Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Instruction for Educators

Teacher Preparation and Education

As they prepare for service as educators, teacher education students:

• search for information in a wide range of resources so they are informed about the community in which they will practice, the standards in their field, and professional licenses and certifications;
• create and find information on curriculum and lessons, and about children’s and young adult literature;
• navigate varied search environments by reflecting on their specific needs and context before searching and using multiple sources and techniques to find information;
• think critically about the information they have discovered and revising search strategies as needed; and
• exhibit the long-term resiliency and persistence needed to pursue alternate avenues of information as access to resources change.

Teacher Pedagogy Practice

In their instructional practice, educators:

• provide opportunities for students to develop and refine strategic searches;
• educate students on information evaluation and guide students in ways to identify organizational structures and limitations of information systems; and
• encourage students to use a recursive search strategy and be persistent in their pursuit of information from a diverse and varied set of resources.

Social Justice

There are many ways for teachers to incorporate social justice ideals into their classrooms, including:

• considering missing narratives and value systems used to disseminate information;
• using diverse resources to identify children's and young adult literature for their students; and
• researching their communities and applying this knowledge to their teaching.

Incorporating these ideals means that teachers understand:

• organizational schemas and controlled vocabulary may reflect cultural bias;
• the importance of testing search strategies to develop efficient ways of finding information;
• when searching for curriculum support resources such as assessments, activities, or children's and young adult literature that the relevancy of these resources may vary depending upon the needs and context in which they teach; and 
• they need to keep an open and critical mind about expertise and authority.

Digital/Media Literacy

As teachers develop their digital and media literacy skills, they:

• search for multiple perspectives and use multiple sources and techniques in online search engines and the web to find information;
• consider the online sources that they have discovered and think critically about them, investigating for bias; and
• seek guidance from experts as they introduce new technologies into the classroom.

Metacognition/Reflection

As teachers assess their information literacy processes, they:

• reflect on their specific needs before beginning searches;
• engage in iterative search strategies to locate curriculum materials, professional literature, and children's and young adult literature;
• examine their search results to look for methods for improving search strategy;
• reflect on their searches in order to become better researchers and to instruct their students on effective search strategies; and
• exhibit mental flexibility and creativity to support their own curriculum development and student learning.

About the Objective: Searching as Strategic Exploration includes matching different "information needs and search strategies to appropriate tools." Searching for children's books might involve search strategies such as searching by keywords or subject headings, using filtering, organizing searching by date, and also browsing books using the library's classification scheme. Tools might include eBook databases, the library discovery tool, and a resource such as the library stacks. Selecting and evaluating the books might involve tools such as article databases and online review sites, and also use of strategies such as Boolean searching, limiting by date, and refining searches based on results, another Searching as Strategic Exploration knowledge practice. Dispositions such as exhibiting "mental flexibility and creativity" and "recognizing the value of browsing" are likely to need to be used in this activity.

Related InTASC and ISTE Standards: InTASC 2k; ISTE 2.2.c, 2.3.b

Suggested Activity:

• Step 1: Ask teacher education students to locate a book they might use to teach elementary students about diversity.
• Step 2: Give teacher education students time to search independently and then ask them to report on what resources they used.
• Step 3: Show teacher education students how to access book reviews through library resources and discuss how reviews on sites like Goodreads or Amazon may be different than those in Booklist or School Library Journal.
• Step 4: Ask students to reflect on the searching process and consider what they might do differently the next time they look for a book to use in the classroom.

About the Objective: This activity takes teacher education students to professional resources, those kinds of resources that they will be able to access throughout their profession. They will need to "understand how information systems are organized in order to access relevant information" as they will be using search engines, search tools, and navigation on professional websites, and open access search tools. They will also need to be able to "identify interested parties, such as scholars, organizations, governments, and industries, who might produce information about a topic and then determine how to access that information." Dispositions employed might include "realize that information sources vary greatly in content and format and have varying relevance and value, depending on the needs and nature of the search."

Related InTASC and ISTE Standards: InTASC 5k, 9d; ISTE: 2.3.b

Suggested Activity:

• Step 1: Ask teacher education students to identify a new education technology.
• Step 2: Using government resources, online reviews, professional associations, and education databases find 1) reviews; 2) an expert on the technology; 3) standards related to use of the technology; and 4) evidence-based practice articles.
• Step 3: Ask them to review their search process, considering: Which searches were most efficient and effective? Which resources yielded the best results for the type of information they were seeking?

About the Objective: This objective is one of the knowledge practices in the Searching as Strategic Exploration Frame and teacher education students will practice it by trying out and noting search result totals using different search vocabulary in a single database. This will also help students understand the difference between controlled vocabulary, keywords, and natural language and how they function by student analysis of the search results. While students do this, they may also come to understand the disposition, "understand that first attempts at searching do not always produce adequate results."

Related InTASC and ISTE Standards: InTASC: 5k; ISTE: 2.3.b

Suggested Activity:

• Step 1: After a demonstration of controlled vocabulary and the various types of searches, ask teacher education students to use the varied search types to find results on their topic of interest (such as family engagement and multilingual students, restorative justice, or specific technology in the classroom) in Education Resources Information Center (ERIC).
• Step 2: Have them note the number of results and the quality of results. Ask them what modifications they made to get better results.
• Step 3: Ask them to get the best set of results where almost all of the results are on topic. What type(s) of searching language did they use? Was a combination more effective?
• Variation: Use the same search variations in a search engine such as Google Scholar and compare the results to ERIC.

Relevant InTASC Standards

Relevant ISTE Standards for Educators

From Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0:

2f. Learning Differences--Performances: The teacher accesses resources, supports, and specialized assistance and services to meet particular learning differences or needs.

2k. Learning Differences--Essential Knowledge: The teacher knows how to access information about the values of diverse cultures and communities and how to incorporate learners' experiences, cultures, and community resources into instruction.

5k. Application of Content--Essential Knowledge: The teacher understands the demands of accessing and managing information as well as how to evaluate issues of ethics and quality related to information and its use.

5p. Application of Content--Essential Knowledge: The teacher knows where and how to access resources to build global awareness and understanding, and how to integrate them into the curriculum.

9d. Professional Learning and Ethical Practice--Performances: The teacher actively seeks professional, community, and technological resources, within and outside the school, as supports for analysis, reflection, and problem-solving.

From International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Educators:

2.2.c. Leader: Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.

2.3.b. Citizen: Establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency.

Mapping the ACRL Framework to the AAC&U VALUE Rubric