Report on the Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement

4.3 The new learning environment

Along with changes in the amount and quality of information potentially available to students, and the increasingly sophisticated technological means of accessing this information, the most significant change for school libraries in terms of educational practice has been the shift from a content-based education to an outcomes-based education. Whereas a content-based education focuses on what students have been taught, an outcomes-based education focuses on what students have learned; that is, on their skills and understandings. An ASLA discussion paper (2001) notes the emergence of curriculum statements in the various States and Territories that emphasise the processes of learning and information literacy, including 'independent, integrated resources-based and technology-based inquiry learning' and collaborative project-based learning. In an influential study, Kuhlthau (1989) points out how the process approach can be confronting because it means that it is no longer acceptable for teachers simply to cover the content of a particular curriculum program or to teach for a particular test; rather they need to restructure their programs so that students are actively involved in using information or learning. Kuhlthau shows how a process approach to information use has the potential to empower school librarians as well as offering them a tool for collaborating with teachers.

Loertscher (1999) looks at the growing popularity of constructivism, which encourages students to take control of their own learning. Kuhlthau (1993) talks about the constructivist theory of learning, which builds on what students already know and actively involves them with a range of resources. These changes in approaches to teaching and learning have required school librarians to adopt a more outcomes-focused practice and a focus on information literacy as opposed to a collections-based practice.

The concept of lifelong learning also has implications for the school library. In a society that needs multi-skilled workers capable of adapting to a rapidly changing external environment, including an increasingly digitised world, the emphasis is on encouraging those skills that will enable individuals to learn throughout their lives and not merely during the years of compulsory schooling. According to the European Commission's Memorandum on Lifelong Learning, 'learning how to learn, to adapt to change and to make sense of vast information flows are now generic skills that everyone should acquire' (Commission of the European Communities, 2000, p. 11). This impetus from governments globally to equip their citizens with the skills to function effectively in an increasingly digitised world, adapt readily to new situations, and acquire new skills quickly potentially gives the school librarian a crucial role in helping students 'learn to learn'.

As Williams and Wavell (2001b) point out, traditional evaluations of library services have focused on outputs relating to expenditure, resources and use rather than on service outcomes. Even when performance indicators have been identified in relation to student achievement, these have often been framed in terms of performance on reading tests rather than in terms of curricular goals or broader learning outcomes; hence the need to gain a better understanding of the nature of the contribution of school libraries to student learning more generally and information literacy more specifically. Todd (2002c) makes a similar point when he suggests that evidence-based practice requires the gathering of 'meaningful and systematic evidence of the impact of the librarian's instructional initiatives on student learning outcomes-what students can do and become' (p. 7). Rather than focusing on such things as expenditure, collection size, staffing and technology infrastructure, the focus now must be on outcomes in relation to what students have learned.

Along with these developments there has also been a growing trend towards evidence-based practice in the professions, which means using the best research available to inform day-to-day practice and decision-making. Evidence-based practice in a school library context, Todd (2002c, p. 7) suggests, centres on the key questions of: 'what differences do my library and its learning initiatives make to student learning? What has my library and its learning initiatives enabled my students to become?' The growing need for evidence-based research as the basis for decision-making, policy and planning means that school librarians need to be more aware of the kind of evidence that is available, its reliability, and its relevance to an Australian context.