Abstract
Bambgose (2024) states ‘with the information landscape becoming increasingly diverse and demanding, educators are recognizing the significance of guiding learners in their engagement with this environment as an integral part of their formal educational journey’. However, Information Literacy teaching is more commonly associated with higher education, as Taylor & DiGiacomo (2023) discovered ‘the extant scholarly literature on IL, appeared to be most empirically situated within the higher education context’. This is likely a result of the priority of the National Curriculum in England to teach core competencies over critical thinking skills (Pavey 2024). There are several models that support the teaching of Information Literacy in schools, e.g. Big6, FOSIL, PLUS; but there is no one dominant approach.
A recent KS3 curriculum review at my school, was focussed on embedding inquiry-based learning. Harada (2004) describes inquiry-focused learning as ‘a process that provokes deeper thinking and investigation and greater student motivation to learn’; this reflects the school’s intentions perfectly, to make our pupils independent learners, better able to cope with A-Levels and later university education. The FOSIL method (https://fosil.org.uk/fosil-cycle/), was chosen to underpin a series of inquiry led modules taught on a rotation, in year 7 and 8, called Illuminate.
Being able to evaluate and use information is a key component of inquiry-based learning. As Librarian, I was asked to design and deliver a module teaching information literacy. The short rotation (five 50-minute lessons) means that I only cover basic skills such as, finding, evaluating and citing sources, and creating a bibliography. The pupils then work in groups to produce a game which teaches these skills to others. Whilst games that teach information literacy exist (De Le Hera et al. 2024), these are generally produced by professionals. Allowing pupils to design and produce games enables us to see how well they understand the concepts.
Pupils have enjoyed the process of producing the game and their designs have been imaginative. The limited timeframe means that they must be creative. Game design and content have varied - from simple matching games to more complicated monopoly style games - with some pupils more easily incorporating their learning into it than others. However, they have all been proud to share their game, receiving peer feedback on design, learning, enjoyment. The plan is to choose the best games from the whole year and reproduce them so that pupils can play them in the common room.
Pupil feedback is positive, and we have already seen pupils choosing more reliable sources of information for homework. The real test will be when these pupils come to undertake an HPQ in Year 9. In September 2026, we will be adding in a separate rotation on disinformation / misinformation where pupils will learn more about the reliability of sources and why they should fact check information.
In my presentation, I will share an overview of my information literacy rotation of lessons, showcase the variety of games created by pupils and share some more details of the outcomes.
References
BAMBGOSE, A. A. (2024) Information Literacy and Learning in the Emerging Digital Landscape: a theoretical review, Library Philosophy and Practice, 8125
DE LA HERA, T. et al. (2024) Digital literacy games: a systematic literature review, Frontiers in Communication, 9
GARRISON, K. and ODDONE, K. (2025) “It is a skill everybody needs to learn”: Australian teacher librarians steering secondary schools through shifting information landscapes, Journal of Information Literacy, 19(1)
HARADA, V. & YOSHINA, J. (2004) Moving from Rote to Inquiry: Creating Learning That Counts, Library Media Connection, 23.
KERSLAKE, L. and HANNAM, J. (2023) Designing Media and Information Literacy Curricula in English Primary Schools: children’s perceptions of the internet and ability to navigate online information, Irish Educational Studies, 49(1)
LAMONT, E.L. (2021) An investigation into secondary school teachers’ understanding, perception and practice of information literacy and continuous professional development, Reflective Professional, 1
PAVEY, S., GOLDSTEIN, S. and MARTZOUKOU, K. (2024) View from the BRIDGE: information and digital literacy for primary schools. Presented at the 2024 Librarians' information literacy annual conference (LILAC 2024), 25-27 March 2024, Leeds, UK. Hosted on Slideshare [online]. Available from: https://tinyurl.com/LILAC-2024-pavey
TAYLOR, C. and DiGiacomo, D. (2023) Approaches to Information Literacy Conceptualisation in Primary, Secondary, and Higher Education Contexts: A review of current scholarly literature, Journal of Information Literacy, 17(1)
YUKAWA, J and HARADA, V. (2009) Librarian-Teacher Partnerships for Inquiry Learning: Measures of Effectiveness for a Practice-Based Model of Professional Development, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 4(2)
