Critical Pedagogy and Library Instruction

Saturday, May 8th 2010
Brooklyn College Library
1:00pm-4:00pm
This event is free

Please RSVP by April 9th.

btw Everyone involved in this except for the main speaker, Ira Shor, is in Radical Reference: Tom Dodson, Emily Drabinski, and Alana Kumbier (facilitators) and Alycia Sellie and Jonathan Cope (organizers). How can librarians develop critical instructional practices in an era of rapid technological, institutional, and social change? Originally developed by the Brazilian educator Paulo Friere, the insights of critical pedagogy offer librarians one potential way to approach this question. The methods of critical pedagogy have been applied in multiple settings and a substantial body of literature has developed around it. However, there has been little discussion of its applicability to library instruction and its applicability to libraries specifically. In this afternoon workshop one of critical pedagogy's most noted scholars, Ira Shor, will outline the salient aspects of critical pedagogy for librarians. Following Ira Shor's presentation, librarians immersed in critical pedagogy will lead group discussions about the applicability of these methods to educational practice in library settings. We welcome the participation of teaching faculty so that the potential for collaboration with librarians can be explored.

Ira Shor has written extensively about critical pedagogy and education.

He and Paulo Freire co-authored "A Pedagogy for Liberation," the first "talking" book Freire published with a collaborator. Shor teaches courses in rhetoric and composition and the CUNY Graduate Center.

Librarian Facilitators

Tom Dodson is the coordinator for Harvard University Library's Office for Scholarly Communication and a works as a reference librarian at the Tisch Library at Tufts University. He has also co-organized a seminar for graduate student teachers focused on the theory and practice of critical pedagogy, and he has pursued a pedagogical practice while teaching at Ohio State University.

Emily Drabinski is an instruction librarian at Long Island University, Brooklyn. She is on the editorial board of Radical Teacher and co-editor, with Maria T. Accardi and Alana Kumbier, of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods (Library Juice Press, 2010).

Alana Kumbier is a Research and Instruction Librarian at the Margaret Clapp Library at Wellesley College. She is also a co-editor of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods.

The Brooklyn College Library is located on the Brooklyn College campus.

2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210

By Subway: #2 (7th Avenue Local) or #5 (Lexington Avenue Express) to the Flatbush Avenue/ Brooklyn College station.

Please contact the event committee co-chairs if you have any questions.

Alycia Sellie - Brooklyn College

Jonathan Cope - College of Staten Island