Diversity and Intercultural Issues in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education - Bonus Review

“The need for LIS education to improve their curriculum through inclusion of diverse issues is a key to developing a more responsive library professional that will serve their community better and at the same time attract students from different cultural backgrounds to library and information science profession.” (453)

It is well recognized that society is becoming more and more diverse.  However, that diversity isn’t being reflected in Library and Information Science education.  Ismail Abdullahi introduces four characteristics that a culturally responsive library and information science teacher will possess.  First, the culturally responsive LIS teacher recognizes that there is more than one way to perceive reality, there can and will be multiple viewpoints on a single circumstance or situation.  Second, this teacher sees diversity as a benefit; they don’t see differences as something that detracts or a problem that needs to be overcome.  Third, this teacher feels that not only are they capable of working towards making LIS education more culturally responsive, but that it is their responsibility to do so.  Finally, this teacher will be able to use their knowledge of their students’ lives in order to build on what the students already know and expand their horizons.

The first characteristic, or theme, is that there is more than one way to perceive reality.  Everybody’s reality is different because reality is influenced by social class, race/ethnicity and language.  In other words, a migrant farm worker who speaks primarily Spanish is going see the world through a different lens than a white stockbroker who primarily speaks English.  Additionally, those two people are going to see the world differently than a white individual who works at McDonald’s.  Understanding that everybody has a slightly different reality based on their background is known as sociocultural consciousness.  A library professional that has sociocultural consciousness is better able to cross sociocultural boundaries and assist patrons from a variety of perspectives which is increasingly important in a quickly diversifying society.  In addition to recognizing and respecting that different people have different realities this teacher must also be aware that social location differences are anything but neutral.   Access to power is determined by largely somebody’s social class, race/ethnicity and language.  Why else would it take over two hundred years to elect a black individual to the highest office in the United States?  This access to power is institutionally limited in that the institutions of this country, including schools, the welfare system and, yes, libraries are structured to restrict the socioeconomic advancement of minorities in the name of meritocracy.  If there is a teacher in LIS education who teaches how institutions discriminate, the students of that educator are going to eventually change the policies and such in libraries that discriminate.  This is a completely positive goal to have because it will only be then when libraries are truly able to provide equal access to information for all.

A teacher in LIS education must also see students of theirs whom differ from the dominant culture as a positive thing.  These students are able to use their different experiences and knowledge to add to the learning experience of everybody else, including the teacher.  This implies that it is better to have a diverse classroom than it is to have a homogeneous one.   If there are a variety of backgrounds and experiences learning together there is far more that is learned, and not just about the subject material of the class.  This will inevitably produce better librarians, librarians who are better able to communicate and assist their patrons regardless of their particular experiences and background.

While discussed a little earlier, it’s important to reiterate the need for agents of change.  A LIS educator needs to help instill in students the drive and skills necessary to facilitate the advancement of libraries in a way that benefits all.  Currently libraries tend to reproduce inequalities.  But students who see that society and libraries are interconnected will be aware of that tendency in libraries and work to change it.  Institutional practices are built and sustained by people and therefore reflect the views and beliefs of people, particularly of the dominant group.  It is up to people to change these practices and that’s only going to happen when librarians and other information professionals recognize that libraries inherently are political institutions.  These librarians must see the library as a vehicle for change and a promoter of diversity.  These librarians must believe that that social transformation can happen at libraries and they need to know that while failures will occur, those failures shouldn’t stop the struggle.

Finally, LIS educators must use their students own experiences and knowledge as vehicles to further knowledge.  This teacher will create a classroom where all students are encouraged to learn, where all students are given a chance to construct knowledge that will help them to better understand the world.  Perhaps this will be done with candid classroom discussion, where all ideas and topics are welcome and discussed.  Perhaps this will be done with creating projects that have a personal significance to students.  Obviously, the role of the socioculturally conscious LIS educator is very complex.  However, without teachers such as that described in LIS education the library will likely continue to be a stagnant institution that promotes diversity on one hand but structurally hinders it on the other.

Sources:

Abdullahi, I. (2007). Diversity and intercultural issues in library and information science (LIS) education. New Library World, 108(9/10), 453-459.