Information Literacy and the Multicultural Classroom

Ortiz, Amy

IL

Blas, E. E. (2014). Information literacy in the 21^st century multicultural classroom: Using sociocultural literacy. Education Libraries, 37(1-2), 33-41.

Diversity is on the rise amongst postsecondary students. A higher education degree is becoming the standard nowadays for gainful employment. So, as the American demographic landscape changes and the necessity for higher education escalates, instructors seek to accommodate a wide-array of ethnicities, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. Experiences shape the way we learn, so students with a varied and vast array of experiences will undoubtedly respond to curriculum in vast and varied ways. Information literacy is a significant part of this conversation. Theoretically, if a person knows how to locate, access, analyze and use information, then he or she knows how to learn! This article deals with the challenges of teaching 21^st century information literacy skills to a diverse student population. The author writes, “Good teaching should take account of both the social and cultural background contexts of the student cohort and the teaching staff, and the resulting dynamics contained in classroom interactions.” Teaching information literacy in a sociocultural literate environment requires special attention to particular nuances. Librarians may symbolize gatekeepers in many cultures. This means that only the librarian has access to the information and will only share it with certain people assuming they meet the criteria for lending. It is important to break down this stereotype and frame information literacy in a way that relates to the student’s experience. The author cites an example from China, “many libraries in China continue to have closed library stacks, so students’ experience with library collections is quite different from those of individuals studying in North America.” Additionally, students from rural or low socioeconomic home cultures may not be familiar with how libraries work or the function of libraries in education. This article was great at framing the idea of 21^st century information literacy skills within the context of diverse populations.