Collaboration and Partnership in developing Information Literacy Pedagogy in Zimbabwe

Abstract

“In its development history, IL has been understood and applied variously among regions and countries in different cultures and with various pedagogical approaches… different technological, social and cultural contexts.” (Nghiem, 2010). This has led to gaps in the pedagogical skills between the developed and developing world. Social, cultural, technological and economic backgrounds have had an impact on the way information literacy is delivered resulting in the rising of a need for collaborations and partnerships that help bridge this divide or gap. “Collaboration brings autonomous organizations together to fulfil a common mission that requires comprehensive planning and communication on many levels (Mattessich et al., 2001).” Such a collaboration was needed to enhance the skills of IL trainers in Zimbabwe.

Gorman and Dorner’s study (in Nghiem, 2010) raises three important questions: “How can we define IL in a developing country context? How do we best determine the educational objectives of IL education in a developing country context? How can cultural awareness improve IL education?” Seeking to address these questions, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) partnered with the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium in capacity building of senior IL trainers’ pedagogical skills. To this effect, two workshops were conducted with participants being drawn from all member universities in Zimbabwe.

The first workshop featured the training of participants from four Universities and the second one drew its participants from nine institutions. The main objective of the workshops was to build the capacity of IL trainers to confidently deliver learner-centred participatory training programmes that nurture independent and critical thinking learners. It also focused on the assessment for teaching and assessment for learning to cater for a smooth transition of learners from secondary education to tertiary education.

This paper is going to look at how the collaboration influenced teaching and learning styles in Zimbabwe in terms of curriculum development, pedagogical skills development as well as assessment for learning and assessment for teaching. In this regard, it is going to explore ways and means through which IDS is mentoring Zimbabwean Information Literacy professionals in the light of the dynamic and ever changing information environment.

As a result, the paper will profile the information literacy teaching landscape before and after the training workshop through the use of pre and post workshop surveys. It will also profile how the partnership is being made sustainable through the use of various tools such as Web 2.0. Evidence based interventions models for prospective collaborative projects in the developing regions will result from this study. Overall the impact and benefits that were derived as well as lessons that can be learnt from such collaborations will help shape evidence based interventions.

References

Czajkowski, J. M., & Fayette, I. A. (2007). Leading successful interinstitutional collaborations using the collaboration success measurement model. In Chair Academy’s 16th Annual International Conference: Navigating the Future through Authentic Leadership, Jacksonville, Florida

Mattessich, P. W., Murray-Close, M. & Monsey, B. R. (2001). Collaboration: What makes itwork (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Nghiem, H. (2010). Delivering information literacy programmes in the context of network society and cross-cultural perspectives. In Proceedings of The World Congress of Library and Information