A Journal of the Canadian Association for School Libraries

 

Transition Literacy in high schools - a school model

Richard Beaudry
Librarian, Langley Secondary, B.C.

Richard Beaudry is president of CASL and is a teacher-librarian with the Langley School District. He has a teacher-librarianship diploma and has completed a Master's in Education in Information Technology/Literacy and the Master's in Library, Archives and Information Studies from UBC.

Issue Contents

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Lifelong Learning at LSS

In k-12 classrooms across Canada, the literacy needs of students are based on the curriculum guidelines in each province and on the stated goal of the Canadian government (2002) “to respond to the challenges of the knowledge-based economy.”

Public school teachers focus on teaching provincial content or curriculum outcomes to students. Teacher-librarians assist in this endeavor by collaborating with teachers and students in seeking appropriate resources and evaluating the quality of information they find. For students, this means acquiring the necessary literacy skills to use digital or print reference resources, access databases, the Internet, and all formats of multimedia.

Like all students in the Langley School District, students at LSS have grown up with technology available both at home and in the classroom. They are comfortable working on assignments using multiple sources of information and adding their own personal touches using, among others, graphics, sounds and videos. In doing so, they are using different educational tools than those available to their parents and teachers when it comes to schoolwork.

Technology in schools has changed the perception of students and their understanding of literacy. The written word is still the predominant literacy but the concept of new literacies is becoming what Beane (2003) refers to as “an integral part of today's society.”

Four keys educational concepts are in place at LSS for successful integration of lifelong literacy skills:

Literacy Frameworks

Federal and provincial governments, having invested substantial resources in technology in public schools, see teaching information literacy skills as a foundation for lifelong learning.

Mckenzie (1999) recognized this fact and recommended that school districts move beyond the technology in place to literacy. “Showing students how to ask questions and interpret the information that they find is the key to success and a necessary step in preparing for the future.” McKenzie saw little evidence that having computers in schools was helpful to students.

Using the computers to teach literacy skills is proving useful and necessary for students in learning so the emphasis should be on teaching strategies and developing a curriculum that uses new literacies.

“If we teach students the right information and literacy skills, they should have the power to actually improve the depth and quality and originality of their thinking because of the richness of the resources they will be able to mine.” (McKenzie 1999)

Teacher-Librarians and Information Literacy

Canadian Information Literacy standards for teacher-librarians, written in 2003, establish a strong role for school libraries in helping students learn these research skills. Recent studies (Haycock, 2003; Lance, 2001; Lonsdale, 2003) show that through effective collaboration with classroom teachers, teacher librarians play a key role in student literacy achievement in both traditional and new literacies. The role of the teacher-librarian has grown beyond the traditional role of a manager and organizer of books to a direct participant in teaching information skills.

Why Transition Literacy?

Transition is the process a person goes through when their lives take them into new directions. It could be going from elementary school to high school, high school to post-secondary institutions, leaving school for the workforce and leaving the workforce to retire. Each of these phases in our lives requires new knowledge and new literacies to adapt to changing circumstances. Transitions are not always an easy step and it can take time before a person can adapt to his/her new surroundings.

Like the career prep teachers, councilors and teacher librarians in high school, academic librarians work to assist students in understanding the requirements needed to successfully navigate academia. They educate incoming students in understanding and using the services offered in a college or university library. My aim in implementing this transition process at LSS is educating the students about academic or research libraries before they leave high school so they can feel comfortable using the services when they arrive on campus.

Transition literacy in high school adds another literacy skill for students (Information Literacy, Critical Literacy, Technological Literacy, Creative Presentation Literacy, and Ethics of Information Use) to become lifelong learners. The Transition Literacy Program at LSS seeks to provide information and resources to its graduating classes about post-secondary research practices and by clarifying the challenges and knowledge base required of high school seniors to be successful graduates in college or university.

By combining the experience of the teacher-librarian in high school and academic librarians at a community college or a university, the aim of the Transition Literacy Program is to improve the learning experience of new post-secondary students and the understanding of library services offered in these institutions.

Graduating at LSS in 2009 means students need to have the skills to use existing technology and have knowledge of the multiple literacies skills needed to continue their studies or enter the workforce. The teachers and the teacher librarian at LSS are committed to helping graduate students acquire the skills that can help them adapt to new technologies and multi-task using an array of tools at their disposal at LSS and as life-long learners.

What are Multiple Literacies?

Multiple Litreracies require students to have the ability to read, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and produce communication in a variety of textual environments and multiple digital tools.

What Literacy Skills are taught at LSS?

At LSS, we emphasize multiple literacy skills from grades 9 to 12. These literacies were based on a model from a course I took at the University of PEI with Dr. Ray Doiron and Dr. Marlene Asselin in 2003. They are:

Creative Presentation Skills: Students at LSS must learn to go beyond the traditional project report to creative ways of preparing and sharing newly developed knowledge by using a combination of slide shows, multimedia tools, website design, CD and DVD productions.

Critical Literacy: Focuses on how and in whose interests the information found is used. The LSS students need to know how to determine the authenticity and reliability of sources found in print and in digital format.

Ethics of Information Use: Students at LSS must understand the values associated with the fair and honest use of information they find in print and in digital format. They need to represent the work of authors accurately and appropriately. They need to have a respect for the confidentiality and intellectual property of authors and understand the illegal uses of knowledge and information.

Information Literacy: Understanding how to find resources and sources that can help the student at LSS organize and structure information, synthesize new knowledge with note taking and finally using and presenting the new knowledge.

Technological Competencies: Students at LSS must learn a complex set of effective and efficient search skills for print and online resources. They must acquire word processing skills fully integrated into the writing process. They must have communication skills using email, text messaging and on-line networks. They must also learn integrating traditional and new media formats into their writing and publishing activities.

And at LSS we also introduce another Literacy skill: Transition Literacy

The Transition Literacy Program: Transition Literacy seeks to provide information about post-secondary research practices and by clarifying the challenges that LSS students will need to be successful graduates in college or university. By combining the experience of the teacher-librarian at LSS and academic librarians in post-secondary institutions, the aim of Tansition Literacy is to improve the quality of education and library services for students at LSS when they start the next step in their educations.

Transition literacy is not a new concept but it is gaining momentum as a concept in schools and universities as students need to be ready to enter the next step in their academic life in an information rich environment. A group of academic librarians and a teacher librarian in Ontario (Bryant, Farnum, Newman, Williams and Yanofsky) presented their work on transitions at the OLA Superconference in Ontario in 2008.

Selected Steps

To successfully integrate Transition Literacy at LSS, graduating students needed to understand some of the basic components of post-secondary education.

1. DDC to LCC

The first step in teaching Transition Literacy at LSS is one that is often overlooked by graduating students and that is the cataloguing classification used in post secondary libraries. Students in BC elementary, middle and high schools use the Dewey decimal classification that is quite different from the Library of Congress Classification used in colleges and universities. LCC is used in bigger libraries because it has more classes, subclasses and subdivisions. Unlike DDC, LCC is not based on a decimal system based on numbers. It has 21 major classes, and is based an alpha-numeric representation for classes.

A - General Works
B - Philosophy, Psychology, Religion
C - Auxiliary Sciences of history
D - History (general) and History of Europe
E - History: America
F - History: America
G - Geography, Anthropology, Recreation
H - Social Sciences
J - Political Science
K - Law
L - Education
M - Music and Books on Music
N - Fine Arts
P - Language and Literature
Q - Science
R - Medicine
S - Agriculture
T - Technology
U - Military Science
V - Naval Science
Z - Bibliography, Library Science, Information Resources (general)

As you can see, the first subdivisions for the 21 major classes are also indicated with capital letter. (e.g. Fine Arts)

N Fine Arts (this is the main class)
NA Visual Arts (General)
NB Sculpture
NC Drawing; Design; Illustration
ND Painting
NE Print Media
NK Decorative Arts; Applied Arts
NX Arts in general

Principal subdivisions are in turn subdivided by adding numbers to the letters. This dramatically expands subject specificity.

For example:

NB Sculpture (this is a principle subdivision)

1-50 General
60-1115 History
1160-1195 Design and techniques
1208-1270 Special materials, etc..

If a student searches for a book on Hawaii in the library at LSS, he or she could find it classified as 996.9. If the same student searches for the same book in a library at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley, it could be classified as DU 620. Knowing that the classification systems are different before they graduate would be useful in searching for resources next fall.

2. Search Tools in post-secondary libraries

Most post-secondary institutions in BC offer many research and reference tools not always available in K-12 schools. Taking a look at the new Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) website in Langley we find these resources:

a) Library Catalogue: A web-based union catalogue available to students online from any computer on campus and off campus. http://webcat.kwantlen.ca:8080/uhtbin/cgisirsi/0/SURREY/0/60/502/X

b) Course Reserves: Students can search for books reserved for specific classes. http://webcat.kwantlen.ca:8080/uhtbin/cgisirsi/0/SURREY/0/36/485/X/BLASTOFF

c) Article Indexes: KPU Libraries offer more than 70 databases for students to work on their research. Students in high school rely on digital references for doing their research. Each website they find requires that they evaluate the content to see if it is suitable for use. The databases accessible to students at KPU have been organized by reputable organizations and offer a wealth of information to students that have already been evaluated.
http://www.kwantlen.ca/library/articles/articlesfront.html

d) Journal Titles: KPU libraries offer access to hundreds of professional journals to assist students in their research divided into the following categories:

1. Anthropology
2. Biology
3. Business
4. Chemistry
5. Communication
6. Computer Science
7. Criminology
8. Education
9. English
10. Fashion Design
11. Fine Arts
12. French
13. Geography
14. Graphic Design
15. Health
16. History
17. Humanities
18. Interior Design
19. Kinesiology
20. Linguistics
21. Mathematics
22. Medicine
23. Music
24. Philosophy
25. Physics
26. Politics
27. Psychology
28. Religion
29. Resource & Environment
30. Sociology
31. Statistics
32. Women Studies

http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CJDB/BSKC/browse

e) Subject Guides: KPU libraries offers subject guides in 45 categories. Resources are available online as well as selected web sites in a variety of disciplines.
http://www.kwantlen.ca/library/internet/internetmain.html

f) KPU Library Tutorials: KPU libraries offer tutorials in:

g) Guides and Help sheets

3. New tools for learning: Web 2.0

Professors and instructors at colleges and universities are using new web-based tools that complement their teaching and coursework such as blogs, wikis, and other social software (FaceBook, ning's) and support the creation of online learning communities.

Blogging

The journal format associated with online Blogs encourages students to record their thinking online and facilitates critical feedback by letting professors, instructors, students, peers and a wider audience if needed, to add comments and interact in discussions.

Wikis

Wikis let students and professors connect, discuss, share and create online as a community. They can set the agenda for the course though a digital platform where everyone can participate in the process.

Social Networking

Social networking lets students and professors create academic and personal profiles that are used to share information and keep in contact.

Other Web 2.0 Tools

Rather than saving their projects and working with one computer at home or a laptop, students, professors and instructors will be able to save resources, bookmarks, presentations and documents online and retrieve them from any computer at college or university. I have posted examples of Web 2.0 applications that demonstrate where technology is heading in education and can prove useful for students at LSS moving on to post secondary institutions.

4. Learning to search – Writing in a Digital Age

Colleges and universities have different expectations and requirements of the assignments, papers and essays that students hand in.

Firstly, on average, the length is longer than most high school assignments and professors and instructors expect that students’ not only use digital resources but also books, professional journals, databases, and any other print, digital, audio or video resources that can used in their presentations or work handed in.

To help develop their search skills at LSS, I subscribed to Credo Reference, a database service that offers access to over 380 interconnected reference tools. They have varying degrees of content to choose from and at LSS we chose 100 reference titles for the students to use in their research.

Secondly, students at LSS need to understand the central role of writing in critical thinking on post-secondary campuses. They also need to understand the emphasis on collective and collaborative writing through blogs, wikis and other social software tools.

Thirdly, students at LSS need to be aware that positive results for their work post-secondary institutions depends on their ability to include original writings and ideas based on new knowledge that they learn, not simply a presentation of someone else’s writings.

Many university and college professors and instructors post their requirements and grading criteria online and students can also find writing and style guides availabe for their perusal.

For the Transition Literacy program at LSS, I used several examples of course requirements, grading criteria and writing styles that are posted online at universities and colleges across Canada. It proved to be an eye opener to many students, especially the fact that they are required to look for various sources of information and resources formats for their projects and assignments.

Timeline

Fall of 2007

To get the Transition Literacy Program started at LSS, I met with the PAC parents at the school in September and outlined what we were hoping to do. With their approval, I then met with the teachers concerned to work out a time frame and collaboration schedule so that we could all work at a successfull implementation of the program.

In November of 2007, I presented a document to the school administration explaining what we were doing and who was working in collaboration in the Transition Literacy Program in the school.

I contacted a local academic librarian to request information on the services offered at their university.

Spring 2008

After several meetings with the grade 12 English teachers, we worked out a schedule of three classes when the senior students would be coming to the library to work specifically on Transition Literacy Skills. The classes were scheduled for March and April 2008. The classes were well attended.

One other high school in Langley expressed interest in implementing a Transition Literacy program so we shared resources.

Fall of 2008 and Spring 2009

- Meeting with graduate classes in session 1 – First meeting is October 20th.
- Second presentation will be at the end of February 2009 – Literacy issues + Web 2.0
- Third presentation will be in May 2009 – Writing research papers

Creating a Webspace

To reinforce the lessons learned and offer resources and sources of information, I upgraded the LSS library website to assist students with their projects and assignments.

Introducing Databases

We introduced Credo Reference in the Spring of 2009 as part of the ongoing Transition Literacy Program.

Collaboration

One of the important aspects of any successful program is collaboration and at LSS all the stakeholders in this program were enthusiastic participants in its implementation. I have shared my experience and resources with the other teacher librarians in the district and look forward to the program being expanded to other schools.

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Bibliography

Asselin, Marlene, Doiron, Ray (2003). Information Literacy and the School Library. Faculty of Education, UPEI.

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D. (Eds) (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Library Association.

Beane, Eve. (2003) Rethinking literacy: communication, representation and text. Reading Literacy and Language, Reading, 37,3, 98-103.

Bryant, Mar,. Farnum, Cecile, Newman, Jeff, Williams, Randy, Yanofsky, Deena (2008). Transitions: From High School to Academic Libraries. Powerpoint Presentation at the OLA Superconference in Toronto, Ontario. January 2008.

Government of Canada (2002). Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians. Human Resources and Social Development Canada - Innovation in Canada

Haycock, Dr. Ken (2003). The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries: The Case for Reform and Reinvestment. http://www.peopleforeducation.com/library/coalition

Lance, K.C. (2001). Proof of the power: Recent research on the impact of school library media programs on the academic achievement of U.S. public school students.
Retrieved 15/07/2004
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed456861.html

Lonsdale, M. (2003). Impact of school libraries: A review of the research.
Retrieved 15/07/2004
http://www.asla.org.au/research/index.htm

McKenzie, Jamie (1999). The Research Cycle. FNO: The Educational Technology Journal. 9:4; 99.
Retrieved 16/07/2004
http://questioning.org/rcycle.html

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