Reclaiming the Joy of Teaching in a Post-Pandemic, Post-Tenure World

In this essay, the author reflects on her journey from joy in teaching to ennui and back again. She shares three lessons that she learned from her journey that can be applied to your own teaching practice

Impact of a study abroad course on cultural sensitivity

This study investigates the cultural sensitivity of master's students enrolled in a short-term faculty-led study abroad. For the purposes of this study, cultural sensitivity is defined as the ability to distinguish how those from other cultures differ in their behavior, perceptions or feelings (Bronfenbrenner, Harding, & Gallwey, 1958). Participants (n = 7) include graduate students enrolled in library sciences and reading education master's programs. Pre- and post-course measures of cultural sensitivity, students' reflection on their own cultural heritage, and experiences interacting with another culture while abroad will be assessed. The central theory of this study is that as one’s experience of cultural difference becomes more complex and sophisticated, one’s potential competence in intercultural relations increases (Bennett, 1986, 1993). This competence is vital in school-based professionals given the multiculturalism present in today's schools. We will examine students' intercultural sensitivity using the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) which posits that individuals move through six orientations around cultural difference (Bennett, 1986). The first three (denial, defense reversal, and minimization) can be considered ethnocentric whereas the final three (acceptance, adaptation, integration) can be considered ethno-relativistic. As teachers interact with people from other cultures, they will be better prepared to interact with children, families, and colleagues from other cultures. Mixed methods will be used to analyze data. Participants’ personal cultural narrative and international journals will be analyzed using thematic coding, while t-tests and descriptive analysis will be performed on quantitative measures. Anticipated outcomes include greater intercultural sensitivity. Results will be disaggregated across educational experience. REFERENCES Bronfenbrenner, U., Harding, J., & Gallwey, M. (1958). The measurement of skill in social perception. In D. C. McClelland, A. L. Baldwin, U. Bronfenbrenner,& F. L. Strodtbeck (Eds.), Talent and society: New perspectives in the identification of talent (pp. 29–111). Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company. Bennett, M. J. (1986). A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(2), 179–196. Bennett, M. J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In R. M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience (pp. 21–71). Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press

Threads Of Practice: An A/R/Tographal Community Of Care (Poster)

Highlights include: Refereed Book Chapter (in press); Two peer-reviewed Articles (under review & in process); Three Conference Presentations in 2019; Two Upcoming Conference Presentations in 2020; Stillpoint; Guest In-Class Activities; Turchin Visual Journaling Workshops; Internal Grants; and Arts-Based Pedagogy in practice and content (e.g., Rhetoric and Composition, Media Studies, Library Science)

The Creativity Collaborative: A/R/Tography In Action (Poster)

The Creativity Collaborative is an interdisciplinary research cluster established in 2017. This poster will share The Creativity Collaborative's ongoing work where we disarticulate and relocate our teaching and research through a/r/tography. A/r/tography is a type of practice-based research involving the arts and education. Like Gouzouasis et al. (2013), we believe that "arts-based research adds to the diversity and complexity inherent in understandings about education and pedagogy" (p. 1). Our exploration of a/r/tography has been enacted through traditional scholarly inquiry approaches combined with arts-based research methods and pedagogy, specifically visual journaling. In our cluster, we seek to broaden repertoires of praxis to promote creative, inclusive, and equitable learning cultures in higher education that incorporate arts-based practices

Creativity and arts-based expression: Building resilience in the pandemic and beyond

This poster reports on our continuing work with arts-based pedagogy. Though our work in this area began long before the 2020-2021 pandemic, we discovered during the early stages of the pandemic that “providing students with opportunities for creativity and arts-based expression lead to a welcome and positive disruption of traditional teaching and learning; increased student engagement, meaning-making, and real-word connections; and collaborative risk-taking that decenters traditional pedagogical systems” (blinded for review). In such abnormal circumstances, this creative decentering was a welcome change for students who were often struggling to keep up in classes with more traditional pedagogical strategies. The continuation of the pandemic and the need for alternative modes of instructional delivery support the need to foster and maintain resilience in our pedagogy and in our students. Creativity and arts-based expression offer a way to do just that by focusing attention not only on the curriculum, but also on students’ affective processes. Students bring their whole selves to the classroom (whether virtual or in-person) and creative activities offer them the opportunity to engage fully with course content. Our poster will offer examples of how we have incorporated creativity and arts-based practices into our courses

Cultivating Creative Inquiry in Higher Education

Incorporating media in our disciplines “entails a form of ‘critical framing’ that enables learners to take a theoretical distance from what they have learned, to account for its social and cultural location, and to critique and extend it” (Buckingham, 2007, p. 45). However, traditional teaching modes that prioritize print-based literacy continue to dominate (Rhodes & Robnolt, 2009) despite being restrictive and limiting access for diverse learners to engage in meaning making. Visual journaling transforms pedagogy by supporting critical and diverse ways of learning and expressing knowledge. Students are invited to process knowledge and generate new understandings in reflexive ways that move beyond the uniform experiences of traditional classrooms. Visual journaling as a strategy for inviting creative inquiry and learning may also facilitate the development of democratic classrooms that extend pathways for inclusion and equity. This poster reports on the preliminary results of an exploration of visual journaling as a teaching and learning strategy to cultivate creative inquiry in higher education. The authors prompted students to use multiple media to engage with, reflect on, and synthesize course materials

ALISE school library special interest group (sig) session: Crafting resilience in k-12 and beyond

Researchers will share three papers exploring selected School Library topics. This interactive SIG session includes presentation of papers followed by open dialogue and Q&A regarding issues raised by the papers, implications for practice, and future areas for research. The 2021 session will include the following presentations: Preparing School Library Candidates to be Culturally Responsive School Librarians - The 2019 ALA/AASL CAEP School Librarian Preparation Standards emphasize preparing school librarian candidates that “articulate and model cultural competence and respect for inclusiveness, supporting individual and group perspectives” (ALA/AASL, 2019). This research study explores cultural understanding, experiences, and ways of knowing the world from internationally-based school library programs that LIS educators can implement to develop culturally competent learning experiences in the school librarian candidate preparation curriculum. Evidence-Based Practice and School Librarians: Analyses of Practitioners’ Data Collection - School librarian preparation programs are expected to prepare candidates to collect, assess, and apply data. This paper reports the findings of a multi-state study of school librarians’ evidence-collecting practices. Preliminary findings indicate that school librarians collect a wide array of evidence, but the likelihood of collecting specific types of data is influenced by multiple factors including the level of the school, and the librarian’s length of tenure, areas of certification, and placement in multiple schools. Librarians: Bridges to College Readiness - What relationship exists between the presence of a high school librarian and freshmen college students’ academic success? To answer this question, this study examined five years of a large comprehensive university’s first-year students’ data: demographics, first semester GPA, graduating high school demographics, and presence of the high school librarian. The findings are revealing

Transforming Learning: Challenges and Opportunities through School Libraries

Researchers will share papers exploring the SIG theme, Transforming Learning: Challenges and Opportunities through School Libraries. This interactive SIG session includes presentation of each research paper followed by open dialogue and Q&A regarding issues raised by the papers, implications for practice, and future areas for research. The following papers were selected for presentation: Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’ News Literacy (Lesley S. J. Farmer), Lead Like a Librarian (Pamela Harland), Challenges and Opportunities: Transforming Learning through Implementation of the 2018 National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries (Carl A. Harvey II, Jen R. Spisak, Karla B. Collins, and Audrey P. Church), and Discourses of Adolescence/ts and Collection Development (Jenna Spiering and Kate Lechtenberg)

How effective is study abroad as a pedagogical and experiential learning tool in LIS education?

As the conference theme implies, internationalization of LIS education is a critical part of preparing graduates for the fast-changing environments in which libraries and other cultural institutions operate. This session sponsored by the International Library Education SIG focuses on experiences and impact of study abroad programs on students and program coordinators. The fundamental question is how effective is study abroad as a pedagogical and experiential learning tool? Panelists will address that question through the lens of students and program coordinators that recently completed study abroad experiences. The panel brings together faculty coordinator of study abroad programs in selected LIS schools across the country. Where possible, faculty coordinators will bring students that completed a study abroad program to be part of the session. The panel represents diverse programs ranging from European to South American locations (Costa Rica; Italy, Ireland/United Kingdom; Germany, and South Korea). They also represent different LIS areas from archives to international LIS education. The goal of the session is to reflect on the programs, what has been learned and other lessons gleaned collectively and individually. The session will be chaired by the SIG chair who will do the introductions and provide background information to contextualize the goals of the program. Each panelist will be asked to share their experiences and what has been learned from the program and how it has enriched the learning environment in the LIS program