Questionnaire 2 (1 September 2011)

My thoughts and feelings about my topic

There are so many definitions of inquiry-based learning and information literacy. I think it is important for teachers to have a clear understanding of what these terms mean to them, when they are planning for learning and assessment. The definitions need to be simple and enactable within the learning context. For the pre-primary learning contexts, I think the that the inquiry-based learning involves children in formulating questions about topics that interest them, and answering them by participating in language and literacy activities (Owens, Hester & Teale, 2002). And similiarly, for information literacy for pre-primary learners involves knowing when information is needed and being able to identify, locate and effectively use information for learning and problem solving (Kinder, 2004).

The Queensland early years curriculum has a solid foundation in the work of constructivists, reconceptualists and brain researchers. The Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (EYCG) consider knowledge to be “the understandings, capabilities and dispositions that children construct before and after they come to school”. Teachers are seen as facilitators who guide children to deeper knowledge by helping them to make connections between their experiences at school and outside school. The EYCG state that teachers should create contexts for learning that involve play, real-life situations, investigations, routines and transitions and focussed learning and teaching and critical reflection. “Throughout the early phase of schooling, children learn more effectively in an environment that encourages movement, investigation, discussion, outdoor learning and flexible learning contexts” (Early Years Curriculum Guidelines, p.7) The EYCG advocate the child’s role in making decisions about their learning, particularly by identifying questions and problems for investigation and possible ways for learning about topics that interest them. Their participation in decision making gives children ownership of their learning and opportunities to voice their ideas (EYCG, 2009).

However, in reality, this emphasis on negotiated curriculum is often paid lip-service. In practice, at our school the model of learning used most closely resembles a form or project-based learning where students identify an area of interest, become immersed in the topic and then present an outcome of their learning in the form of an event, performance, publication or presentation. Most of the activities are excursions, teacher directed or play-based. However, students have little input into the types of learning activities. Negotiated curriculum needs to be more than letting the students pick the topic. I believe that negotiated curriculum can occur, even when students don’t pick the topic. It’s more a way of working than a starting point.

I believe that negotiated curriculum is strongly linked to inquiry-based learning. Given more time, it would have been interesting to explore the Interrogative Model (I-Model) of Inquiry described by Lonka, Hakkarainen & Sintonen (2000) in which knowledge acquisition is viewed as a process of formulating successive questions in order to find increasingly in-depth or more relevant answers.

Information literacy is integral to learning. Successful inquiry-based learning is dependent upon students being able to access information in a range of formats from a variety of sources. The challenge for pre-primary teachers is guiding students to sources that are accessible with at their early levels of literacy. Some researchers are beginning to study how well pre-primary students can access web-based sources of information (Spink, 2010).

There is so much to learn, that I feel that everything is too rushed to do the topic justice.

My interest level for this topic

Not at all ☐      not much ☐    quite a bit R    a great deal ☐

I think it would be very interesting to try a range of inquiry approaches with preparatory year students to determine how they might be used to promote the development of metacognition and information literacy. I’m particularly interested in how ICTs can be used to enhance young children’s access to information.

My knowledge level about this topic

Nothing ☐        not much R    quite a bit ☐    a great deal ☐

The more I learn about this topic, the more I realise how little I know.

Things I find easy when researching

Not much has changed in this area.  Though I do find it easy to get side tracked.

-          Thinking of keywords for searches

-          Google and Google Scholar searches

-          Talking to colleagues

-          Finding Queensland and national curriculum materials and policy documents online

Things I find difficult when researching

-          Tracking my search processes and organising my sources.

-          Finding longer periods of time to work on research, instead of trying to fit it in around other commitments.
-          Finding time for reflecting on what I have found and writing reflectively

-          Systematically formulating further questions to inform productive searches.

-          Conducting academic searches using uni databases (they drive me crazy!!!)

-          Evaluating reliability of sources (How do you know which universities are well-respected by academics?)

-          Analysing and synthesising information

-          Recording my thoughts when I am in the car, in bed and in the shower.

-          Collecting data from prepartory year students

References

Kinder, D. (2004). “Information Literacy: A Key to Success in the 21st Century” in The Greet Exchange, Spring 2004. Ryerson University. Retrieved September 3, 2011 from http://www.ryerson.ca/lt/publications/GREETSpr04V03Apr5.pdf

Lonka, K., Hakkarainen, K. & Sintonen, M. (2000). Progressive inquiry learning for children — Experiences, possibilities, limitations. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 8:1, 7-23. Retrieved September 4, 2011 from Taylor and Francis Online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13502930085208461

Owens, R.F., Hester, J.L. & Teals, W.H. (2002). Where do you want to go today? Inquiry-based learning and technology integration. The Reading Teacher; Apr 2002; 55(7), pg. 616. Retrieved August 27, 2011 from ProQuest.

Queensland Studies Authority. (2009). Early Years Curriculum Guidelines. Brisbane: Queensland Government. Retrieved August 29, 2011 from  http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/981.html

Spink, Amanda H. and Danby, Susan J. and Mallan, Kerry M. and Butler, Carly. (2010). Exploring Young Children's Web Searching and Technoliteracy. Journal of Documentation, 66(2), 191–206. Retrieved August 6, 2011, from QUT eprints http://eprints.qut.edu.au/31386/

The age of wisdom

The difference between “literacy” and “information literacy” and the need for so many forms of literacy still seem problematic to me.

Perhaps I can appeal to the learning theorists for guidance in exploring the problem. It is generally accepted that learning is a process that begins at birth and continues throughout a person’s life. Dewey believed in ‘learning by doing’ — a process of constructing meaning through experience and action (Kuhlthau et al, 2007). Dewey’s constructivism is also a political process that encourages students to make up their own minds about what is ‘right’ and what should be valued, and what action should be taken.

According to Dewey, ‘learning is a process of construction’. He believed that, of the two main approaches to learning (transmission in which the teacher or text imparts knowledge to students; and constructivist in which the student is active in building on what they already know to construct deep understandings by engaging with information and ideas), constructivist is the more intuitive.

But Dewey also saw learning is an emotional process. In How We Think (1933), Dewey described phases of reflective thinking: suggestion, intellectualism, guiding idea, reasoning and action.

Dewey proposed that construction of meaning begins with a suggestion. At this stage the learner is perplexed and confused because they have an incomplete understanding of the topic. I am currently at this stage in my understanding of “information literacy”.

Dewey advocates that through intellectualisation, the learner begins to define the problem or question and envisage possible solutions.

So let’s first of all look at the rudimentary definition of “literacy” by examining its etymological roots. (Etymology is the study of the history of words.) The word “literacy” is a combination of the Latin root “liter” meaning “letter” and the Latin noun forming “acy” refering to a state of being, quality, condition or level of adequacy. It’s amazing how much information seven letters can convey. When applied to people, “literacy” would be a person with an adequate level of understanding of letters, or perhaps an adequate level of ability to use letters — basic reading and writing.

Perhaps “literacy” is no more than what we need to be adequate.

When this word was pieced together from its Latin roots, it was probably an adequate term for its purpose. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy), the word “literacy” was first used for the ability to write ones own name; then was used to describe “the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material”; and evolved into a term to represent “the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print”. Over time the term “literacy” has shouldered an ever-increasing burden as people muscle their way through the information explosion.

What represents adequacy today?

In this age, educated citizens need more than a mere understanding of letters and the ability use them to read and write. Now it seems we need a term that encompasses gaining meaning from more than print materials (written and spoken texts, music, dance, visual arts, still and moving images and digital multimedia). Educated people must know how to find or create sources of information or data; organise information and data meaningful ways to construct further meanings; view data and information critically and creatively; and set about effectively communicating new ideas in politically active ways to effect social, economic and cultural change.

Ah! Now we need to be more than adequate, we probably need more than seven letters to describe such an accomplishment. So let’s continue to appropriate the word “literacy” and stick “information” in front. But does "information literacy" embody all we want to describe. Is there a better term for describing what we have come to call “information literacy”.

The Latin root “liter” is probably no longer sufficient to encompass the variety of sources of information available. An using ‘acy’ to describe the state of being is equally problematic — being ‘adequate’ is probably not enough for effective citizenship.

We need to cast a little broader and aim a little higher. Instead of Latin, let’s appeal to the Greeks. We not only need to study (ology) what is visible (phanero-) but also seek what is hidden (crypt-) and strive to change (morph-) it into something that we can put to work (erg-) in new ways. That might look something like the field of “phanercryptmorphergology” with “phanercryptmorphergacy” as the state of being an adequate “phanercryptmorphergist”. Quite a mouthful!

If we are going to appropriate terms from the past why not "philo-" meaning "love of" and "sophia" meaning "wisdom" — "philosophy"?

My point is that why take a term and tack on extra baggage when there already exists a word for fostering a love of learning through exploration, reflection and discussion. Philosophy says it all. Philosophy can be seen in action in most ancient and modern cultures of world. Contemporary Western philosophy, in common with many philosophies across the world and through the ages seeks to find wisdom through logical thought, discussion and action. Are we not seeking to ensure that students make wise use of what they learn?

Perhaps what the curriculum needs is a resurgance of philosophy rather than a redefinition of literacy. This is just a tentative notion of course - a proposition for further exploration. According to Dewey, once a tentative guiding idea is formed, it helps to focus the gathering of data and information to clarify the problem.

Learners then use reasoning to make the guiding idea more precise in light of the wider range of information. The next logical step is to compare information literacy learning with contemporary philosophy classroom practices.

What does philosophy look like in a Preparatory Year classroom?

I'm certainly looking forward to Dewey's final stage, where learners use their new understandings to adopt a point of view and take action to resolve their initial doubt. Whatever I gleen from this learning process, I'm sure it will impact on how I conduct library lessons in the future. 

References

Kuhlthau, C.C. , Maniotes, L.K. & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Chapter 2: The Theory and Research Basis for Guided Inquiry in Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K. & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Guided inquiry : learning in the 21^st century, Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, pp.13--‐28.

Ramek. A. (2006). 'List of Greek and Latin roots in English'. on Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English#L

What does inquiry-based learning look like in Prep?

In his article, Simplifying Inquiry Instruction, Bell (2005) writes specifically about using inquiry learning in science. Bell (2005) explains that different levels of inquiry are based on a) the amount of information provided by the teacher; b) the complexity of the task in terms of openness and cognitive demand. His descriptions of the levels are:  A  Level 1 or ‘confirmation’ inquiry-based learning activity uses a teacher-provided question and process to verify expected results. In a Level 2 or ‘structured’ inquiry the teacher presents a question and prescribes a procedure for investigating it. A Level 3 or ‘guided’ inquiry, students  determine the investigative method and solution for a teacher-presented question. While a Level 4 or open inquiry requires students to pose the question and plan and conduct data collection and analysis independently.

According to Bell (2005), inquiry is a learning process in which student collect and analyse data in order to answer questions. So an inquiry learning process requires skills such as identifying needs or problems, planning and conducting investigations, choosing appropriate tools and techniques for data collection; anyalsing relationships through critical and logical thinking; formulating explanations and communicating arguments (Bell, 2005). Bell (2005) stresses that for students to gain the confidence and competence in these skills that is necessary for conducting independent open inquiries, they generally require significant amounts of scaffolding. This means that the four broad levels of inquiry (confirmation, structured, guided and open) are all necessary to students’ development of effective inquiry practice.

From Bell’s description, it becomes apparent that inquiry-based learning will ‘look’ different during different stages of students development. While all inquiry-based learning should start with a problem to be solved or a question to be answered, the amount and type of teacher scaffolding will vary from context to context, task to task and student to student.

A work in progress

In a Preparatory year setting, teachers would need to think about how to scaffold the development of the following.

	Skill set	Literacy and numercy demands
Identify needs or problems	asking questions stating problems	Understanding the meanings of words like ‘know’, ‘learn’, ‘ask’, ‘question’, ‘statement’. Distinguishing between questions and statements
Plan and conduct investigations	Identifying sources of information	Understanding the meanings of words like ‘know’, ‘ask’, ‘learn’, ‘information’, ‘facts’ and terms used to describe different sources of information that are accessible to 5-6 year old pre-readers (e.g. photos, pictures, illustrations, books, posters, television, radio, computers, iphones)
Collect and select  appropriate data and information	tools techniques	Number names, conservation, one-to-correspondence, colour names, interpreting tables and graphs
Anyalse relationships through critical and logical thinking	Identifying similarities and differences Sorting and comparing data Identifying relationships amongst sets of data (empty, independent, intersecting sets and subsets) Identifying patterns data	language to describe colour, shape and size comparative language such as ‘same’, ‘similar’, ‘different’, ‘a lot’, ‘not many’, ‘all’, ‘none’, ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘most’, ‘least’.
Formulate and communicate findings, explanations and arguments	Inferring Conclude Explaining Predicting

My attempts to plot the literacy and numeracy demands of inquiry-based learning only highlight gaps in my understanding of how preparatory year students might identify problems and questions, plan and conduct investigations, collect data and information, analyse relationships amongst data and information, and formulate conclusions, explanations and arguments.

References

Bell, R; Smetana, L & Binns, I. (2005). Simplyfying inquiry instruction The Science Teacher, 72 (7), 30-‐33.

Questionnaire 1 (1 August 2011)

My goal for this semester is to learn more about what information literacy and inquiry-based learning looks like in Preparatory Year (for students 5-6 years old).

1. My thoughts and feelings about my topic.

To begin with, I have more questions than answers.

How do you begin to teach information literacy to students who are only beginning to read?

What is the difference between literacy and information literacy?

What does inquiry learning look like in Prep?

To what degree is open inquiry possible in Prep?

I’m quite confused about the difference between literacy and information literacy, and wonder why there needs to be a distinction. Term ‘information literacy’  is sometimes used as a label for a set of skills and processes for dealing with information, and sometimes it’s used to describe a state of being — a confidence with and capability for accessing, organising, analysing, evaluating and communicating information.

So, what does information literacy involve in Prep? Is it about developing understandings about the representation of thoughts, feelings and ideas as images, symbols and scripts?

This is my first year of involvement with Prep students. As a beginning teacher-librarian, I’ve played it safe with the Preps. So far, our 30 minutes a week in the library have included letter recognition and alphabetical order; book sense (a picture book has an author and illustrator, text is generally read left to right, top to bottom, picture clues can be used to decode text); looking after books (bring your library bag on library days); how books are stored in the library (location of picture books and non-fiction); selecting books; and library borrowing processes (recognise your name, find your borrower barcode, present books for borrowing with the library barcode showing, bring your books back to the library when you have read them).

I’ve always thought that information literacy is integral to resource-based and inquiry-based learning. I believed that both learning approaches provided opportunities for students to learn and practice information literacy skills within a broader content-specific learning context.

What is inquiry-based learning like in Prep?

In any stage of learning, I think that inquiry-based learning should start with a problem to be solved or a question to be answered. This approach should be compatible with negotiated learning and play-based learning approaches advocated in Queensland. Our Prep teachers negotiate learning with their classes, generally each class is exploring a different topic or set of topics each term.

I also think that, where possible, inquiry-learning should be experiential. Fore example, in Term 1, all of the Prep classes were learning about the local community. One of the facets of the community that they explored was the library. We organised for them to visit the local Brisbane City Council library and to compare it with our school library. Then the Prep students set up their own library in their classroom, where they played at being librarians and borrowers.

2. My interest level for this topic

Not at all ☐    not much ☐    quite a bit R    a great deal ☐

I am very motivated to learn more about the information literacy needs of preparatory students and about how inquiry learning might be implemented with a preparatory class.

3. My knowledge level about this topic

Nothing ☐     not much R    quite a bit ☐    a great deal ☐

I’ve chosen this area of schooling because I have the least amount of experience with this age group. By expanding my knowledge and expertise in this area, I will have a better understanding of how I, as a teacher-librarian can support the Prep teachers and enhance learning opportunities for the Prep students.

4. Things I find easy when researching

Thinking of keywords for searches

Google and Google Scholar searches

Talking to colleagues

Finding Queensland and national curriculum materials and policy documents online

5.  Things I find difficult when researching

Academic searches

Evaluating reliability of sources

Analysing and synthesising information quickly

Writing reflectively


-----------------------------

Reflection is a very important learning process. I used this questionnaire as a reflection tool at the beginning, middle and end of the information learning activity.

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