The New AASL National Standards--Am I Ready for the 21st Century?

Cassandra Barnett, President-elect of AASL and library teacher at Fayetteville (Arkansas) High School Library, was the presenter of this session. She took the new AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, linked them to the newly-written MSLA Massachusetts Recommended Standards for PreK-12 Information Literacy Skills, and then spoke about a variety of ways in which both sets of standards can be integrated into the content curriculum frameworks. Cassandra spoke about the importance of developing and modeling strategies for teaching these skills, focusing on student learning, rather than on teaching, and helping students to understand the importance of learning how to learn (metacognition).

In terms of implementation, Cassandra noted that library teachers must understand the beliefs that support the standards, as well as the standards components. Additionally, library teachers must wipe the slate clean and start anew, integrate the information literacy curriculum through collaboration, re-think how instruction is provided, and make efforts to assess both the process and the product. One of the most important things that a library teacher can do is to help a learner develop the ability to be a reflective learner; that self-assessment is vitally important.