Civic Media Literacies
eBook - ePub

Civic Media Literacies

Re-Imagining Human Connection in an Age of Digital Abundance

Paul Mihailidis

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  1. 172 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Civic Media Literacies

Re-Imagining Human Connection in an Age of Digital Abundance

Paul Mihailidis

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About This Book

Civic life today is mediated. Communities small and large are now using connective platforms to share information, engage in local issues, facilitate vibrant debate, and advocate for social causes. In this timely book, Paul Mihailidis explores the texture of daily engagement in civic life, and the resources—human, technological, and practical—that citizens employ when engaging in civic actions for positive social impact. In addition to examining the daily civic actions that are embedded in media and digital literacies and human connectedness, Mihailidis outlines a model for empowering young citizens to use media to meaningfully engage in daily life.

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1
Articulating Concern versus the Capacity to Act

In the fall of 2014, the small suburban Massachusetts town of Chelmsford was stirred by news about problems with their public school budget. The superintendent of schools announced an unexpected budget shortfall caused by various factors within and beyond the school district. As an immediate emergency measure, it was announced that the school would relieve three administrators from their positions immediately. One was a newly appointed department head of English Language Arts, one was the department head of Science, and one was the head of school libraries. The announcement came weeks into the 2014 school year and took the town by surprise. Questions and inquiries about the nature of the budget shortfall, about who was responsible, and about what impact such cuts to educators would have on the schools came in abundance. The school committee, whose responsibility was to oversee and approve budgetary decisions, had approved the emergency measure, and now the town was looking for explanations.
In the wake of increasing inquiries, the town school and finance committees and Board of Selectmen, along with the town manager, began exploring the nature of the budget shortfall and the legality of relieving administrators from their duties in the middle of a school year. As information about the decisions was revealed, budget numbers showed that beyond a shortfall, there were budget appropriations that exacerbated the financial crisis. With each new revelation of information that emerged, town residents became increasingly interested in understanding the ramifications of the shortfall, reasons for its emergence, the impact it would have on tax dollars, and the reputation of the highly regarded Chelmsford school system.
As the fallout continued, residents were concerned not only about tax dollars and budgets and the reputation of the public schools, but also the impact these layoffs would have on the quality of student learning. The school superintendent announced a plan to temporarily fill the lost positions with existing employees who would cover them in a part-time capacity until the budget deficit could be remedied and positions restored. There was one small problem with this plan, and that is the background of the Chelmsford High School Library, and its librarian, Valerie Diggs.
The Chelmsford High School Library was no ordinary place. It was not a place that demanded quiet. It was not full of old dusty books and students studying in silence. It was not a place where high school students convened to waste time between classes. It was not a place where students were forced to go and sit because they had nothing better to do. This Chelmsford High School Library had been transformed, a few years earlier, into one of the first K–12 public school learning commons in the United States.
A learning commons model for school libraries developed in the early 21st century in response to the need for spaces of learning and engagement aligned with how young people access, evaluate, and use information in an increasingly digital-centric age.1 Libraries, in part, have always had to consider their value proposition. School libraries have historically sat at the center of knowledge for public schools, and they often face pressures to respond and adapt to new media technologies and platforms that impact how people engage with information. Amid all the technological disruption, school libraries remain the central pulse for teaching and learning across curricula, disciplines, and initiatives in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions of learning.
Positioning libraries as learning commons allows them to respond more fluidly to the rapidly evolving digital media age. The learning commons model supports the goal of what information scientists Carol Koechlin, Sandi Zwaan, and David Loertscher call a “collaborative learning community” where “improving learning and achievement for each and every student”2 responds directly to the realities of a robust digital culture.3
In the American Association of School Librarians standards published in 2007, they define a clear path for school libraries to become more vibrant, engaged, and learner centered. The standards—(1) inquiry, think critically, and gain knowledge; (2) draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge; (3) share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society; and (4) pursue personal and aesthetic growth—provide a framework for which school libraries can work dynamically to better serve their students, teachers, and communities.4 Valerie Diggs embraced these standards in her vision for Chelmsford High School Learning Commons. Diggs’s transformation of the library space and mission propelled Chelmsford High School to regional and national exposure.
At the Chelmsford High School Learning Commons, books were placed on the periphery of the physical space, or placed onto tablets for loan, or placed in a storage facility and available upon request. The new space was designed for openness, collaboration, and engagement. Coffee and pastries were available each morning for students. Couches, booths, high-top tables, and large surface areas centered the learning commons space. Student art hung on the walls. A large performance area anchored one end of the commons, with the motto painted above that read, “We set sail on the sea because there is knowledge to be gained—John F. Kennedy.”
In this new space, Diggs offered listening lunches, where students read poetry and short stories to captive audiences. On Fridays, the learning commons hosted poetry slams, live performances by student bands, play rehearsals and other creative expression by students and teachers. Diggs was constantly sourcing new ideas from students for how the learning commons could best support their learning ambitions at Chelmsford High School. The only rule for entering the library was to treat peers, librarians, and teachers with respect. Silence was no longer the sole mandate of the space. Learning here was expressive, engaging, inclusive, and fun.
At the launch of the new space in 2009, Diggs was accompanied by Massachusetts State Representatives, local politicians, school committee members, and the Board of Selectmen. Scholars flew into Boston from around the United States to offer their support and words of praise for Diggs’s efforts. Administrators from the American Library Association and the Massachusetts School Library Association also attended, acknowledging the first learning commons in the state of Massachusetts.
After the learning commons launched, it received local and national media coverage. Librarians visited from all over to see the space, and journalists came to interview teachers and inquire about how the space had changed their teaching approaches and use of the school library. Diggs flew around the country talking about her space and how she saw the transformation of pedagogies connected to the library. It was now, according to many of the teachers at Chelmsford High School, the most vibrant learning space in the entire school.
This was both a professional and personal triumph for Valerie Diggs. She was a resident of Chelmsford for all of her adult life, raising four kids in the school systems, actively participating in local town activities and volunteer opportunities. She had what social scientist Robert Putnam described as high bonding and bridging social capital.5 A teacher by training, when she decided to return to school to pursue graduate studies, she focused on information and library science. It was while pursuing graduate studies that Diggs sensed a need for change in how the library was positioned in the school, and how the space interacted with students and with technologies.
In 2009, with generous support from the town of Chelmsford, Diggs created the Chelmsford High School Learning Commons. The new motto that all students and teachers passed as they entered the learning commons was Ask, Think, Create.
* * *
In fall of 2014, when the Superintendent of Chelmsford Public Schools announced the position cuts, and as news of the financial problems was further exposed, there was one person whose firing did not sit well with the town, and that was Valerie Diggs.6
After news of her firing emerged in mid-September 2014, there was an immediate outcry from the librarian community and the town. Because of her connections in the community, she needed not to write or express her own dismay—the community did that for her. As more information was revealed, there was an immediate outpouring of letters and emails to Valerie, the superintendent, and the school committee members. As Diggs consulted with friends, colleagues, consultants, and family about if and how she should respond, and handle media inquiries, a social media network was emerging.
I was involved in this movement. I am the son of Valerie Diggs and grew up in this town, and have nothing but praise for how Chelmsford High School helped prepare me for adulthood. As the outpouring of support came in, Valerie did not know the best form for responding, and so those close to her began to help. A Facebook page was set up to gather the collective voices of the community, to share new information when it arose, and to ask for the community to help. The Facebook page was titled “Support Val Diggs.” Early in its iteration, the page was a space for people to share information and updates on the process, and for the sharing of media coverage of the events, updates on school committee meetings, and other general information as it unfolded. The page swelled to almost 1,500 followers in just two weeks’ time.
After such a growth in a short time, supporters of Valerie Diggs launched small campaigns to help her cause. There was a growing movement for petitioning the school committee to reinstate Valerie Diggs and her work at the learning commons. Beyond the legal problems associated with firing her (which were later the reason for her reinstatement), there was a dearth of activity in the learning commons, and students and teachers were suffering. The Facebook page became home base for capturing those narratives and sharing them with the community. The page was also used to publish requests. For example, members of the school library community launched a letter writing campaign, which garnered dozens of letters written by teachers, students, academics, librarians, and prominent organizations from around the world. The letters were sent to the school committee, to the superintendent, and even to the town manager of Chelmsford. These letters galvanized supporters and created a groundswell of attention on the learning commons and Valerie Diggs.
At the same time, the Support Val Diggs Facebook page served the important function of sharing factual information about the budget shortfall as it was released by the town, local media, and school and finance officials. The school committee, finance committee, and town manager visited the page during this time, answering questions, engaging in dialog, and sharing information. Local journalists were regularly present, asking questions and requesting interviews as events unfolded.
The Support Val Diggs page served a vital facilitation function in this situation. It was home base for information dissemination and communication about an issue that had gripped a town. To residents of Chelmsford, this was about power, education, and taxes. It was about youth, community, and belonging. It was about the reputation of their schools and the reputation of the town for new and existing families. This issue spoke to the most personal and emotional connections people have to their towns. As a result, and not surprisingly, this issue also polarized the town.
After about a month, the Support Val Diggs Facebook page became, like many pages that host sensitive and personal topics, polarizing. As the page continued to reach more in the community, it became a stage for debates far greater than the issue at hand. Community members who were advocating for more budget constraint and wasteful education spending started to express opinions. Debates emerged in the c...

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