This project seeks to explore the underlying methods, and processes of creating and performing library instruction. My interest in this area emerges out of my research interests which lay at the intersection of critical pedagogies, library based instruction for academic literacy, and their use by and for non-traditional students. I explore more fully what each of these terms mean elsewhere in my portfolio so here I will simply offer an abridged explanation of each with links to additional resources at the end of my presentation for those interested in exploring more what these mean. 

Stephen Atkins, writing about the history of the academic library in the United States describes library instruction as making” available information for bibliographic use” which he goes on to contextualize, “ as the information age makes information more available,  the importance of academic librarian as teacher will grow” (1991, p.129). Atkins was writing this at the beginning of the digital era, with personal computers beginning to emerge in the home and in academic settings. Today they are nearly ubiquitous in their use and application in these settings and Atkins’ prediction seems prescient.

The prolific author on critical pedagogy Henry Grioux explores what it means to have a socially aware and responsive education (See On Critical Pedagogy, 2020). In this text, he explores what he terms the hidden curriculum, the set of social norms and beliefs that are conveyed by the structures and inequities of the modern and contemporary classroom (p. 245).  For me, I place this in the context of the history described by Atkins, those from education, class and race privilege are likely to have an understanding of the knowledge organization systems used by the hegemonic or dominant culture, it will seemingly come naturally to them. 

For those who enter into the field of academia from outside of those hegemonic positions, they will still be expected to have that knowledge, but may or may not actually have it. In this context, the project articulated by Giroux, to engage critically in understanding the history and sources of this dynamic can be undone in small part by allowing access to the knowledge organization systems.

Following in the path of Paulo Freire who taught actual literacy to working people in Brazil and described the process through critical praxis he called a pedagogy of the oppressed, in a book by the same name in 1972, I seek to use multiple methods to uncover, discover and make open the knowledge system through meeting learners where they are and building on the knowledge they arrive at an instruction session with. I have sought to make the resources of the library more widely available and accessible to those historically underrepresented through a series of workshops explaining how to use the myriad of resources available to do research that is meaningful to them. This project will highlight just one such presentation, and place it in the context of the value of this kind of instruction, including a podcast and data visualizations to make visible the processes being used in order to demystify the entire system of library instruction.