Norm Critical Projects in Swedish School Librarian Practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/njlis.v3i2.132277Keywords:
education, Sweden, critical pedagogy, democracy, gender, LGBTQ , Scandinavia, norm critique, theory of practice architectures, sexuality, school librarianAbstract
In this article, we explore the practices of school librarians with a specific focus on norm critical pedagogy, a distinctively Scandinavian concept with a basis in critical pedagogies. In Sweden, norm critique is a practice, a pedagogy and a discourse. Our article offers examples of school librarian practices that deal with issues of sexuality and gender conceptualized in their work with LGBTQ+ literature from a norm critical perspective. We analysed semi-structured interviews with eight librarians in four secondary and upper secondary schools through the lens of the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008). Our findings demonstrate how the norm critical practices of school librarians are enabled and constrained by arrangements within the school site, as well as by management, colleagues and professional learning practices. The projects carried out by school librarians that employ norm critical perspectives are both strengthened and challenged by collaboration with principals and other education professionals at the school site. When teachers challenge the views of librarians, they the latter have to re-think and re-negotiate normative positions. Hence, norm critical thinking is not only taught but also practiced in the everyday work in school libraries. This article argues that these norm critical perspectives and the librarians’ practices represent important contributions to the democratic assignment of Swedish schools.
References
Accardi, M.T., Drabinski, E. & Kumbier, A. (Eds.) (2010). Critical library instruction: Theories and methods. Library Juice Press, LLC.
Bannister, M.E. (2020). School Library as a Safe Harbor for LGBTQ Students and Families. Knowledge Quest, 48(3), E1–E6. http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/KNOW_48_3_OE_SchoolLibrary.pdf
Beilin, I. (2016). Student Success and the Neoliberal Academic Library. Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, 1, 17–23. https://doi.org/10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v1.24303
Berg, L. & Oscarsson, H. (2015). Supervalåret 2014: Demokratistatistik: Rapport, 20. Statistiska centralbyrån. https://valforskning.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1654/1654214_berg-superval--r-me0106_2014a01s_br_me09br1503-1-.pdf
Bibliotekslag (2013:801). https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/bibliotekslag-2013801_sfs-2013-801
Biesta, G.J. (2011). Learning Democracy in School and Society: Education, Lifelong Learning, and the Politics of Citizenship. Springer Science & Business Media.
Bikos, G., Papadimitriou, P. & Giannakopoulos, G.A. (2014). School libraries’ impact on secondary education: a users’ study. Library Review, 63(6/7), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1108/LR-11-2013-0139
Brade, L. (2008). I normens öga: metoder för en normbrytande undervisning. Stockholm: Friends.
Bromseth, J. & Darj, F. (2010). Normkritisk pedagogik: makt, lärande och strategier för förändring. Centrum för genusvetenskaps skriftserie, Uppsala Universitet.
Brors, H. (2012). Femtio nyanser av sadistvåld. Feministiskt perspektiv, November 24. https://feministisktperspektiv.se/2012/11/24/femtio-nyanser-av-sadistvald/
Centerwall, U. (2022) Att ta plats och göra skillnad. Skolbibliotekariepraktiker i framgångsrika verksamheter. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Borås].
Christensen, J.F. (2020). Weird ways of normalizing: Queering diversity research through norm critique. In S.N. Just, A. Risberg, and F. Villesèche (Eds.). The Routledge Companion to Organizational Diversity Research Methods (pp. 59–72).
Clyde, L.A. & Lobban, M. (2001). A door half open: Young people’s access to fiction related to homosexuality. School Libraries Worldwide, 7(2) 17–30.
Dines, G. (2014). Rethinking Fifty Shades of Grey within a feminist media context. Journal of Women's Health, 23(9), i-ii. http://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2014.1512
Denzin, N.K. (2001). The reflexive interview and a performative social science. Qualitative Research, 1(1), 23–46.
Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think. New York: D. C. Heath & Co.
Downey, J. (2013). Self-censorship in selection of LGBT-themed materials. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 53(2), 104-107. https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.53n2.104
Farmer, L.S.J. (2009). School library Media Specialist Collaboration with Special Education Personnel in Support of Student Learning. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 4(2), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8R02B
Francis, B.H., Lance, K.C. & Lietzau, Z. (2010). School librarians continue to help students achieve standards: The third Colorado study (Closer Look Report), Colorado State Library, Library Research Service. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED514556.pdf
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Foster, C. & McMenemy, D. (2012). Do librarians have a shared set of values? A comparative study of 36 codes of ethics based on Gorman’s enduring values. Journal of librarianship and information science, 44(4), 249–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000612448592
Garry, C.P. (2015). Selection or Censorship? School Librarians and LGBTQ Resources. School Libraries Worldwide, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.29173/slw6884
Gibson, A. (2006). Disability Support Services, Victoria University of Wellington. In P. Hernon & P. Calvert (Eds.), Improving the Quality of Library Services for Students with Disabilities (pp. 57–66). Libraries Unlimited.
Grannäs, J. (2011). Framtidens demokratiska medborgare: Om ungdomar, medborgarskap och demokratifostran i svensk skola [Doctoral Dissertation, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis].
Gärdén, C. (2017). Skolbibliotekets roll för elevers lärande: en forsknings-och kunskapsöversikt år 2010-2015. Kungliga Biblioteket, Nationell biblioteksstrategi.
Hakvoort, I. & Olsson, E. (2014). The school’s democratic mission and conflict resolution: voices of Swedish educators. Curriculum inquiry, 44(4), 531–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12059
Hartzell, G. (1997). The invisible school librarian: Why other educators are blind to your value. School Library Journal, 43(11), 24–29.
Haycock, K. (2011). Connecting British Columbia (Canada) school libraries and student achievement: A comparison of higher and lower performing schools with similar overall funding. School Libraries Worldwide, 17(1), 37–50. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=slis_pub
Hughes-Hassell, S., Overberg, E. & Harris, S. (2013). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ)-Themed Literature for Teens: Are School Libraries Providing Adequate Collections? School Library Research, 16, 1–18. https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol16/SLR_LGBTQThemedLiteratureforTeens_V16.pdf
IFLA/UNESCO School library manifesto (1999/2020). https://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-unesco-school-library-manifesto-1999/
Kaplan, A. (2007). School Library Impact Studies and School Library Media Programs in the United States. School Libraries Worldwide, 16(2), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.29173/slw6807
Kemmis, S. & Grootenboer. P. (2008). Situating praxis in practice: Practice architectures and the cultural, social, and material conditions for practice. In S. Kemmis (Ed.) Enabling praxis: Challenges for Education (Vol. 1, pp. 37–62.). Sense Publishers.
Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P. & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Springer Science & Business Media.
Knapp, C. (2022). Creating safe and inclusive spacing for LGBT2Q+ youth in public and school libraries. Journal of Library Administration, 62(6), 847–855.
Lance, K.C. & Kachel. D.E. (2018). Why school librarians matter: What years of research tell us. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(7), 15–20. https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/
Langelotz, L. (2017). Kollegialt lärande i praktiken: Kompetensutveckling eller kollektiv korrigering? Natur och kultur.
Langelotz, L. & Mahon, K. (2021). Risk for professional learning when the academic community is forced online. Studies in Continuing Education 44(2), 284-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2021.1928054
Lawton, A. (2015). The invisible librarian: a librarian’s guide to increasing visibility and impact. Chandos Publishing.
Mahon, K., Francisco, S. & Lloyd, A. (2018). Practice architectures and being stirred into academic practices of a research group. In Groves, C.E., Grootenboer, P., & J. Wilkinson (Eds.) Education in an Era of Schooling: Critical perspectives of educational practice and action research. A festschrift for Stephen Kemmis (pp. 167–181). Springer.
Mahon, K., Kemmis, S., Francisco, S. & Lloyd, A. (2017). Introduction: Practice theory and the theory of practice architectures. In Mahon, K., Francisco, S., & S. Kemmis (Eds.) Exploring education and professional practice (pp. 1–30). Springer.
Martinsson, L. & Reimers, E. (Eds.) (2020). Skola i normer. (3rd ed.). Gleerups.
Mehra, B. & Gray, L. (2014). “Don’t Say Gay” in the State of Tennessee: Libraries as Virtual Spaces of Resistance and Protectors of Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) People. Paper IFLA WLIC 2014 - Lyon - Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge in Session 151 - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning Users Special Interest Group. In: IFLA WLIC 2014, 16-22 August 2014, Lyon, France. https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1011/1/151-mehra-en.pdf
Mooney Simmie, G. & Edling, S. (2019). Teachers’ democratic assignment: a critical discourse analysis of teacher education policies in Ireland and Sweden. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 40(6), 832–846. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2018.1449733
Nye, V. & Barco, K. (Eds.) (2012). True stories of censorship battles in America’s libraries. American Library Association.
Oltmann, S.M. (2015). Variables related to school media center LGBT collections. Libri, 65(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2014-0069
Oltmann, S.M. (2016). “They kind of rely on the library”: School librarians serving LGBT students. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 7(1), 1–23. https://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2016/03/they-kind-of-rely-on-the-library-school-librarians-serving-lgbt-students/
Pilerot, O., Hammarfelt, B. & Moring, C. (2017). The many faces of practice theory in library and information studies. Information Research, 22(1). https://informationr.net/ir/22-1/colis/colis1602.html
Reimers, E. (2008). Asexuell heteronormativitet? In L. Martinsson & E. Reimers (Eds.) Skola i normer. (3rd ed.). (pp. 97–130). Gleerups.
Ricci C. (2020). Democracy Under Attack: Learning, Schooling, and the Media. In P. Trifonas (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education (pp. 299–311). Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer.
Sacco Ritchie, C. (2011). The self-perceived status of school librarians. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 43(2), 88–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000610390994
Samuelsson, S. (2016). Normkritik, hbtq och folkbibliotek: Ett försök. Regionbibliotek Stockholms skriftserie. 16.
Schatzki, T.R. (2002). The site of the social: A philosophical account of the constitution of social life and change. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Shaper, S. & Streatfield, D. (2012). Invisible care? The role of librarians in caring for the ‘whole pupil’ in secondary schools. Pastoral Care in Education, 30(1), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2011.651225
SFS (2010). Skollagen [Swedish School Law] (2010:800). (9th ed.). Norstedts juridic.
Sjølie, E., Francisco, S. & Langelotz, L. (2019). Communicative learning spaces and learning to become a teacher. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 27(3), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2018.1500392
Sturge, J. J. (2021). School Libraries and Diversity of LGBTQ+ Voice: A Study of Equity and Practice [Doctoral dissertation, Point Park University].
Subramaniam, M., Oxley, R. & Kodama, C. (2013). School Librarians as Ambassadors of Inclusive Information Access for Students with Disabilities. School Library Research, 16, 1–34. https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol16/SLR_SchoolLibrariansasAmbassadorsofInclusiveInformationAccess_V16.pdf
Svaleryd, K. & Hjertson, M. (2012). Likabehandling i förskola & skola. Liber.
Swedish Research Council (2017). God forskningssed. Revised 2017. Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet. https://www.vr.se/analys/rapporter/vara-rapporter/2017-08-29-god-forskningssed.html
Tewell, E.C. (2018). The practice and promise of critical information literacy: academic librarians’ involvement in critical library instruction. College & Research Libraries, 79(1), 10–34. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.1.10
Vaillancourt, T. (2013). Libraries as Safe Spaces: It Behooves Librarians to Figure Out How to Serve LGBTQ Patrons. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2012/12/11/libraries-as-safe-spaces/
Wexelbaum, R. (2016). The Library as Safe Space. In The Future of Library Space (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 36) (pp. 37–78). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0732-067120160000036002
Wexelbaum, R.S. (2018). Do libraries save LGBT students?. Library Management, 39(1/2), 31–58. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-02-2017-0014
Williams, V.K. & Deyoe, N. (2015). Controversy and diversity: LGBTQ titles in academic library youth collections. Library Resources & Technical Services, 59(2), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.59n2.62
Willis, R. (2019). The use of composite narratives to present interview findings. Qualitative Research, 19(4), 471–480. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794118787711
Yin, R.K. (1981). The case study as a serious research strategy. Knowledge, 3(1), 97–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/107554708100300106
Åkesson, E. (2016). Normer, normmedvetenhet och normkritik. Stockholm: Skolverket.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 2023-01-20 (3)
- 2023-01-16 (2)
- 2022-12-30 (1)
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Ulrika Centerwall, Lill Langelotz
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.