Creating a culture of transfer for information literacy skills in schools

This paper reports the findings of a study which focused on identifying factors which might contribute to the creation of a culture of transfer of information literacy skills, across time and across subjects, in a primary school. The study took place in a NSW independent primary school where the NSW information literacy model was used by the teacher librarian and by teachers. The study sought to identify teachers' understanding of information literacy skills and of transfer, as well as examining teachers' observation of the transfer of information literacy skills in the classroom. Data was gathered through two sets of interviews with teachers and constructivist grounded analysis was used to analyse the data. The key findings of the study were that some teachers had limited understanding of information literacy and of transfer, and that the teachers had no common terminology in relation to information literacy or transfer. When teachers agreed to use the NSW model, their understanding of information literacy improved and when asked to focus on transfer of skills, the teachers' understanding of transfer improved. The interpretation of the data showed that teachers valued a common information literacy model as it provided a common terminology for information literacy skills across the school. The teachers also valued the model as it could form the basis of the reinforcement of information literacy skills. All teachers valued the establishment of a culture of transfer and identified key factors in creating this culture, including embedding the information literacy model and a focus on transfer into the school curriculum, an agreed terminology, support from school management, and staff training. The paper concludes with potential implications for teacher librarians: having a greater focus on information literacy skills and transfer; discussing skills transfer with teachers; and becoming involved in the development of a culture of transfer in the school.