Examining the Hidden Ideologies within Cultural Competence Discourses among Library and Information Science (LIS) Students: Implications for School Library Pedagogy

Authors

Kafi D. Kumasi, Wayne State UniversityFollow
Renee F. Hill, Syracuse UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In order to provide culturally responsive instruction to all students, school library professionals need to recognize the various discourses around cultural competence that exist in the field of library and information science (LIS) and understand the broader meanings that are attached to these discourses. This study presents an evaluation of the underlying ideologies that are embedded in the textual responses of a group of LIS students reporting on their perceived levels of cultural competence preparation. The results reveal that there are dominant and competing discourses around cultural competence in the LIS field, which are important to make visible. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this kind of discourse analysis might inform pedagogies in the school library in ways that uniquely benefit historically marginalized students.

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Higher Education and Teaching | Library and Information Science | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Comments

This article was chosen as the public access article for this issue.

Recommended Citation

Kumasi, K. & Hill, R. F. (March 2013). Examining the hidden ideologies within cultural competence discourses among library and information science students: Implications for school library pedagogy. School Libraries Worldwide, 19 (1), 128-139.