Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice
Information literacy scholars and leaders are calling for the decolonization of library instruction, knowing that our work helps to maintain colonial systems. While there is no checklist or road map to program decolonization, academic libraries and instruction teams must start the work anyway. This...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cjal.ca/index.php/capal/article/view/40964 |
| _version_ | 1797385328099590144 |
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| author | Heather Campbell Dan Sich |
| author_facet | Heather Campbell Dan Sich |
| author_sort | Heather Campbell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Information literacy scholars and leaders are calling for the decolonization of library instruction, knowing that our work helps to maintain colonial systems. While there is no checklist or road map to program decolonization, academic libraries and instruction teams must start the work anyway. This article shares the story of curriculum decolonization at Western Libraries, so far, including the decolonization ‘cycle’ we followed and our resulting six learning outcomes. Grounded in epistemic justice, our new curriculum prioritizes living beings over information, and uses a broad, inclusive definition of knowledge throughout. Librarians at Western University acknowledge that the first step in decolonization is making space for multiple ways of knowing and that white librarians have particular responsibilities within this work to decolonize their minds. While our curriculum is far from perfect, we invite other educators to use and adapt our learning outcomes, as well as the decolonization approach and reflection questions shared here.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:52:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0729b50719714015bb340eee959be0d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2369-937X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:52:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | The Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship |
| spelling | doaj.art-0729b50719714015bb340eee959be0d92023-12-20T06:00:05ZengThe Canadian Association of Professional Academic LibrariansCanadian Journal of Academic Librarianship2369-937X2023-12-01910.33137/cjal-rcbu.v9.40964Library Curriculum as Epistemic JusticeHeather Campbell0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1272-5872Dan Sich1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0062-0050Western UniversityWestern University Information literacy scholars and leaders are calling for the decolonization of library instruction, knowing that our work helps to maintain colonial systems. While there is no checklist or road map to program decolonization, academic libraries and instruction teams must start the work anyway. This article shares the story of curriculum decolonization at Western Libraries, so far, including the decolonization ‘cycle’ we followed and our resulting six learning outcomes. Grounded in epistemic justice, our new curriculum prioritizes living beings over information, and uses a broad, inclusive definition of knowledge throughout. Librarians at Western University acknowledge that the first step in decolonization is making space for multiple ways of knowing and that white librarians have particular responsibilities within this work to decolonize their minds. While our curriculum is far from perfect, we invite other educators to use and adapt our learning outcomes, as well as the decolonization approach and reflection questions shared here. https://cjal.ca/index.php/capal/article/view/40964curriculumdecolonizationepistemic justiceinformation literacylibrary instruction |
| spellingShingle | Heather Campbell Dan Sich Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship curriculum decolonization epistemic justice information literacy library instruction |
| title | Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice |
| title_full | Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice |
| title_fullStr | Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice |
| title_short | Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice |
| title_sort | library curriculum as epistemic justice |
| topic | curriculum decolonization epistemic justice information literacy library instruction |
| url | https://cjal.ca/index.php/capal/article/view/40964 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT heathercampbell librarycurriculumasepistemicjustice AT dansich librarycurriculumasepistemicjustice |