Second day of ideas and thoughts...

I had great discussions today with Kuhlthau by breakfast table and at dinner involving the topics of this two day summer school. A lot of the presentations in this summer school involved the concept of identity. A presentation by Riina Seppälä yesterday took up the concept of agency. These both concepts of identity develpoment and agency in relation to information science are new to me. Idea of agency comes from communication studies. This needs to be looked more into.

But about identity development in education and relating it to information behaviour. Very interesting issue! Identity of a student, being sure about her/himself, trust in self, trust in 'I can do this!', and sure about ones learning skills. I have really not before considered this to be an issue of identity but it is that in very high degree: the identity of a learner and professonal identities of teachers and librarians. What is it what I do, why I do it, what are my strengths, any need for further professional development? After discussions with colleagues here identity thinking seems ever more important.

Then, what about identity building and teaching? Kuhlthau says that book based learning is not giving students the possibility to form their on identity but trying to make all learners learn the same way. I remember personally when I came from Sweden back to Finland and to a Finnish school library. The school in Stockholm was an English speeking private school but still using the Swedish curriculum. That ment that many subjects didn't have propper books to use. That meant doing lot of the materials themselves. Students were very often engaged in research in the library, even researching the topic of the next lesson. After starting in Finland it was a chock in the school library that when the students were doing homework during breaks all they needed was the book and the notebook. What was I there for?? A personal identity crisis was at hand to say the least...

The earlier research shows that teachers as well as librarians are often guiding students to 'right' direction in order to save lesson time and to avoid the students to become agitated for not finding 'right' information and answers (confusion, which is a normal phase of seeking information). In rigorously book based education the students don't get the experience of finding themselves, their own identity as information seekers and learners is not developing. And it is not preparing them enough to working life or further education and into becoming lifelong learners.

A thing that is closely related to my own study is the relationship between teachers and librarians. Kuhlthau reminded me of her study were she found these actors to be either eneblers or inhibitors. Barbara Stripling in her thesis found out that teachers and librarians have different paradigms. And as we have today been discussing, these two professions have different professional identities. But it would be interesting to see the identities of school librarians and teacher librarians, who are both working across the disciplines.

Tomorrow registration to IFLA satellite pre-conference and a reception at city hall. And some more thoughts later on this week!

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