Open Space technology meets information literacy

As part of its strategy of working with supportive organisations outside the library and information world the Scottish Information Literacy Project has been working with the careers arm of Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to raise awareness of information literacy as a career management strategy.

Following meetings with SDS Staff last year we agreed to hold an ‘open space event’ under the auspices of SDS to which representatives of skills organisations, employers, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, organisations concerned with education and training and SDS  staff would be invited to attend.

Open Space technology (See URLs http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-Openspace.html; http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?AboutOpenSpace) dates to the 1980s. ‘It is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. Over the last 20 years or so, it has also become clear that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations, where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity. In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance’.

The Open Space event was held on 27^th March and was organised and facilitated by Skills Development Scotland staff. About 35 people attended including representatives from secondary and FE/HE education, adult learning, local government, the STUC, Learning and Teaching Scotland, BBC Scotland, a number of commercial agencies and Skills Development Scotland staff. There were also a number of librarians (our partners), a representative from CILIP Scotland and Skills Development Scotland staff.

Following the Open Space principle attendees were the invited to nominate topics for discussion. Nine did so and therefore became convenors of a discussion. Each discussion had three tasks:

1.      What do the group understand the issue to mean?

2.      Describe possible solutions

3.      Three actions

The discussions were:

·         Developing skills – whose role?

·         How critical to all professions?

·         How do you assess if someone is information literate?

·         How to prevent ‘instant gratification’ approach?

·         Mediation 

·         Transferability of skills

·         What are the positive stories we can tell associated with information literacy?

·         What information do we need to self career plan?

·         Why is something as important as information literacy skills so invisible?

·          

A number of themes emerged from the nine groups:

·         The need for a common vocabulary

·         The National Information Literacy Framework Scotland is a pivotal point where all sectors can meet

·         Information literacy should be appearing in Government skills documents

·         Trainee teachers should be trained in information literacy

·         There should be early years intervention

·         The focus of responsibility should shift to the individual learner

·         Information literacy should be embedded in all curricula in all educational sectors

·         Information literacy is a major CPD issue

The spontaneous emergence of these common themes was very heartening for Christine and me as these were themes which we had previously independently identified.

All the action points of all the groups were then pinned to a wall and attendees were invited to vote on them. Votes were cast as follows:

• Consistency and info. Literacy skills to be embedded in all curriculum subjects. (10)


• An element in teacher training (young people) inputs (8)　


• Shift focus to individual learners and their successes in developing their own information lit. skills and publicise their rewards in doing so. (7)


• Promote concept within field (6)　


• Identifying, sharing and developing Good Practice – across learning sectors (5)


• Use language of ‘exploring’/’searching’ not ‘finding’. (5)


• Promoting information literacy – employers need to recognise value and development need around information literacy (4)


• Raising awareness of issues (3)


• Recognise information literacy as a core cross cutting skill –CPD for our own [SDS?] staff (3)


• Raise awareness of how widely ILS Skills needed e.g. Motor Vehicle Technician (3)


• Raised awareness (3)


• Early intervention to develop self-mediation skills i.e. critical and analytical skills. (3)


• More work experience and employer engagement – earlier to help young people profile themselves. (3)


• Employers – have awareness sessions with employers re information literacy (2)


• Highlighting ILS aspects e.g. Through Glow (2)


• Role model the joy of the search to encourage confidence in searching. (2


• Inter-agency cohesion (1)


• Explore BBC LAB/Activate collaboration. (1)


• Offering a range of CPD opportunities for all staff, particularly teachers.(1)


• Learning review to be more prominent – perhaps more customised learning plans. (1)

From the common themes and prioritised actions a number of common issues emerge, some of which can perhaps be taken forward.

Thanks to funding from Learning and Teaching Scotland the Project will be doing work on early years – primary 1-3 in producing appropriate learning materials for pupils and CPD materials for teachers. We have been trying to pursue the issue of information literacy training for trainee teachers but, so far, have been unable to find a department of education willing to support it. Issues round raising employer awareness and workplace and employability training have been on our minds since the conclusion of the workplace study last year and this recurs in the priorities. We are working with Inverclyde Libraries to incorporate information literacy skills training into the employability training programmes they run and there is further developmental potential here We would like to develop pilot information literacy training programmes with employers and we have partners and collaborators who could support the work. We have not so far been able to find a funding source and this is a cause of serious concern but it might be an issue we could unite around.

I would like to progress the agenda we have begun and would be happy to host a meeting at GCU for any who want to take the agenda forward and have concrete proposals to make.

May I suggest late May – early June so we pursue any concrete proposals over the summer.

Possible dates are: Wednesday- Thursday 27-28 May; Monday 1^st June, Tuesday 2^nd June pm only; Wednesday 3^rd June; Monday 8^th June am only; Thursday 11^th June, Friday 12^th after 11.00am; Monday 15^th June; Thursday- Friday 18^th -19^th June.

Many thanks to Doug Govan, Vivienne Brown, Andrew Paine and Sarah Hall and colleagues at SDS for making it such a successful event.

 

Voting on the Group actions

 

 

 

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[Scottish Information Literacy]

[...] Space meeting of 27th March 2009 organised and facilitated by Skills Development Scotland staff (http://caledonianblogs.net/information-literacy/2009/05/01/open-space-technology-meets-information-l...) bringing together key stakeholders from education sectors and employability, skills and [...]