School librarian and guided inquiry projects

Primož Južnič, Urška Repinc

Abstract


School librarian's concern is to raise information and reading literacy and in this way contribute to common goal – learning to learn. Research finds out that project based on inquiry activities are successful in this context. They present enrichment for (gifted) pupils and school community. Such projects are led by flexible team of professionals (at least three, better four or more). Among them are the teacher, whose course is connected to a project theme, school librarian, ICT teacher and another professional connected with quality for project final products (language teacher, art teacher etc.). School librarian can take  an initiative and coordinates such cooperative work. Pupils also gain communication skills and improve their social intelligence, and there is a lot of cooperation and adjustment in the work process. Good results are evident by higher level of information literacy which is shown by pupils' achievements at competitions, inclusions of project presentations to different local events and connections established through project activities with different partners and involving different stakeholders. A case study of one such project is presented.

Keywords: Information literacy, guided inquiry, holistic approach, project work, gifted pupils


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References


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