Coatney: Intellectual freedom
It is the duty of the school Media Specialist to provide leadership in protecting the intellectual freedom in the K-12 educational community. Of all the duties of the school Media Specialist, this has to be one of the most important, but possibly most overlooked by all. I think about my experience in school libraries and it has been extremely varied in regard to protecting intellectual freedoms, specifically protecting the privacy of patrons. I’ve been in some media centers that announce individuals’ overdue books to entire classrooms. This method could have been determined by the individual Media Specialist to be the most effective means of getting students to return books, but it sure doesn’t protect their privacy. Other media centers have strict access controls to computer circulation databases that limit who has access to student information. This, at times, has prevented my efforts (as a substitute teacher) to help students with book checkout and searches. There is a fine line between protecting privacy and providing effective service in the media center.
Another overlooked aspect of protecting intellectual freedom is including Internet resource selection into a collection development policy. As most collection development policies focus on print materials, Internet resources can sometimes seem peripheral to traditional selection decisions. This is somewhat surprising, as today’s classrooms demand daily student access to Internet resources. Careful attention to all resources used in the media center is essential to developing a curriculum that, if challenged, will hold its own. Internet resources need to be evaluated not only for their usefulness, but also for their content, which can be hard to determine with interactive and user created websites. Constant review of the sources is important to maintain the integrity of their use in the classroom.
Stripling, Barbara, et al. 2010. “Minors & Internet Interactivity: a new Interpretation of the LBOR.” Knowledge Quest 39.1, Sep-Oct.
A collection of four articles addressing ALA’s 2009 Library Bill of Rights Interpretation from different aspects:
- A strict interpretation of the bill
- Teaching students how to respect Internet sources by providing students with the necessary knowledge and skills to protect their privacy or engage in responsible speech, instead of restricting or denying their access to the Internet
- Turning online resources into interactive learning tools while teaching students about the ethical use of information
- The consequences of completely restricting access to some Internet resources
These are all important considerations for the school Media Specialist to address at the beginning of every school year. It is important to have a firm understanding of ALA’s 2009 Library Bill of Rights so as not to either overstep it’s boundaries (through self-censorship) or be caught unaware of the consequences that may arise (parent demand to restrict Internet access) from not following its guidelines.
I identify most with Williams discussion of the bill. She discusses the concept of teaching students safe behavior providing them the necessary knowledge and skills to protect their privacy and engage in responsible speech, instead of restricting or denying access to the Internet. Right, we must teach our students how to fish and not just provide them with fish.
Lamb, Annette. 2010. "Everyone does it: teaching ethical use of social technology." Knowledge Quest 39.1, Sep-Oct.
Following the outline of the AASL's Standards for the 21st-century Learner, teaching students about their ethical and legal online responsibilities in conjunction with their right to free speech is an important component in a school media program. These efforts need to be made with consideration towards Piaget and Kohlberg theories of the stages of cognitive and moral development. Every student is at a different stage of development and multiple teaching strategies may be required to teach students the concepts of social responsibility in order to guide them through the decision making process.
I think the most important component of teaching students Internet responsibility is the conundrum of anonymity and its effect on interface with others on the Internet. It’s important that students understand that “misrepresenting oneself on a social network, and even participating in libelous or fraudulent activities” is wrong, even if your identity is not attached to the action. Students need to understand that they are always ethically and legally responsible for their online actions.
The school Media Specialist must not simply provide guidelines for acceptable use of the Internet, but also to regularly guide their students through the process of making ethical decisions by modeling good and bad practices, role playing with decision-making situations and providing resources that model and encourage ethical use of the Internet.
