The B.C. Coalition for School Libraries

When I learned this week that 68% of young Canadians feel they need more instruction on authenticating online information I felt buoyed up, and anxious. Isn’t it terrific that so many young people understand their limitations in the face of the deluge of information on the Internet, but who, I ask myself, is going to help them navigate their way through the plethora of information available to them with a critical eye, ear and mind?

This conundrum was presented to an audience last week at the Burnaby Public Library by Mr. Keith McPherson and Dr. Marlene Asselin both experts in media information at UBC. Further statistics from “Young Canadians in a Wired World” (www.media-awareness.ca/english/research/ycww/index.cfm) note that 94% of these young people access the internet from home, 34% have been bullied online, 33% of their top 50 websites include violent and sexual content, and that 75% do not realize they are being advertised to through the Net. In such an environment, Asselin and McPherson pointed out, it is critical that students become more aware. Basic literacy remains an essential skill, they contend, but critical literacy is, well, critical. McPherson, assured parents and teachers present that with critical thinking skills “mental habits that foster justice, honesty, and ethical treatment of others” will have a better chance of prevailing.

With teachers such as Asselin and McPherson in our midst one can feel more confident that the young people who will be in charge of the world are in good hands. Already we know that they are what these teachers call active participants who are goal-oriented, believe in choice and variety and are active decision-makers. They are also an economic force. They believe in connectivity and community, they take action, are early adopters and are passionately tolerant. They creative ‘personal landscapes’ in the way they learn, shop and work. They learn by doing, they multi-task and importantly they believe in social transformation.

These are the leaders of the future. We are in good hands it seems but we must as parents and teachers ensure that they get the critical thinking skills they themselves say they need. All the more reason, in my view, that we ensure that teacher-librarians who are so well placed to take on this task, have the resources to undertake such an important social role. Every school in the province needs a teacher-librarian with enough hours to teach the skills our children will need in this ever-changing and demanding environment and so that, as Mr. McPherson so eloquently put it, all students can fulfill their dreams.

Margaret Reynolds, Executive Director, Association of Book Publishers of BC

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Literacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.