Issue 123

The Information Fluency Framework (IFF) is a new tool for teacher librarians in primary and secondary settings. The IFF is the primary source of information outcomes and processes for teacher librarians in the NSW Department of Education to use together with Information skills in the school as a support document to the library policy.

What is the Information Fluency Framework?

Information fluency is the ability to critically think while engaging with, creating and utilising information and technology, regardless of the information platform or medium. (IFF p. 4)

The IFF was formulated in response to an identified need to support students to develop skills required for global citizenship. The Framework was developed collaboratively between 2018 and 2021 by a large group of teacher librarians working in the NSW Department of Education.

The skills in the IFF are (mainly) found in the general capabilities, which are now incorporated into every learning area syllabus. The Information Fluency Framework provides a structure for teacher librarians and teachers to use so they can work collaboratively to develop these skills in students. (IFF p. 5)

Structure

The IFF is a series of statements arranged along a progression from Early Stage 1 to Stage 6. It is divided into five elements: 

• Social
• Literate
• Innovative
• Critical
• Ethical

These are referred to by the acronym ‘SLICE’. These elements encourage teacher librarians to develop learning tasks from a range of viewpoints and explore them with their students.

Each of the elements is divided into strands which position students as consumers or creators of information (You can find an accessible version of the chart below on a separate page). 

 

This chart describes the attributes contained within each of the 5 learning elements.

Uses of the Information Fluency Framework

I was one of a small group of primary and secondary teacher librarians who participated in an IFF pilot project in Term 2, 2021. My positive experience prompted me to seek out the voices of others who participated in the pilot project. The results were published in the online education journal Scan. 

While there is no prescribed way to approach the IFF, there are many valid ways to use this flexible tool to support library programs. As a publicly available document, the IFF is free for all teacher librarians to use regardless of their educational setting. Here are some suggested ways to begin using the IFF:

• Try exploring the IFF through a Stage checklist (see next page). The Stage checklists are available as an appendix to the IFF.
• If you like starting from scratch, try the elements as a guide to the process. If you start with the Social element you can model best practice by considering the interests of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community as you commence your planning.  
• If you have an existing unit which you would like to review, you can do so by using the Stage checklists to audit your document, ticking off outcomes to gauge whether there are elements missing from your program. If the unit includes assessment tasks, start by matching those to IFF outcomes and work out into other areas of the unit. 
• If you are compiling a LearnPath or LibGuide, the IFF can guide your selection of resources for inclusion in the guides and highlight areas where those perspectives are missing.
• Here’s a challenge – find a text for which you need to write some learning resources. Examine the text for themes or sections that align with the five elements of the IFF. Use the IFF outcomes for inspiration and focus as you design the learning resources.  
• Using picture books with sophisticated themes is a powerful teaching practice to engage older students. There are loads of great curriculum-linked teaching resources based on picture books available as Shared Practice and Resource Kits (SPaRKs) on the Scan website. You can find them here:https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/sparks. Perhaps these resources will SPaRK your imagination!

Social Learning Progression

The IFF outcomes are aligned with sub-elements, which fit within each strand. This shows the Social element for the students as consumers strand:

Learning Stage	K	S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6
1. Appreciate and resolve diverse perspectives	IFFKS.1.1 express their opinions and listen to the opinions of others in given situations	IFF1S.1.1 identify the perspectives of others	IFF2S.1.1 identify and describe shared perspectives within and across various cultural groups	IFF3S.1.1 describe various perspectives on an issue	IFF4S.1.1 explain perspectives that differ, to expand their understanding of an issue	IFF5S.1.1 present diverse perspectives and the assumptions on which they are based	IFF5S.1.1 present diverse perspectives and the assumptions on which they are based
2. Understand how information is affected by cultural knowledge beliefs and practices	IFFKS.1.2 identify other cultures in their learning group to see how this affects information use	IFF1S.1.2 identify and explore culturally diverse activities and languages	IFF2S.1.2 describe and compare the way their own and other cultures live and communicate with people in other places or times	IFF3S.1.2 describe and compare a range of cultural stories, events, artefacts and communication methods	IFF4S.1.2 describe and compare the knowledge, beliefs and practices of various cultural groups	IFF5S.1.2 identify factors that contribute to understanding in intercultural communication and discuss some strategies to avoid misunderstanding	IFF6S.1.2 analyse the complex nature of information, knowledge, beliefs and practices to understand and enhance communication
3. Empathise across cultures	IFFKS.1.3 show an awareness of the feelings, needs and interests of others	IFF1S.1.3 imagine and describe their own feelings if they were put in someone else's place	IFF2S.1.3 imagine and describe the feelings of others in a range of unfamiliar contexts	IFF3S.1.3 describe the situations of others in local, national and global contexts	IFF4S.1.2 describe the feelings of others in situations across local, national and global contexts	IFF5S.1.3 describe the feelings and motivations of people in different situations	IFF6S.1.3 recognise the effect that empathising with others has on their own feelings, motivations and actions

Stage 3 checklist

Checklists for each stage are found in the appendix to the IFF. This is the Stage 3 checklist.

S	L	I	C	E
Social	Literate	Innovative	Critical	Ethical
IFF3S.1.1 describe various perspectives on an issue	IFF3L.1.1 independently locate and access information or literary texts and viewpoints	IFF3I.1.1 pose questions to expand and interpret information	IFF3C.1.1 discuss emotions and thoughts in response to different information sources	IFF3E.1.1 explain what constitutes an ethical decision and how it might be reached
IFF3S.1.2 describe and compare a range of cultural stories, events, artefacts and communication methods	IFF3L.1.2 interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing texts on similar topics or themes, including multimedia texts	IFF3S.1.2 expand on known ideas to create new ideas or understandings	IFF3C.1.2 use evidence to choose a course of action or reach a conclusion	IFF3E.1.2 discuss the consequence of different actions in relation to information use
IFF3S.1.3 describe the situations of others in local, national and global contexts	IFF3L.1.3 compare and contrast information between texts		IFF3C.1.3 identify and clarify relevant information and opinions and prioritise ideas
IFF3S.2.1 cooperatively develop information / knowledge using group expertise	IFF3L.2.1 compose texts for a range of purposes by selecting and discarding ideas to make texts suitable for familiar audiences and purposes	IFF3I.2.1 create and refine ideas and possibilities, suggesting alternative solutions	IFF3C.2.1 construct and demonstrate an idea	IFF3E.2.1 identify what constitutes an ethical decision and how it might be reached when creating information
IFF3S.2.2 discuss the value of diverse perspectives and describe a point  of view that is different to their own	IFF3L.2.2 plan and deliver presentations, incorporating learned content and appropriate visual and multimodal elements	IFF3I.2.2 assess and test options to pout ideas into action	IFF3C.2.2 use cause-effect statements to explain a claim, conclusion or outcome	IFF3E.2.2 identify the consequences of ethical decision-making in relation to information creation
IFF3S.2.3 identify a community need or problem and consider ways to act  to address it	IFF3S.2.3 identify a community need or problem and consider ways to act  to address it		IFF3S.2.3 identify a community need or problem and consider ways to act  to address it	IFF3E.2.3 apply rights and responsibilities when creating information

Opportunities to collaborate

The IFF represents an opportunity to build on the work of a collaborative group of teacher librarians. I encourage you to seek out a colleague and collaborate as you explore the IFF. Let the Framework guide you to trial new teaching strategies so your students meet IFF outcomes. Perhaps using the Framework will bring a new focus to your programming.

References

Grimmett, C. (2021). Trialling the Information Fluency Framework: A report from the pilot schools. Scan, 40(9).

NSW Department of Education (2021). Information Fluency Framework.