The reflective information literacy educator

Authors

  • Andrew Whitworth The University of Manchester

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/noril.v4i1.151

Keywords:

Information literacy, professional development, reflective practice, critical theory

Abstract

The shift in perception, from librarians as providers of information to librarians as educators in the effective use of information, requires the profession to become aware of differing approaches to the development of teaching and of the professional consciousness of educators: also of the way certain forms of teaching and CPD are privileged over others within higher education institutions, and why. This paper reports on and synthesises a range of theoretical works in this area, to explain how becoming an effective information literacy educator requires not just an awareness of practice, but developing it, through a continous interaction between theory and practice. The librarian-as-educator must engage in professional development practices which, ultimately, require the continuous questioning of the very foundations of IL, and work actively towards raising awareness of these processes throughout their institutions.

Author Biography

Andrew Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Andrew Whitworth is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Manchester, UK, and Programme Director for the MA: Digital Technologies, Communication and Education. He is the author of Information Obesity (Chandos, 2009) and has given keynote speeches on IL education at the Creating Knowledge VI conference in Bergen, 2010, at Oslo in 2011 and in Denmark in 2012.

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Published

2012-06-27

How to Cite

Whitworth, A. (2012). The reflective information literacy educator. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.15845/noril.v4i1.151

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Section

Articles