Perpustakaan & Media’ or Library Media Teachers. They are qualified teachers selected to be library media teachers. They may have a minimum professional qualification (35H Basic SRCM

Course). They plan and manage the school libraries (Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Malaysia,

2005).

6. Definitions

Pg 18

School Librarians

7. Review of Literature

May have LIS

or

School Librarians

Teachers School Librarians

-Bachelor in Education-B.A , B.SC, B.Com, etc-Diploma in Education-Any Master degree

-Diploma in LIS,-Bachelor in LIS, -Master degree in LIS

Academic Qualifications

LIS Professional Qualifications

SRCM 35H/45H CourseIn-service SRCM 14 Weeks/

One Year Course

Pg 38

Issues Research Main findings Readiness (McCain and Tobey, 2004).,Fogarty,

Fogarty, & Pete, 2004) etc.•Readiness is •the eagerness to learn skills, concepts, and attitude for the betterment of the themselves.•when they are able to face the circumstances that required them to use the new knowledge, skills or abilities

o Knowledge about IL

Diao & Chandrawati (2005) Education Technology Division (2005), Norhayati, Nor Azilah, & Mona (2006), Probert (2009), etc.

•IL concept•Information literate attributes

o Role as IL educator

 

Hockersmith (2010), Church (2008), Gbaje (2008), Novo & Calixto (2009), Reed 2009), Lee, Reed & Laverty (2012), etc.

•Expertise has knowledge of resources.•Train the Trainers in IL. •Leadership role in Il.. •As Information specialists.•Reference services •Supporting teachers and students and providing information.

o IL skills Combes (2008), McCoy (2001), Tan & Singh (2008), Hockersmith (2010), etc.

•IL skills needed as school librarians•IL skills in Big Six Models

Experience (Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Malaysia, 2005), (Lee, Brown, Mekis, & Singh, 2003; Nor Hasimah, 2007), (Abrizah, 1999), etc.

•Their prior learning, teaching and school librarian experiences are the main principles for the new information literacy knowledge.• Experience will influence their own professional IL learning.

Professional Qualifications

(McKenzie, Santiago, & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005), (Jamil, Abd. Razak, Raju, & Mohamed, 2008), etc.

•continuing education and in service training that contribute to knowledge, skills and behaviour of individual once they completed the training.

7. Review of Literature

Issues Research Main findings Policies Edzan (2008), Edzan & Mohd Sharif (2005), Horton & Keiser

(2008) Horton (2008), Abid (2004), Horton & Keiser (2008), Lonsdale & Armstrong (2006), Bruce (2002), Morizio & Henri (2003), Henri, et al., (2006), Önal (2006), Russell (2005), Singh, et al., (2006), Williams (2008), Boekhorst (2003), Oldford (2002)

o ILE guidelineo ILE policy o National IL agenda.

Standards Eisenberg, et al., (2004). Bailey (2005), Aiani, (2008), Fatimah (2002), Edzan & Mohd Sharif (2005), Bailey (2005), Cornelius (2009), American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications and Technology (1998). American Association of School Librarians [AASL] (2007), etc.

o National IL standard.o IL standards for students.

Curriculum Dearden (1984), Buckley and Caple (1990), Ford & Kozlowski (1997), Rae (2001), Rothwell (2008), Carliner ( 2003), Tannenbaum, Mathieu, & Cannon-Bowers (1991), Lee, et. al., (2003), Norhayati (2009), Raja Abdullah & Saidina Omar (2003), Williams & Coles (2007), Church (2007), Coatney (2006), Yitzhaki and Anzenberg (2005), Oberg (2001), Probert (2006), Doyle (1992) Duke & Ward (2009), Probert (2006), Probert 2008), Eisenberg (2006)

o IL training.o Standardized IL training

modules.o Standardized IL training

curriculum.o Continuing education

opportunities in LIS. o LIS certification.

• School Librarians’ Requirements

(Merchant & Hepworth, 2002),ETD (2005),(Tan & Singh, 2008a) Norhayati’s (2009) (Fatimah, 2002)(Doyle, 1992). Then, Horton (2008) and Bushong and Buff, (2008) Asselin (2004), Etc.

oIL courses oIL professional developmentoCollaborationoIL curriculum

• Infrastructure

Abrizah (2008), Singh, et al., (2006), Henri, Boyd and Eyre (2002), Williams & Wavell (2002), Bruce (2002), Combes (2005), Todd (2008), Harada (2003), Mokhtar, et al., (2008), Campello (2009), Williams and Coles (2007), Lasic-Lazic, Spiranec and Banek-Zorica (2006).

oIT facilitiesoLibraries as information centres

12

8. Conceptual Framework of the study

Kolb’s experiential

learning theory

Information Literacy Implementation Framework

Information Literacy Implementation

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS’ READINESS

·Perceived Knowledge about IL·Perceived Role as IL educator·Self-assessed IL skills

ORGANIZATION FACTORS•Curriculum•Policies•Standards•School Librarians’ Requirements•Infrastructure

Experience

Professional Qualifications

Pg 83

• Quantitative Research Methodology– Descriptive research design • Survey research– Interview– Questionnaire

(Creswell, 2008)

Phase 2RQ2RQ3RQ4

Data analysis

Findings

Identification of Problem

Literature review

Interview

Questionnaire

Phase 1RQ1

Research Design

9. Methodology

Pg 87

1. Data Collection1. Phase 1 (Interview)

i. The Interview Instrument - semi structured interview

ii. Interview samplings : • Convenient sampling (8

samples) • 6 school librarians (Hulu

Langat secondary schools)• 2 officers (ETD & TED)

2. Data Analysis1. Interview data

• Transcribed , coded and derived into themes

• Data Preparation-Coded

9. Methodology

Pg 120

10.1 Findings; Phase I (Interviews))

RQ1 . What is the general perception of school librarians’ about information literacy implementation in Malaysian secondary schools?

1. School librarians’ readiness to teach IL based on their perception of IL implementation in schools. i. Self assessment about;

• knowledge about IL• IL competencies • understanding and knowing their role in IL

educationii. External issues

• Policies• Standards • School librarians’ requirements• Training• Infrastructure

2. Outcome: • Proposed framework for IL implementation.• A survey instrument to empirically measure

school librarians’ perception of their readiness for IL implementation.

Pg 143

1. School librarians’ readiness is defined as;• their enthusiasm to learn skills, concepts and attitude for the

betterment of their work and themselves. • they are considered to be ready when they can face the circumstances

that required them to use the new knowledge, skills or abilities.

2. The school librarians’ readiness was measured on 3 sub-scales of readiness.

Cognitive Readiness• focuses on their perception about IL concept and their perception about the

information literate attributes Functional Readiness

• focuses on how school librarians perceive their roles as IL educators. Technical Readiness

• focuses on the level of self-assessed IL skills among school librarians.

10.1 Findings; Concept of readiness;

Pg 166-172

10.2 Phase II (Survey: Questionnaire); Respondents’ profile

  State Frequency Percent1 Perak 100 14.12 Selangor 76 10.73 Pahang 72 10.14 Johor 68 9.65 Sarawak 67 9.46 Sabah 51 7.27 Kedah 50 78 WP KL 50 79 Pulau Pinang 39 5.510 Terengganu 37 5.211 Kelantan 35 4.912 Negeri Sembilan 29 4.113 Melaka 22 3.114 Perlis 7 115 WP Labuan 4 0.616 WP Putrajaya 3 0.4  Total 710 100

a. Distribution of respondents by states (n = 710) b. Experience as School Librarians

Experience Frequency Percenta. 0 - 5 years 513 72.30b. 6 - 10 years 139 19.60c. 11- 30 years 58 8.20

Total 710 100

Courses in LIS Frequency Percenta. None 259 36.50b. In-service SRCM courses less than one semester 351 49.40c. In-service SRCM courses one semester or more 59 8.30d. Tertiary levels in LIS 41 5.80

Total 710 100

c. School Librarians’ Professional Qualifications

Pg 149-154

Likert Scale Readiness1. Strongly

agree5.00 Ready The SL consistently demonstrates an

understanding of IL concept and the attributes of an information literate person 

2. Agree 4.00-4.99

3. Neutral 3.00-3.99

Approaching Readiness

The SL inconsistently demonstrates an understanding of IL concept and the attributes of an information literate person 

4. Disagree 2.00-2.99

Developing Readiness

The SL does not demonstrate an understanding of IL concept and the attributes of an information literate person 

5. Strongly Disagree

1.00-1.99

i. School Librarians’ Readiness Scale for cognitive readiness

10.3 Findings

ii. School Librarians’ Readiness Scale for functional readiness

Likert Scale Readiness

1. Strongly agree

5.00 Ready The SL consistently demonstrates an understanding their tasks and abilities based on their role as IL educators 

2. Agree 4.00-4.99

3. Neutral 3.00-3.99 Approaching Readiness

The SL inconsistently demonstrates an understanding their tasks and abilities based on their role as IL educators 

4. Disagree 2.00-2.99 Developing Readiness

The SL does not demonstrate an understanding of their tasks and abilities based on their role as IL educators 

5. Strongly Disagree

1.00-1.99

iii. School Librarians’ Readiness Scale for technical readiness

Likert Scale Readiness1. Excellen

t5.00 Ready The SL consistently demonstrates a high

level of self-assessed IL skills required for IL education 

2. Good 4.00-4.99

3. Average 3.00-3.99 Approaching Readiness

The SL demonstrates an average of self-assessed IL skills required for IL education 

4. Poor 2.00-2.99 Developing Readiness

The SL demonstrate a low level of self-assessed IL skills required for IL education

5. Do not know at all

1.00-1.99

School Librarians Readiness

Mean SD Readiness

1. Cognitive Readiness 4.30 0.48 Ready2. Functional Readiness 4.05 0.57 Ready3. Technical Readiness 3.61 0.60 Approaching Readiness

iv. School Librarians Readiness

RQ2 What is the level of school librarians’ readiness for information literacy implementation in Malaysian secondary schools?

Anova Results

Results

i. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in the school librarians’ cognitive readiness across the three levels of school librarians’ experience?

F=1.46, p > 0.05

Not significant

ii. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in the school librarians’ cognitive readiness across the four levels of school librarians’ professional qualifications?

F=2.84, p < 0.05

Significant

iii. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in school librarians’ functional readiness across the three levels of school librarians’ experience?

F=2.79, p > 0.05

Not significant

iv. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in the school librarians’ functional readiness across the four levels of school librarians’ professional qualifications?

F=7.11, p < 0.05

Significant

v. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in school librarians’ technical readiness across the three levels of school librarians’ experience?

F=8.14, p < 0.05

Significant

vi. Is there a statistically significant mean difference in the school librarians’ technical readiness across the four levels of school librarians’ professional qualifications?

F=15.18, p = 0.00

Significant

10.4 Findings; Summary of findings

Pg 174-191

RQ 3: How does experience and qualifications influence school librarians’ readiness?

• FA can be a tool for developing a practical classification analysis to group interdependent variables into descriptive categories such as size, liberal voting, and authoritarianism. • It can used to group cases into types

based on similar profile values (Rummel, 1970).

• FA is widely used in research of different disciplines in educational research for various purposes (Ali, 1997; Bush, 2010; Cate, 2010; Haley, Kurt, & Hom, 1997; Kirkpatrick, 2010; Lai, Crane, & Cella, 2006; Person, 1993; Roach, 1989; Sharpe, 2010; Yu, Lam, & Lo, 2005).

10.5 Findings RQ4 What are the organizational factors influencing the implementation of information literacy in Malaysian secondary schools?

Pg 192

•The organizational factors are o Information Literacy Policies

and standardso Teaching and Learning

Strategieso Professional Developmento Infrastructure

Conceptualization of Readiness The researcher proposes an IL Implementation Readiness Framework

Two main contributors for the successful implementation of ILE in Malaysian schools.

1. The school librarians’ readiness comprised of o cognitive readinesso functional readinesso technical readiness

o Professional qualifications impact on their cognitive, functional and technical readiness.

o Experience impact on their technical readiness.

2. Organizational factors:o Information Literacy Policies and standardso Teaching and Learning Strategieso Professional Developmento Infrastructure

11. Significance of study

11.1 Significance of study

Professional Qualification

s

Experience

Information Literacy Implementation Readiness Framework

Information Literacy Implementation

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS’ READINESS

o Cognitive Readiness o Functional Readiness o Technical Readiness

ORGANIZATION FACTORS

o Policy & Standardso Teaching & L earning Strategyo Professional Developmento Infrastructure

Pg 237

• Conference Papers• Tan, S. M., & Singh, D. 2008. An Assessment of the information literacy levels of library and media teachers

in the Hulu Langat district, Malaysia. Paper presented at the Towards an information literate society: International Conference on Libraries, Information and Society, ICoLIS 2008, 18-19 November 2008.

• Tan, S. M., & Singh, D. 2009. Competencies for teacher-librarians: The Malaysians perspective; Kompetensi Guru Perpustakaan dan Media: Perspektif Malaysia. Paper presented at the Indonesian Convention and Seminar on School Librarian 27-29 May, 2009.

• Tan, S. M., & Singh, D. 2010. Information literacy competencies among school library media teachers -- Malaysia Paper presented at the Diversity Challenge Resilience: School libraries in action. School Libriaries Association of Queensland and International Association of School Libraries 2010 Conference, 27 September-1 October 2010.

• ISI-Cited Publication• Tan, S. M., Gorman, G. & Singh, D. 2012. Information literacy competencies among school librarians in

Malaysia. Libri, 62(1): 98-107.

• Tan, S.M.,& Kaur, K. 201?. School Librarians’ Readiness for Information Literacy Implementation in Secondary Schools. In preparation to be submitted to Journal of Library and Information Science.

• Book Section • Tan, S.M. (2013). The Taman Rakan Primary School Library. In Asselin, R., & Doiron, R. (2013). Linking

literacy and libraries in global communities: London, UK: Ashgate Publishers .

12. Publications from Study Pg 276

Thank you