Immersion Program Information
The ACRL Information Literacy Immersion Program is an intensive 4 ½ day program designed for those who contribute to the educational role of libraries in higher education. Through a critical examination of information literacy, teaching and learning, and influence and leadership, the Immersion program curriculum aims to develop critically reflective practitioners who go on to enact change in their practice, projects, or personal and professional goals.
Without providing set templates or imposed solutions, Immersion calls upon participants to actively engage in critical reflective practice and apply new learning to the development of solutions and strategies that best meet their individual and institutional needs. Participants will engage with common readings, provocative questions, theoretical foundations, and practical tools. We use the term critical in two ways. First, the program will guide participants to interrogate the underlying and often hidden assumptions about teaching, learning, and information literacy that guide our thoughts and actions. Second, truly critical reflection requires a thorough examination of how systemic forms of inequality and oppression shape our institutions, our profession, our classrooms, and our relationships with each other. The program builds upon critical theory and praxis in education, libraries, and society in order to challenge inequities and promote social justice.
As a participant, you will apply your learning and reflection throughout the week to a specific change in practice that you identify prior to Immersion. Much of this work will take place in a cohort of fellow participants, where you will meet daily to apply and process your learning, as well as provide and receive feedback on your specific Immersion project. The culminating product of Immersion includes a description of your proposed change to practice and a reflective piece on how the collective work of the week influenced your thinking about that change.
The Immersion program is designed for participants with any level of experience in libraries. We invite anyone who would like to reflect upon, extend, and deepen their practice as an educator in libraries, regardless of particular job function or title, to co-create an engaged community of learners in partnership with the program facilitators.
