Discussion for June 2021: UNESCO's Nine Ideas for Education

I love your answer to number 1 @Stephanie especially this -

"They can become more rounded individuals through this and gain empathy for others in different positions. This all supports a goal of tackling inequality".

School Libraries/librarians are steeped in this. Supporting our students to gain knowledge for themselves whilst providing the resources and opportunity to do this is one of the school libraries core purpose.

I think the nine points raised are interesting and I would agree in principle with all of them. In terms of us specifically as library professionals, some points perhaps link most closely to our work than others at least in the sense of what we as individuals can do specifically in our day to day practice to contribute towards these goals.

Taking each point in turn:

1. Commit to strengthen education as a common good. Education is a bulwark against inequalities. In education as in health, we are safe when everybody is safe; we flourish when everybody flourishes.

- Arguably, this is one of our overarching major aims. The library should be a source of information and ideas from across the spectrum, ideally not just the topics covered in their curriculum but more widely still, allowing students both to expand their classroom-gained knowledge and to delve into other topics that spark their interest. It is a place where they gain insight into social issues through both non-fiction and empathic fiction. They can become more rounded individuals through this and gain empathy for others in different positions. This all supports a goal of tackling inequality.

2. Expand the definition of the right to education so that it addresses the importance of connectivity and access to knowledge and information. The Commission calls for a global public discussion—that includes, among others, learners of all ages—on ways the right to education needs to be expanded.

- This point is clearly targeted at the disparity in access to computers and internet highlighted by the pandemic, which proved problematic when learning moved online. But libraries are surely about access to knowledge and information, both in digital and physical form, and so this raises the question of how we as librarians try to tackle this issue too. What part do we play in helping individuals access this knowledge?

3. Value the teaching profession and teacher collaboration. There has been

remarkable innovation in the responses of educators to the COVID-19 crisis, with those systems most engaged with families and communities showing the most resilience. We must encourage conditions that give frontline educators autonomy and flexibility to act collaboratively.

- I would suggest here that this point should be expanded as to me it rather implies teachers collaborating solely with other teachers. I would argue it should also mention teachers collaborating with other professionals and support staff including librarians.

4. Promote student, youth and children’s participation and rights. Intergenerational justice and democratic principles should compel us to prioritize the participation of students and young people broadly in the co-construction of desirable change.

- This could be linked to providing space for students to inform themselves on social issues, environmental issues, and other concerns of students today, as well as how democratic political systems work etc in order to better enable them to participate in constructing the future.

5. Protect the social spaces provided by schools as we transform education. The school as a physical space is indispensable. Traditional classroom organization must give way to a variety of ways of ‘doing school’ but the school as a separate space-time of collective living, specific and different from other spaces of learning must be preserved.

- I would suggest that the library should be classified as one of these other spaces of learning. It isn't a traditional classroom. But it is nonetheless where knowledge and information can be gained.

6. Make free and open source technologies available to teachers and students. Open educational resources and open access digital tools must be supported. Education cannot thrive with ready-made content built outside of the pedagogical space and outside of human relationships between teachers and students. Nor can education be dependent on digital platforms controlled by private companies.

7. Ensure scientific literacy within the curriculum. This is the right time for deep reflection on curriculum, particularly as we struggle against the denial of scientific knowledge and actively fight misinformation.

- We have discussed fake news and similar topics before in these discussions and I think all of those ideas about how the library can participate in the fight against misinformation would be relevant towards this point.

8. Protect domestic and international financing of public education. The pandemic has the power to undermine several decades of advances. National governments, international organizations, and all education and development partners must recognize the need to strengthen public health and social services but simultaneously mobilize around the protection of public education and its financing.

- With hopefully the recognition of the importance of libraries to public education and their addition to the list for funding.

9. Advance global solidarity to end current levels of inequality. COVID-19 has shown us the extent to which our societies exploit power imbalances and our global system exploits inequalities. The Commission calls for renewed commitments to international cooperation and multilateralism, together with a revitalized global solidarity that has empathy and an appreciation of our common humanity at its core.

- See many of the comments for point 1 here too.

What a fascinating read! Rather than post a question this month I thought I would share my thoughts about the article and invite you to comment below.

The more I read the more I could see the value that school libraries have brought to students and teachers throughout the pandemic. However, it clearly highlights the inequality to those students who don't have online access at home. How can school libraries support this inequality? I loved this quote "growth of the internet has fostered a false belief that all information is now free" (Kirkland). Highlighting that when a school libraries physical collection is not accessible the cost of e-books and online academic resources are usually way out of reach for a school library budget. What are we doing to make our resources universally accessible to all our students?

I was also intrigued about the role the school librarian plays in providing a 'safe space' online as well as in the physical library and it made me wonder how this would work in practice, as it relies on a very special relationship and understanding partnership with teachers. Do our school librarians have a good enough relationship with their teachers to help them understand how they could support this?

I was delighted to read how inquiry learning was very much part of the plan for the post-COVID world and a school librarians role in supporting students which "require tools to engage with information through a process of selection, sense-making and sharing" (Gini-Newman). This clearly for me provides many opportunities for school librarians especially via FOSIL.

The last point I wanted to highlight from this piece was the leadership role of the school librarian. Ensuring students "develop transferrable skills, digital citizenship values and gain confidence in their library skills to comfortably transfer to university or public libraries without 'library anxiety' " (Mathur). If we want to close the gap between those who have and those that don't we need to ensure access for all. If our students are leaving school without knowing where they can access support and quality information are we failing them? "Libraries remove barriers" (Davies) but only if we provide students with the opportunities to access.

Please feel free to add your thoughts below. I would love to hear what you found interesting/useful from this article.