The Information Literacy Standards for Teacher Education were recently published. So what? You're probably only reading this because of the awesome picture to the right.Here's a small call for action, either through our MNLFI final project or an MLA committee down the road or a post-apocalyptic rewrite of the US education system. Librarians--this includes me--please work with your program directors or deans or instructional designers or faculty members to promote information literacy education. Collaborate with those in the education field to find out where these standards fit into current education program and state licensure requirements. (Seems like that might be the easiest door in which to wriggle through. I don't know.) Be prepared to suggest assignment augmentations or in-class projects that reflect these standards/objectives. Consider talking with your School Library Media Specialist friends to see if they know anything about these new standards, or if they have any great ideas for implementation.
These standards, if adopted by teacher education programs, can help our teachers better know how to teach students to become more information literate (and how to assess and evaluate said growth). But the standards won't get adopted on their own. Instead of reading them, thinking "that's good that someone came up with these," and shrugging them off, expend a little energy trying to get ACRL's work into action at your college or university. Just try! I'm going to. I'll let you know how it goes.
