Collection Development for My Random Life.

elearnspace: I’m sure I’m doing it wrong

If you got a chance read the above blog post from elearnspace. As I myself have been preparing more classes both online and in-person, as well as taking a couple graduate education courses on instruction and philosophy, I too wonder if it is becoming overly complex. The idea of boiling it down to: “simple. meaningful. necessary.” really appeals to me.

One of the goals of the Philosophy of Education course I am currently taking is for the students to come to understand their own personal philosophy of education. Many of us operate within a philosophical framework, but really haven’t taken the time to search in-depth, inside oneself, to tease out what we truly value as educators.

One thing that occurs to me as a librarian is that perhaps teachers in general don’t “value” the library. Now, I understand that such a statement is a sweeping generalization. But, from my limited personal observation, I rarely see college undergraduate Education classes coming to the library for bibliographic instruction, or having requirements to use library resources or services in their research projects. I wonder if this lack of library use is trickling down from these future teachers to the students they eventually teach. This has greater implications for the college campus because this impacts the preparedness of all students on campus no matter what major.

Some possible “evidence” of the “de-valuing” of the library in Education:

• The state of Idaho (where I live) does not require an MLIS (or equivalent) for elementary or high school librarians/media specialists
• Library instruction sessions tend to be remedial where students do not know what an index is, do not know about their statewide access to databases, or the basics of how to find a book in a library.
• Fellow librarians relate that Education undergraduate classes tend not to use the library.

Perhaps, academic libraries are missing the opportunity to capture a greater mindshare of students by engaging the schools of Education on their college campuses more directly. Maybe instead of focusing on the disciplines that traditionally use the library, such as History and English, libraries should devote more resources to capturing the imagination of Education majors. If we teach the teachers, we might not have to teach their students later.