Information literacy of teachers and pupils in secondary schools

Abstract

A study was undertaken to examine the information literacy of teachers and pupils in two UK single-sex selective state grammar schools, one providing education for girls and the other for boys. Qualitative research techniques were chosen to enable attitudes and ethnographic data to be captured. The research methods used included: observation of 10 teachers and 40 pupils in the classroom, complemented by observation of pupils’ behaviour in the school library and computing facilities; individual interviews with members of the teaching staff in both schools; and group interviews with pupils from different year groups. The majority of the teachers were found to be information literate, although this was more the result of personal interest in information and the role it can play in their teaching than because of any attempts made by the schools or their training to encourage information literacy. Pupils were found to be adept at using a variety of sources to locate information, but the cognitive skills required to achieve this tended to be underdeveloped and received little attention within the schools studied. The most significant finding was that, although the teachers interviewed were information literate, their skills with and attitudes towards information were not being transferred to their pupils.