Information literacy efforts addressed to schools in Greece

Abstract

As we know, information literacy is an important element that defines success in higher education and in the professional world. The skills for information literacy are better developed in primary and secondary education. In Greece with the lack of school libraries in public schools to promote information literacy, the issue causes a lot of anxiety among librarians. In addition, the Greek educational system is based on the textbook and mostly on rote learning and does not give the students the possibility of exploration and the development of critical thinking skills. Several academic, special and public libraries offer informal programs to schools in their neighborhood with the intention to remedy the gap between the student abilities and the demands of higher education. In this paper, we will try to present three different cases of providing information literacy skills to Elementary, Junior and High School students in Greece.

The first involves the case of Athens College, Hellenic American Educational Foundation, a non-profit educational institution that operates two elementary, two Junior High Schools, two High Schools and an IB program. Information literacy skills are developed through a scheme where library periods are integrated into the curriculum of the students in many subject areas. The second case involves the Eugenides Foundation Library, a special library, that has developed an information literacy program, certified by the Ministry of Education and geared towards students both of elementary and high schools of the greater Athens area. Another effort that is presented involves the pilot program of the Hellenic Council of Libraries and the Institute of Educational Policy during the 2017-2018 academic year.

The above-mentioned programs are based on a student-centered teaching approach and the use of active learning and reflective practices.