Ideology and Critical Self-Reflection in Information Literacy Instruction

Authors

Jessica Critten, University of West GeorgiaFollow

Subjects

ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education; information literacy; critical information literacy; critical pedagogy; ideology; hegemony; praxis

Document Type

Special Feature

Abstract

Information literacy instruction traditionally focuses on evaluating a source for bias, relevance, and timeliness, and rightfully so; this critical perspective is vital to a well-formed research process. However, this process is incomplete without a similar focus on the potential biases that the student brings to his or her interactions with information. This paper describes a case study of a semester-long information literacy course that utilized neo-Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser's figurations of ideology and ideological state apparatuses as a site of critical self-reflection for students and a method by which students could become empowered to recognize themselves as not just consumers, but shapers of discourse.

DOI

10.15760/comminfolit.2015.9.2.191

Downloads prior to this publication

1017

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22371

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Critten, J. (2015). Ideology and Critical Self-Reflection in Information Literacy Instruction. Communications in Information Literacy, 9 (2), 145-156. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2015.9.2.191