You know this is a doctored photo and that there is no new release by a band called “AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, “right? (I made it by uploading the cover for the new AASL Standards onto the swell new Photofunia image generator.)
What I like about this photo is that it juxtaposes two things that most folks don’t put together: mainstream culture and library learning.
I became a school librarian in the last years of Information Power 2, and I never found deep resonance with the term “information literate student.” What exactly did it mean to “use information,” anyway? Was “using” very creative or thoughtful? (”Don’t use drugs,” “Can I use the bathroom?” “She really uses people” … not my favorite verb.)
And if I were a school administrator, didn’t I have other subject area teachers who taught kids how to “use”? We weren’t speaking the mainsream “language” of our school environments; instead, we were asking people to use our language instead. The phrase “information literacy” was deep and meaningful for AASL members — but did the words accurately capture that depth?
The new Standards are different. They are rich with language that helps us speak to others oustide of LibraryLand about what it is we envision for our students.
When I look at the new standards and see nouns like inquiry, prior knowledge, self-direction, persistence, inferences, and creativity, as well as verbs like evaluate, monitor, and connect, I see an explicitness of vision and language that we did not have in the previous standards. These are words that are used throughout mainstream educational literature. These are words that conjure up vivid mental images for our classroom colleagues and administrators.
We are not the only educational group that is releasing standards or are talking about a vision of 21st century learning. ISTE, the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, and ASCD are others. NSTA has spoken up for inquiry and process within science instruction. A powerful chorus is raising voices with very similar melodies. And our Standards hold their own and resonate with the other voices.
These are tough times for many of us in education. My state of Michigan is in particular financial peril. I don’t want to be in a lifeboat by myself, trying to paddle with a pink slip because I’m not perceived as more than a clerk. I want to be with the rest of my colleagues, paddling like mad to move forward. And these Standards give us vocabulary and vision that show that we are literally in the same proverbial boat as they are.
I don’t know about you, but I’m pitching “information literacy” and sticking with words like inquiry, processing, and cognition. Let’s use powerful words to describe the powerful things we do.
