TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY THE SMMMART B WAY

Abstract

From 2004 to 2006, the teachers and librarians of 22 Quezon City Public Schools participated in the project “Building Learning Communities through Libraries” under the auspices of ILFA ALP. The project aimed to teach teachers and librarians about their roles in enabling students acquire information literacy skills. The immediate outcome expected of the project was a guide for teaching and acquiring information literacy skills that was targeted to primary and secondary school students. During the first year of the project the teachers and librarians were introduced to different information literacy models and initiatives in the region after which five teacher librarians were tasked with developing a model to be used in the 22 participating schools. The model was tested and revised several times until a final model called SMMMART B was produced. The model was presented to the teachers and librarians of the participating schools in the second year of the project. To test the applicability and effectiveness of the model, copies of the guides and posters were distributed and used in five schools. Informal interviews of teachers and librarians indicate that the guide is being used. The project recommended the production of more copies of the guide to reach a wider population of students and a follow-up study after one year to determine its impact on the students of participating schools. The survey instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of the guide will be developed by teachers and librarians in the participating schools.