I tend to be skeptical of sensationalized news “information.” I can’t recall a specific time when I was taught how to evaluate information or to be cautious of certain presentation styles. This trait feels like part of my personality but, I am sure it has undoubtedly been nurtured by teachers and shaped by experiences along the way.
I frequently interact with people who become very intense
when conversations center around political topics. Heightened emotions stemming from the acceptance
of sensationalized news and an inability to consider whether the information
may be incomplete or written with a biased lens often stands in the way of what
could otherwise be an interesting conversation.
As Valenza (2016) points out, and many people fail to consider, is that "Professional journalists engage in rigorous fact-checking and adhere to sets of professional ethics, but they are not entirely immune to bias or agenda or the pressures of a deadline." It is nearly impossible to eliminate bias entirely so we must simply learn to
recognize it.
Because of these personal experiences which sometimes become
uncomfortable interactions, I tend to avoid mixing current events into the
adult education content I teach. I
realize that current events is a great topic for generating students’ interest,
but I worry about opening a big bag of emotionally charged worms inside my
classroom.
The readings and resources shared in this week's module have
challenged my reluctance to avoid using news and current events as part of my
instruction. Digital literacy has been a huge focus for my program the last few
years. Since most adults today rely on digital news sources (Valenza, 2016),
not addressing information literacy skills, particularly how to determine the
validity of a news source, leaves holes in my students’ education.
As a future school librarian, I will need to practice,
model, and be familiar with resources and strategies that help one evaluate
information. Collecting and sharing these resources with my current students and
working with them to develop information literacy skills is a great opportunity
to begin developing teaching strategies and talking points that might be organically
woven into conversations with future students while assisting them in the
library or that might become the basis for teacher trainings.
Some digital literacy resources I’ve added to
my new collection this week:
- What is fake news? Tips for Spotting Them – Fake News for Kids
- Super 3 Research
- The Big 6 and Super 3
- Test your ability to spot fake news with this game!
Reference
Valenza, J. (2016). Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A
news literacy toolkit for a “post-truth” world. School Library Journal.
https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2016/11/26/truth-truthiness-triangulation-and-the-librarian-way-a-news-literacy-toolkit-for-a-post-truth-world/
DeAnna,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your honesty about your current practices with your students. I feel like I don’t focus enough on current events in my classroom either. I want to but simply run out of time for the content I’m required to teach. Not to mention the time it takes to weave current events into your lessons effectively. I agree that it is essential for our students’ education, so we must strive to do it more. This is also why collaboration between the school librarian and teachers is so crucial!
-Taylor Pineiro