EDCI 550 Syllabus

Course Description

This course reviews ethical issues and the role of professional advocacy in school librarianship. The course is designed for pre-service / in-service school librarians.

Course Standards

• CAEP/ALA/AASL School Librarian Preparation Standards
  • 2 Instructional Strategies
  • 3 Technology-Enabled Learning
  • 1 Access
  • 3 Evidence-Based Decision Making
  • 1* Professional Learning
  • 2 Leadership and Collaboration
  • 3* Advocacy
  • 4* Ethical Practice

* Asterisks denote standards that compose the focus of the course.

• Indian Education for All Essential Understandings (IEFA EU)
  • 3 Oral Histories, and
  • 7 Tribal Sovereignty
• Alaska Cultural Standards for Educators (AK CSforE)
  • D Working Closely with Parents

Learning Outcomes

• Apply knowledge of library codes of ethics to real-life situations in the school library (ALA/AASL/CAEP 5.4; IEFA EU3)
  • Evaluate school and/or district policies and procedures in the context of library codes of ethics
  • Consider the impact of Native American / Native Hawaiian / Alaska Native beliefs, and the ideologies of a diverse community, on ethical issues in the school environment
• Formulate an advocacy plan for a selected local, state, national, or international issue related to school libraries (ALA/AASL/CAEP 5.3, IEFA EU 7; AK CSforE D)
  • Examine critically the role of professional advocacy in school librarianship
  • Analyze the impact of tribal sovereignty on local educational policy as it pertains to school libraries
• Develop a plan of action for achieving a more culturally responsive and inclusive library (IEFA EU3; AK CSforE D)
• Develop professional development for your school community around an area of ethical principles (e.g., copyright, privacy and confidentiality, equity of access, freedom to read, cultural appropriation) (ALA/AASL/CAEP 5.1)

Required Textbook

Garnar, M. & Magi, T. (Eds.) (2020). Intellectual Freedom Manual (10^th edition). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

Order from the ALA Store or Amazon.

Additional course content will be posted in D2L Brightspace.

Instructional Methods

This course is conducted completely online. The activities and content will be available asynchronously, meaning you can access and participate as your schedule permits. Any synchronous opportunities (such as web chats) are optional. However, this is not a self-paced course.

Please note that this is a 3-credit course (45 clock hours) compressed into eight weeks. It is necessary to connect 4-6 times per week and spend about 10 hours each week while the course is in session, either online or offline working on course related readings and assignments, to stay current and successfully complete this 3-credit graduate course.

Module Schedule

Each module you will be asked to complete a Think, Create, Share, and Grow activity.

• In think you will read from the textbook and engage with other course content, such as additional readings and videos.
• Createwill ask you to complete a learning task to dig into that’s week’s content.
• In shareyou will post to our online discussion space.
• Finally, in growyou’ll respond to your classmates, continue the conversation you started with your post, and reflect on your learning.

The details of each week’s assignment can be found in our course management system. You will see a folder for each week’s module in the Content section.

You are welcome to work ahead at any time, but please try not to get behind. If you find that you are struggling to keep up, or are having difficulty with the course material, please reach out to your instructor.

Course Outline

• Module 1 Introduction to Codes of Ethics
• Module 2 Access & Filtering
• Week 3 Circulation & Collection Development
• Module 4 Copyright
• Module 5 Privacy & Copyright
• Module 6 Advocacy
• Module 7 Professional Development
• Module 8 Scenarios

Attendance

“Attendance” in the form of weekly discussion participation is necessary to pass the course (see Assessment for more information). While this is an asynchronous course (i.e., we don’t all show up together at the same time each week), we’ll all contribute when it’s convenient for us each week (the beauty of an online course!). Instructors can be flexible with deadlines because we realize “life happens”; you might get sick or have an illness in the family, have a personal emergency, etc. You are not obligated to share personal details, but please let your instructor know if you are struggling in the course or if you need additional support. We understand how complex and unpredictable life can be and are happy to be flexible with deadlines on a case-by-case basis.

Discussion Guidelines

A major aspect of your expectation is to “dialogue” with your classmates. Each week, you’ll be asked to respond thoughtfully to a discussion prompt based on the course readings and/or assignments. While the hope would be that you would read each classmate’s postings each week, it can get daunting to try and keep up with 20+ individual classmate’s postings. However, try to read as many as you are able.

Each week, please try to choose different classmates to respond to thoughtfully and substantively.

Discussion Posts Criteria

• Your initial discussion posts should include appropriate references to the literature to support your assertions. References may come from class readings or other relevant literature.
• Use APA-style for all citations (in-text and works cited).
• To encourage responses from your classmates, pose critical thinking or advice-based questions within your post.
• Remember that thoughtful responses to your classmates will go beyond “yes, I agree” or “good ” Substantive and thoughtful responses don’t need to be long, but they need to demonstrate that you have put some thought into the topic and perhaps even did some research to make a meaningful response to at least one of your classmates' postings. Insightful comments may include expanding on an idea or a critique of an idea, lesson or proposal made by a classmate; suggesting websites or other materials that will support their endeavors; or pointing out laws or guidelines that might apply, asking probing questions that encourage them to think about a few ideas or new aspect of the problem, etc.
• If you wish to make “pats on the back” or “me, too” comments, (short comments without substantive content), use emojis or send a private comment instead. These comments are not required, but they are often meaningful, appreciated, and helpful to the recipient.
• Make discussion posts a conversation, not a speech. In other words, if a classmate (or the instructor) poses a question or makes a comment that suggests a response, please take a moment to respond.
• Posts and responses need not be lengthy. Try to be concise yet thorough. Remember that we are all busy individuals.

Assessment

Each module will be assessed using the rubric below. Additionally, the Professional Development Presentation and Advocacy Plan assignments have their own rubrics, included with the assignments.

Feedback

Comments posted in the discussion channels are for the purpose of growing as a learner, librarian, and educator. These comments, suggestions, and questions are to extend your learning and encourage you to think in new ways. They are not relevant to your grade. If you are asked to revise an assignment for an improved grade, the instructor will post feedback within the grades / assignment section within the course management system. You will have until the end of the course to make the requested changes.

Late and Revised Work

There is no penalty for late work in this class, but you will do better if you stay on top of your work. This course is fast paced and intense. Each time you get behind it gets harder to get caught up and makes more work for you later in the course.

Assessment reflects a moment in time. All assignments and modules can be completed and/or revised at any point during the course up until the final day.

Final Grade

Your final grade in the course is based on the following chart.

Incomplete Policy

Incomplete or "I" grades are processed by the faculty member and approved by the department head. To be considered for an "I" grade, the student must have completed 75% of the course and be passing the course. The form can be retrieved from the academic department.

Grade Review and Other Concerns

If you have a concern about a grade, this issue should be raised with the instructor before going to other levels. For grade review, one should comply with procedures delineated in the Student Handbook.  Please do not wait until the end of the semester if you feel that you are having problems in this class. Let me your instructor how I can help as soon as possible!