Reading Response C - Research Synopsis

Safir and Dugan’s Agency Framework was presented at a District Teacher-Librarian Pro-D this September. Their infographic (shared here) stuck with me, as it speaks to a need I can see in our kids. We are proud of their success when they can sit a certain way, quietly following instructions. How can we also give them space to be themselves, and to celebrate that? In a Library Learning Commons that stands for equity, how can we create a space for every kid to own their authentic voice: to write their own story? As this is the big idea driving my year planning and professional inquiry, it is a natural place to start as I examine digital formats here in LIBE 477. How can we use digital storytelling in a way that best helps kids achieve agency as learners?

Crampton’s article highlights the “pride and purpose” (573) that come from kids working on topics important to them while mastering new tools. It’s this kind of experience I am seeking to facilitate. But, these are Grade 12 students. As an Elementary Teacher-Librarian, I wanted to find some literature featuring younger learners. Many of my kids are pre-reading, with limited English, and/or behaviour needs, so I wanted to focus on experiences with no reading required. To this end I searched “digital making early childhood education” and found the book Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity: Makerspaces in the Early Years. The chapter “Teaching for social imagination: Creativity in an early-learning makerspace” supplies an insight about “’little-c’ creativity” that’s helpful when we are planning for a Library program where we only meet once weekly and aim to work from where we are at: 

                ‘Little-c’ creativity encourages students to imitate images, actions and ideas that they have   

                already experienced. By doing so, children can nurture their creative expression and grow to       

                incrementally understand how their individuality sparks creative ideas and can be revealed in

                their work.                                                                                                 (167)

In a further search, “agency in early childhood education,” Adair’s article was 32nd among the results, after many articles treating child-caregiver relationships. Her article offers the pararallel to Crampton's Grade 12 filmmakers I was looking for. Adair talks about “rich capability expansion” that comes about when we are “focusing on expanding children’s capabilities, rather than just what they produce” (229). The article goes on to address the importance of connecting to “the talents and ‘funds of knowledge’” that students’ families hold: “connecting student agency to the agency of parents, teachers, and communities is an important part of expanding capabilities in early childhood education, and it needs further attention” (230). Here my exploration comes full circle, back to Safir and Dugan’s video when they talk about communities on the margins as “a site of wisdom and cultural wealth” (1:45).  

A take-away here is that when students share who they are, they are also sharing the family and culture they connect to. They help build our community stronger and more diverse. The act of creating and sharing, even when it's a work in progress, makes a difference.

When we facilitate this kind of authentic sharing in the Library Learning Commons, we are fulfilling the standards set out by the Canadian Library Association in their Leading Learning guide. We are "designing learning environments to support participatory learning." We are "facilitating collaborative engagement to cultivate and empower a community of learners." We are bringing about the connection and healing Dr. Dasgupta talks about when she reminds us, "Stories are Good Medicine."

Bibliography

Adair, Jennifer Keys. "Agency and expanding capabilities in early grade classrooms: What it could mean for young children." Harvard Educational Review. vol. 84, no. 2, Summer 2014, pp. 217-241.

Burke, Anne and Abigail Crocker. "Teaching for social imagination: Creativity in an early-learning makerspace." Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity: Makerspaces in the Early Years, edited by Alicia Blum-Ross, Kristiina Kumpulainen and Jackie Marsh, Routledge, 2020, pp. 165-181.

Canadian Library Association. "Leading Learning Framework." Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. 2020, https://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/

Crampton, Anne E. et al. "Meaningful and expansive: Literacy learning through technology-mediated productions." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 61, no. 5, March/April 2018, pp. 573-576.

Dasgupta, Sayantani. "Stories are Good Medicine." Vimeo, uploaded by Business Innovation Factory, 9 April 2014, https://vimeo.com/91542327.

Safir, Shane and Jamila Dugan. "Street Data: A Pathway to Transformation." YouTube, uploaded by Shane Safir, 31 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCAYvxjOOxQ.