Educational role of school libraries in national minority schools

Radolović, Debora. (2016). Educational role of school libraries in national minority schools. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Information Science.
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij informacijskih i komunikacijskih znanosti) [mentor Lasić-Lazić, Jadranka].

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Abstract

School libraries have always been the basic infrastructure of education. They helped better the educational process, developed services and today, considering the advances in technology, globalization and economic and social factors, the school librarians should develop the skills necessary to implement information literacy and the use of ICT in adapting to the new educational paradigms. In that context, we are also going to review the school libraries in the Italian national minority schools, which, besides all of the above, also have an important role in the preservation of the cultural, linguistic and national identity of autochthonous Italians. In the Republic of Croatia the members of national minorities exercise their constitutional right to an education through one of the three proposed models. Model A/ can be briefly summarized as: teaching in the language and writing of the national minorities, Model B/ bilingual teaching and Model C/ preservation of language and culture. This paper will present a research showing the results obtained so far by the school libraries. According to the current concept based on school libraries’ standards, it is our intention, using research and literature, to propose solutions and a model of organization of a school library of a national minority school active in the system of education of the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is multiple. It has to determine the changes in the educational role of the school library in a multicultural community, especially the role of the school library of a minority school working according to the educational Model A, and propose changes with that in mind. The doctoral thesis also aims at establishing the applicability of the model of education of national minorities through Model A, the realization of that model through the implementation of legal and international guidelines, as well as the communication and the role of the school library in the system of education. The educational model made up of the three types exposed through the proposed models A, B and C are presented on the example of Italian minority schools in Istria. The research was done using the method of questionnaires, the comparative method and the in-depth interview. For the presentation of the concept of multiculturality found in the school library, there is a presentation of activities done in school in order to satisfy the particular needs of the members of national minorities that have to do with the minority culture. The research was done in 15 schools that have the A program. Four kinds of questionnaires on a sample of 281 students, 277 teachers, 11 principals, 12 librarians, 8 educators and 5 psychologists have given us results on which to draw the conclusions and the direction of the changes of the educational role of school libraries in a multicultural community. The specific role of the school library in a Model A minority school, as a secondary result of the present research, showed that it is a model allowing Croatia to have developed intercultural assumptions on which to realize educational goals and information literacy in the language of national minorities. Statistically relevant differences in the assumptions for intercultural communication have been found in some schools and will be specifically dealt with in the presentation of the research. The research work began with a basic premise that the school library is an important part of the educational process and that it has specific features in schools with the A model educational program. The hypothesis was also postulated that school libraries in national minority schools develop particular services and activities in order to meet the needs of their users, members of the minority culture. Considering the intercultural communication assumptions in the making of the school library program, the librarians of minority schools in Croatia work in a changeable environment since there is a significant difference between the compliance of their own assessment and the correlation with the assessment for the same program by their colleagues teachers/librarians in Italy. The A Model proposed for the school library in teaching information literacy with the aim of foreseeing the communication behavior in a multicultural environment including the language of a minority, covers the educational function of the library and ensues the attainment of the proposed goals. Through the implementation of the primary goal we have also realized the secondary goal that meant to prove that information literacy in Model A schools is different from other educational environments and programs in Croatian schools. In the end we can say that the hypotheses have been confirmed: H1: The educational role of the school library has specific features in schools with education programmes following Model A. These specific features are expressed through the holdings, language and writing as well as the programmes that have to be supported by the library with its role in education. The support through the subject curriculum connected to the language and writing as well as historical and cultural elements. H2: School libraries in national minority schools develop special services and activities in order to answer the needs of the users who are members of the national minority culture. The hypothesis has been confirmed by comparing the programmes and the legal regulation and standards. The research has also shown that school libraries in national minority schools develop special services and activities in order to answer the needs of the users who are members of the national minority culture. H3: Changes in the educational paradigm condition changes of the multicultural programme of the school library. The hypothesis has been confirmed that changes in the educational paradigm condition changes of the multicultural programme of the school library. By changing the curriculum there are also changes in the program accompanying the structure of the population so that the role of the library in ensuring the right of the minority to use its language and writing in schools is secure. H4: The theoretical concept of multiculturality influences the approaches to information literacy. The hypothesis has been confirmed through the Model A minority school library programme, a model according to which there is a multicultural programme based on laws and standards enabling the realization of educational goals and information literacy in the language and writing of national minorities. We believe that this research and the obtained results will be useful for further research in this area and that the results will be used in practice in national minority school libraries.

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