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IL training
Information literacy training for teachers
for teachers in rural South Africa
Ina Fourie
Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, 303
Pretoria, South Africa, and
Kirstin Krauss
Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract
Purpose – Information literacy (IL) training for teachers in developing communities, e.g. rural areas
or townships in developing countries, is expected to pose special challenges in terms of sustainability,
contextualisation, life-long learning and empowerment. Little has been reported on such training in
developing countries. Based on the authors’ involvement in a UNESCO-funded IL training project for
teachers in a developing community in South Africa, the purpose of this paper is to review literature
and to suggest a model that can further research and training in IL that meets actual requirements and
needs of developing communities.
Design/methodology/approach – Literature reviews on four issues are reported on: ICT skills,
teachers and developing/rural contexts; IL skills, teachers and developing communities; internet usage,
search skills, teachers and developing communities; and lessons from ICT for development (ICT4D).
Findings – ICT4D literature and critical social theory seem useful to further research on IL training
in developing communities as it empowers researchers to take up a position of enquiry that questions
the value of ICT and the underlying assumptions embedded in the ways ICT is introduced in
developing contexts. It is assumed that this would also apply to IL.
Originality/value – The contribution is original in its attempt to combine IL and ICT training for
teachers in a developing community against an ICT4D background.
Keywords South Africa, Developing countries, Computer literacy, Information literacy,
Internet searching, Information communication technology, Teachers
Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction
According to the Alexandria Proclamation of 2005 (UNESCO, 2008), information
literacy (IL) is recognised as: “a basic human right in the digital world” because it
empowers individuals “in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information
effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals”.
This is in line with calls for IL skills in academic and workplace, civil society, and
health contexts (Cheuk, 1998; McMahon and Bruce, 2002; Craig, 2009). According to
Usluel (2007, p. 93) and supported by Kim et al. (2008, p. 1683):
Information literacy skills are among the key skills required for success in information-based
societies. Consequently, teachers who undertake the responsibility of teaching and leading
others should possess these skills. Developing a high level of efficacy in these skills will also
Journal of Systems and Information
affect the success of teacher work performance and personal success in an increasingly Technology
information-based society. Vol. 13 No. 3, 2011
pp. 303-321
According to Idiodi (2005, p. 223), IL is of equal importance in any state or society q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1328-7265
the world over; each country should develop its own national IL policy that takes DOI 10.1108/13287261111164871
JSIT into account international IL standards and indicators to “make it its own in some
13,3 form or another, so that it becomes implemented successfully at the level of practice.”
There are numerous guidelines and standards that may influence IL training programs
for teachers, e.g. the Big6, ALA guidelines in various contexts, SCONUL pillars of IL,
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the IFLA guidelines on IL
and life-long learning (the Appendix). It might, however, be necessary to adapt these
304 for developing countries.
Literature searches showed little on the real challenges of introducing IL in
developing communities, namely the contextualisation and alignment of training
programs with the needs, experiences, expectations and realities faced by
communities. This article will, therefore, first assess the existing body of literature
on issues of IL training for teachers, and then suggest a model building on information
technology for development (ICT4D) to further research that can address issues of
concern.
The article therefore:
.
gives background to a UNESCO-funded project on IL for teachers in a developing
community that stimulated the need for a model to further research;
.
contextualises teacher training in IL skills in rural SA against a theoretical
literature review on ICT and IL training for teachers and internet usage;
. explores literature on ICT4D for guidelines on addressing issues of
sustainability, contextualisation, life-long learning and empowering teachers
as information mediators, as well as the subsequent choices for implementing
ICT and IL training programs for teachers in developing communities; and
.
presents a model on the methodological approach and position of enquiry for
investigating and implementing IL (and ICT) training in developing
communities.

2. Background to the teacher training project leading to the need for a model
This article follows on an IL teacher training partnership between two departments
from the School of Information Technology at the University of Pretoria (UP) (i.e. the
Department of Informatics and the Department of Information Science) and UNESCO
(providing funding and other support) to train teachers from a developing community
in South Africa in IL.
The engagement between the UP and Valley of Hope[1] Primary School in the
Valley of Hope community started late in 2008 through a friendship between
a Department of Informatics’ staff member and the headmistress of the school. As
a result the Department of Informatics donated ten computers to the school. During
follow-up visits to the school where relationships were strengthened, the teacher
community expressed the need for skills to effectively use the donated computers.
Learning from prior community engagement initiatives and having collaborated with
UNESCO in an ICT training project in 2009 (Krauss et al., 2009), a project proposal was
formulated that considered the teacher community’s needs and a request from
UNESCO to test their draft media and IL (MIL) curriculum. In February 2010, UNESCO
approved a grant. Two training courses for teachers were designed and registered
through continuing education at UP (http://ceatup.co.za).
 The courses started in May 2010 and involved a 50-h program over nine Saturdays. IL training
In total, 43 teachers from the Valley of Hope community were trained, first, in ICT for teachers
literacy and then in IL. The training builds on UNESCO’s draft MIL curriculum, but
was adapted to meet with the needs of the teachers as working adults in a developing
community.
The Valley of Hope Primary School is situated in the Valley of Hope community
approximately 70 km from Pretoria, SA. The school has an enrolment of 1,215 pupils, 305
27 teachers, and eight administrative staff. It is a township community, disadvantaged
in terms of social and economic life. Most people stay in informal settlements and are
mostly unemployed, making it difficult for parents to pay school fees. A high level
of illiteracy makes it difficult for parents to engage in their children’s schoolwork.
The school has programs on HIV/AIDS and holds regular awareness activities trying
to make learners and communities aware of its plight. It, however, still has to deal with
a high rate of learners who are orphans – 41 at the time of writing.
The above is similar to reports on the socio-cultural conditions faced by teachers in
rural areas in SA (Mokgalabone, 1999) and Chikoko (2008) on developing teachers for
rural education in KwaZulu-Natal (SA). A search on three SA databases available
through Sabinet (http://sabinet.co.za) namely SACat, SAePublication and ISAP for the
words “teacher/teachers” and “rural” appearing in the title retrieved only a few
references. This, points to a dire need to deepen understanding of teacher IL and ICT
training in rural South Africa.
Against the educational context sketched, the teacher training at Valley of Hope
Primary School was initiated bearing the potential advantages of ICT and internet
skills for teachers in a developing community in mind, and acknowledging the
challenges and barriers they may face. Advantages include access to vast resources of
information they can tailor to their circumstances, enhancing the quality of teaching,
and learning from international expertise. challenges and barriers noted in previous
ICT training initiatives in another rural community in SA (Krauss et al., 2009; Krauss,
2009b) sensitised the researchers to the difficulties and realities of ICT training
initiatives in developing communities (Section 3.4).
Two courses were offered:
(1) The basic applied computer literacy course addressing ICT skills as
a requirement for IL.
(2) Information literacy for teachers.

The decision to build the IL training on ICT skills builds on views by Idiodi (2005),
Usluel (2007) and Hinclliffe (2003, p. 7) who argue that:
[. . .] the impact of technology on the conceptualization of information is two-fold: technology
serves as a catalyst for developing a rationale for the importance of the concept and as
a mechanism for focusing attention on specific issues within the broader concept of
information literacy.
In planning the two courses, the existing literature concerning various relevant facets
had to be noted. There were very few explicit guidelines on planning for teachers
in rural SA. Neither is there a strong theoretical base nor methodological depth.
The emphasis is mostly on issues such as accessing attitudes, barriers, self-efficacy
and practical applications. Critical reflection on the needs of developing communities
JSIT and developing countries feature scantly. The need, therefore, arised for an in-depth
13,3 literature review and a model that can guide training and research with recognition of
challenges faced (Sections 3 and 4).
The following two sections briefly report on the two funded courses.

2.1 The basic applied computer literacy course

306 The basic applied computer literacy course mainly attempted to introduce teachers to
the basics of computing. It is a 25-h training course where we focused on the use of
Microsoft Office suite, because it is the office automation application of choice by the
school and in most organisations worldwide. The course was, therefore, relevant in the
work place. Although this was an instructor led course, every teacher used a computer
individually. Our strategy was to individualize and motivate them to focus on how
computing can have a positive and significant impact on the way they carry out their
work, teaching and administrative tasks.
Course content focused on the basic concepts of computing (using Microsoft
Windows XP) and productivity applications software (Microsoft Word and Microsoft
Excel). Based on UNESCO’s ICT competency standards for teachers policy framework
(UNESCO, 2008), the overarching objectives of the course were to:
(1) describe and demonstrate the use of common hardware technologies;
(2) describe and demonstrate the basic tasks and uses of word processors; and
(3) use record keeping software to take attendance, submit grades, and maintain
student records.

Lessons learnt from previous UNESCO-funded ICT training (Krauss et al., 2009;
Krauss, 2009b) influenced the planning. In establishing requirements, we tried
to measure the level of knowledge and education the course participants have
(for appropriate knowledge transfer). To attain the continuous use of the knowledge
(to conduct knowledge deepening) (UNESCO, 2008), we elicited the job descriptions and
functions of the teachers in their school work and community. These were used to
formulate the learning materials and assessment.

2.2 The information literacy for teachers course

The IL course build on the UNESCO draft MIL curriculum, the literature as set out in
Section 3.2, a selection of textbooks on teaching IL (Eisenberg et al., 2004; Torras and
Saetre, 2009), and the IL models and standards mentioned in the introduction
(the Appendix).
The focus of the IL course was on internet search skills within the wider context of
available information sources. The use of web sites, search engines and other search
tools were contextualized against the need to also consider other resources, and to use
the best available sources for specific situations. Apart from teaching tasks, the course
also addressed information on non-teaching tasks, e.g. offering support to children
affected by HIV/AIDS and social issues such as environmental protection. Teachers
were sensitised to critical media literacy and the need to help students and their
parents to become media-literate (UNESCO, 2008; Torres and Mercado, 2006).
The course addressed recognising an information need, translating an information
need into search terms and search strategies, effective use of search tools such as
Google and raising awareness of other search tools, e.g. for finding images and videos.
Exercises, examples and assessment were contextualized in the daily tasks of teachers IL training
and the context they face. for teachers
3. Contextualising teacher training in IL in rural SA against a literature
review
Various types of literacy are mentioned in the subject literature. These include ICT
literacy, media literacy, IL, and MIL (UNESCO, 2008). Since IL is the key focus, only 307
this term will be clarified.
According to Behrens (1994) the term IL was first coined in 1974. Many definitions
have since then been noted, the most popular being the ACRL and the American
Library Association’s definition. The Council of Australian University Librarians’
reference to personal issues, the broader society and life-long learning especially seems
useful in the rural education context portrayed in Section 2. They define IL as
“the ability to define, locate, access, evaluate and use information to help resolve
personal, job-related or broader social issues and problems, as part of a life-long
learning strategy” (Council of Australian University Librarians as cited by Aharony,
2010, p. 261). Donner and Gorman (2006) offer the only definition allowing for
developing countries. Using their definition and the Council of Australian University
Librarians’ definition the following operational definition is suggested for this article.
IL is the ability of individuals or groups:
.
to be aware of why, how and by whom information is created, communicated and
controlled, and how it contributes to the construction of knowledge;
.
to understand when information can be used to improve their daily living or
to contribute to the resolution of needs related to specific situations, such as work
or school;
.
to know how to locate information and to critique its relevance and
appropriateness to their context; and
.
to understand how to integrate relevant and appropriate information with what
they already know to construct knowledge that increases their capacity to
improve their daily living or to resolve needs related to specific situations that
have arisen (Donner and Gorman, 2006, p. 284).

The authors add:

.
to resolve personal, job-related or broader social issues and problems, as part of
a life-long learning strategy (following the Council of Australian University
Librarians’ definition); and
.
to enhance the ability of teachers to both achieve on a personal level (or to
achieve personal well-being) as well as to pursue dreams such as to help others
to achieve (or to achieve agency) (based on Sen’s capability approach (CA)
discussed in Zheng (2009) and Chigona and Chigona (2010)) which will ultimately
address sustainability and development needs.

The above definition guided the training described in Section 2, and subsequent
literature review reported in the sections to follow.
The few research reports specifically commenting on IL in rural areas and
developing countries include Mutula and Van Brakel (2007) on small businesses,
JSIT Donner and Gorman (2006) on IL education in Asian developing countries, Ashcroft
13,3 and Watts (2005) on information professionals, Chikoko (2008) on developing teachers
for rural education in KwaZulu-Natal (a South African province), Ogunsola (2009)
on health IL in developing countries and then September (1993) on IL in SA as a
developing country.
Although a literature review is mostly used to offer stepping stones for arguments,
308 the reviews in the following sections are intended to draw attention to what has been
noted in the field, and especially to the gap between the nature of current reports on IL,
ICT and internet training for teachers and the issues that need to be noted in
developing communities to face real challenges – thus to direct future training and
research.

3.1 ICT skills, teachers and developing/rural contexts

The importance of ICT skills for teachers is widely noted (Davis et al., 2009). Kao and
Tsai (2009, p. 66) argue that “In an era of educational reform, teachers’ professional
development in the use and application of technology is the key determining factor for
improved student performance”.
Most of the research reports focus on developing countries such as the report by
Larose et al. (2009) on the impact of pre-service field training sessions on the probability
of future teachers using ICT in school. James (2010, p. 370) reporting on mechanisms of
access to the internet in rural areas of developing countries notes that “because of
severe affordability and skills constraints it is especially difficult to bring the internet
to rural areas of developing countries”. Gulbahar and Guven (2008) report on teachers
in primary schools and on teaching in social studies, while Van den Dool and Kirschner
(2003) reflect on pedagogical benchmarks for ICT integration in teacher education.
Usluel (2007) argues that ICT usage can make a difference on student teachers’ IL
self-efficacy, and that it is important to ensure a learning environment where they can
use ICT. Reporting on IL acquisition in Nigeria at university level, Idiodi stresses that
ICT skills do not imply information skills: “In fact, such technical attainment is only
the starting point for the true acquisition of information literacy” (Idiodi, 2005, p. 224).
When planning ICT training, the readiness of a community and the participants
need to be considered. Considering the importance of ICT skills, such “readiness” often
needs to be gauged in a pre-training situation analysis (Krauss, 2009b). The importance
of ICT readiness is also stressed by Mutula and Van Brakel (2007) and Kim et al. (2008).
Attitude and self-efficacy (in-line with the work of Bandura, 1997) are very
important. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s beliefs and expectations in his/her
capability to perform a task. The importance of self-efficacy is reported by Kao and
Tsai (2009, p. 66), Usluel (2007) and Markauskaite (2007).
Even with positive attitudes, the use of ICT in classrooms also depends on having
time to master and practice skills (Haydn and Barton, 2008). Barriers noted include lack
of access to ICT resources and lack of in-service training opportunities (Gulbahar and
Guven, 2008; Drent and Meelissen, 2008). Influences can also come from cultural and
gender issues, teacher thinking processes, teacher self-efficacy, teacher efficiency with
computers, computer attitudes, politics and changes in government and teaching
theories and approaches (Sang et al., 2010; Chai et al., 2009; Schibeci et al., 2008).
It seems that the literature focuses on raising awareness of the importance of ICT
skills for teachers, importance and value of ICT skills, assessment of the impact of ICT,
ICT penetration, ICT access; support in gaining ICT skills, integration of ICT in IL training
specific contexts (e.g. according to pedagogical approaches), usage of ICT, attitudes, for teachers
beliefs, self-efficacy, readiness, design and content, evaluation and barriers. Although
important, these do not offer sufficient guidelines to address issues of sustainability,
contextualisation, life-long learning and empowerment in a rural educational context.

3.2 IL skills, teachers and developing communities 309

The importance of IL is noted in various contexts. According to Aharony (2010, p. 261),
“Information literacy is a necessary skill that is useful in every aspect of life, especially
in the twenty-first century where we are inundated with vast amounts of information”.
Ogunsola (2009) argues that health IL can help in dealing with poverty alleviation in
developing countries. Various concerns have, however, also been expressed about the
inadequacy of the inclusion of school library programs and services in the preparation
of pre-service teachers (Asselin and Doiren, 2003). As will be shown in the review to
follow a number of studies on IL can be cited – but with very few guidelines on
developing communities.
Reports on IL skills for teachers mostly reflect experiences in Canada, Asia, Turkey,
Taiwan, the UK and New Zealand. Donner and Gorman (2006), Ogunsola (2009),
Floyd et al. (2008) and September (1993) are amongst the few to report on IL training in
developing countries. Reporting on IL education in Asian developing countries, Donner
and Gorman (2006) argue for cultural awareness and moving away from IL embedded
in Western social and intellectual structures in curriculum development and program
delivery. They express concern for adapting the definition accepted for IL (Section 4),
the use of group work, the context in which training is embedded, etc. Their reliance on
the work of cutler and his cultural “onion” model and on the five dimensions of culture
of Geert Hofstede makes theirs one of few attempts with a more theoretical and
methodological stance.
Wong and Shih (2008) argue that IL standards should be regularly updated. They
focus on knowledge, skills and attitude. In research in the UK, Williams and Coles
(2007, p. 186) found that teachers felt that time and access to sources were a problem:
It is likely to be a limiting factor in terms of the development of teacher confidence in finding,
evaluating and using the kinds of information sources which are increasingly available [. . .]
Collaboration with academic libraries in preparing teachers to be information literate is
important to Emmons et al. (2009), Floyd et al. (2008) and Crouse and Kasbohm (2004),
with Probert (2009) reporting on the importance of teacher understanding and practice.
A balance between theory and practice is also important to Davis-Kahl and Payne
(2003).
Duke and Ward (2009) offer a metasynthesis on preparing information literate
teachers. They stress the importance of IL pedagogy and authentic learning
assignments that realise real-world information resources. Wen and Shih (2008)
explore IL competence standards for elementary and high school teachers, with
Merchant and Hepworth (2002) reporting on IL of teachers and pupils in secondary
schools and Johnson and O’English (2004) on IL in pre-service teacher education.
Kong (2007) reports on a conceptual framework for IL in Hong Kong.
Walter and Shinew (2004) as well as Branch (2004) report on pre-service teachers.
One of the participants in Branch’s study explained that IL will become part of her
JSIT live in the sense that she will always be looking for updated information and for the
13,3 best method to teach a particular subject (Branch, 2004, p. 41).
It seems as if the literature focuses on the importance of IL in educational contexts,
concerns for inadequate integration of IL in teacher training, updating IL standards
in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude, collaboration with academic libraries,
IL pedagogy, and authentic learning environments. Although these are important, it is only
310 Donner and Gorman’s (2006) arguments for cultural awareness that seems really helpful.
Again, these guidelines are not sufficient to guide further training and research in
the SA context sketched in Section 2.

3.3 Internet usage, search skills, teachers and developmental contexts

Although there are many other useful and important sources of information, the
internet seems like a resource that may hold much potential in the future of teachers
and schoolchildren. Meneses and Mominó (2010) found that schoolchildren gain much
of their digital skills outside the school context and therefore stress the need for schools
and teachers to consider what is offered regarding internet access and support, e.g.
information literate teachers with internet search skills. Reports on the use of the
internet in teaching include Sorensen et al. (2007) on the use of the internet in science
teaching, Teale et al. (2002) on how new ways of technology can help educate reading
teachers and Lovell (2000) on biology where the internet can be used as a research,
communication and instructional tool.
Beliefs, attitudes and self-efficacy seem important for effective use of the internet in
educational contexts. Açikalin (2009) reports on pre-service elementary teachers’
beliefs about the use of the internet in social studies teaching; they are mostly positive
about advantages such as finding images and visuals, written information, easy and
fast access and opportunities for in-depth research. Although for many the internet is
a useful and vital source of information, they are also concerned about the lack of
accurate information, unreliability of sources, dependence on prepared information, the
often time-consuming nature of internet searches, and information not always being
available in the language of preference (Açikalin, 2009).
In teaching internet search skills, anxiety needs to be monitored. Chou (2003) found
in a study in Taiwan among high school teachers that various anxieties may manifest
and need to be catered for in training. Citing Presno, Chou (2003) argues for providing
ample practice time, welcoming spontaneous questions, encouraging peer help,
allowing play on the internet, and modelling non-anxious behaviour.
Kao and Tsai (2009) report on teachers’ attitude towards web-based professional
development, internet self-efficacy and beliefs about web-based learning, while Irvine
and Williams (2002) report on the experiences, abilities and attitudes of teachers and
pupils in junior schools. Asselin and Lee (2002) focus on IL pedagogy with Embrey
(2002) exploring the use of blogs for teacher-librarians. Rekrut (1999) covers examples
of courses and opinions of students on the internet. Madden et al. (2005) report
a “cautious but favourable” approach amongst teachers in the UK on using the internet
in teaching. Oral (2008) reports on the evaluation of the student teachers’ attitudes
toward the internet and democracy.
The focus thus is on the internet in specific contexts, attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy,
anxiety and IL pedagogy. Again, although very useful, guidelines on explicitly dealing
with townships, rural contexts and developing countries are insufficient.
3.4 Lessons from ICT4D literature IL training
To understand IL training in developing communities, one could turn to lessons learned for teachers
from ICT4D. The literature shows that ICT can contribute to socio-economic
development and quality of life, highlighting issues such as social exclusion, the
digital divide, poverty and lack of access to resources for basic human needs (Avgerou,
2009; Avgerou and Walsham, 2000; Chigona et al., 2009; Fong, 2009; Krishna and Madon,
2003). ICT4D literature also shows that ICT failures in developing countries continue to 311
outnumber successes (Avgerou and Walsham, 2000; Lunat, 2008) and that ICT alone does
not guarantee success or development (Lewis, 1994; Chigona et al., 2009). Information
systems (IS) theories, strategies and technologies established in developed countries
cannot necessarily be transferred to developing contexts (Avgerou, 2009; Avgerou and
Walsham, 2000; Lee et al., 2008). Ongoing cultural sensitivity, context-specific technology
rollouts and community participation are therefore necessary to ensure sustainability
and success (Krishna and Madon, 2003; Heeks, 2005; Avgerou and Walsham, 2000;
Mukerji, 2008; Lewis, 1994). In developing communities, poverty, social development
(specifically health and education), the importance of socio-cultural context, intercultural
communication and community empowerment are noted as pressing concerns in ICT4D
research (Phahlamohlaka and Lotriet, 2003; Krauss, 2009a, b; Krishna and Madon, 2003;
Heeks, 2005; Avgerou and Walsham, 2000; Mukerji, 2008; Lewis, 1994).
For IL training for teachers one could assume that international IL guidelines
cannot necessarily be transferred and implemented in developing contexts without
proper contextualisation and understanding of the realities that are faced. Some
reference in this regard has already been made in Donner and Gorman’s (2006) plea for
adapting the definition of IL for developing countries. There therefore seems to be a
need to carefully study ICT and IS theories including IL guidelines and findings from
research on ICT and IL training and internet use and searching, in parallel with the
realities that face developing communities in order to understand how ICT and IL can
be used both successfully and ethically for development – and how to approach
training. Krauss (2009b) reporting on international ICT policy and deep rural
South African communities specifically advocates the need:
[. . .] to contextualise ICT4D, to test the impact of ICT implementation and to question the
assumptions and value of ICT policy and guidelines in the specific cultural-context of
individual developing communities.
Researchers and practitioners need to take a position of enquiry where they will be able
to question the underlying assumptions and perceived value of ICT and proposed IL
guidelines in developing communities (Krauss, 2009a, b) – an issue that need to be
addressed in ongoing research.
From the literature review and the authors’ experience, it seems as if the following
issues and concerns form ICT4D literature may impact on planning IL training
(building on ICT training) in developing communities:
.
Krishna and Madon (2003) have identified community ownership and identifying
local strengths and capabilities as central to successful ICT4D endeavours while
Weyers (2001) cited in Prinsloo (2010), Krauss (2009b) and Phahlamohlaka and
Lotriet (2003) has highlighted appropriate community entry practices,
and alignment with local pioneers as central to sustainable empowerment and
development.
JSIT .
Lewis (1994), Heeks (2005), Fong (2009), Lee et al. (2008) and Westrup et al. (2003)
13,3 highlight the importance of context and culturally sensitive technology rollouts.
.
Parpart (1995) discusses a post-modernist stance to studies of African
communities acknowledging the importance of subjective experiences and the
construction of social phenomena through interpretive efforts. Parpart (1995)
also emphasises the need for local, specific and historically informed analysis
312 that is carefully grounded in cultural context.
.
Lee et al. (2008) warn of the difficulties of technologically deterministic
assumptions in developing contexts.
.
The limited validity of neo-liberal thinking and standardised modernist
approaches to ICT in developing contexts are explained by a number of authors
(Lee et al., 2008; Avgerou and Walsham, 2000; Heeks, 2005; Krishna and Madon,
2003).
.
Participatory collaborative approaches seem to frequently appear in ICT4D and
social research (Krishna and Madon, 2003; Lee et al., 2008; Avgerou and
Walsham, 2000; Bless and Higson-Smith, 1995).
.
The issue of encouraging hope of new opportunities in communities before
technology rollouts as well as motivating communities to take hold of
opportunities presented is often not given enough thought in development
projects (Krishna and Madon, 2003; Lewis, 1994). According to Lewis (1994),
a major challenge is to help the local people to see hope and to help communities
to become motivated to contribute to their own development and adequately
assess their own talents, abilities and resources.
.
A number of authors discuss the importance of understanding Afrocentricity in
intercultural communication in Africa (Ndegwa, 1992; Asante, 1983; Lewis,
1994). Asante (1983), for example, describes Afrocentricity as the frame of
reference in which African social phenomena should be viewed in order to
understand the perspectives of the African community.
.
Relating somewhat to understanding Afrocentricity, Čečez-Kecmanović (2001)
discusses the Habermasian approach as a way to understand power relations in
intercultural communication, which we believe is central to a critical approach to
development projects.
. Zheng (2009) suggests that Sen’s CA provides a “conceptual basis on which
many critical issues and embedded relationships are sensitised for
investigation.” For example, the CA sensitises the researcher to issues such as
the meaning of development, poverty, emancipation, achievement, freedom,
deprivation, participation, sustainability, compatibility of ICT and so forth
(Zheng, 2009). The CA enables the critical social theorist to question issues such
as the link between ICT and economic growth, technocratic assumptions,
universal modernist criteria and the simplistic correlation between ICT and
human well-being and capability to pursue dreams or agency.

The before-mentioned issues and concerns relate in some way to a critical position of
enquiry and may therefore be encompassed in the position that critical social theory
(CST) enables one to take. A critical position allows the researcher and practitioner
to question underlying assumptions and motives embedded in ICT4D initiatives, IL training
including those of researchers and research participants. It also allows one to question for teachers
how and whether ICT, IL and internet initiatives are really important, right, good and
ethical for community development.

4. Suggestions for methodological approaches

Considering before-mentioned findings from the literature, a critical-interpretive 313
position of enquiry is suggested in order to enable researchers to not only establish
in-depth understanding of complex multivariate social phenomena, which is the area
of interpretive research (Baskerville and Pries-Heje, 1999; Chen and Hirschheim, 2004;
Baskerville and Wood-Harper, 1998), but also to question assumptions and theories
established in developed and industrialised situations in order to address the
emancipatory interests of research participants (Adam, 2001; Ngwenyama and Lee,
1997; Neuman, 1997; Kvasny and Richardson, 2006). A critical position of enquiry
allows the researcher to not only address mutual understanding but also the
emancipation from “false and unwarranted beliefs, assumptions and constraints” that
may be embedded in the thinking of both researcher and research participants
(McGrath, 2005; Krauss and Turpin, 2010). It is from this position of enquiry that the
authors presented the literature reviews in the preceding section. This position should
enable one to explicitly address issues of sustainability, contextualisation, life-long
learning and empowerment.

4.1 The CA
Zheng (2009) highlights several difficulties associated with ICT4D. These include the
need to understand the “meaning of development” and the role of ICT, the difficulties of
standardised modernist approaches, the difficulties of importing Western values and
advice wholesale in developing contexts, the need for local innovation with ICT and so
forth. Zheng (2009) consequently proposes the CA developed by Sen as a mode of
thinking or a conceptual foundation for understanding the real “effective opportunities
people have to achieve what they consider to be valuable in life” (Zheng, 2009).
Investigating the educational context in SA, Chigona and Chigona (2010) propose the
CA for understanding that which may hinder teachers in developing country contexts
from effectively using ICT for curriculum delivery.
Zheng (2009) and Sen (1999) explain that the major constituents of the CA are
“functionings” and “capabilities”. “Functionings are considered constitutive of
well-being” while capabilities relate to the ability to achieve or freedom to achieve
well-being. The CA is:
[. . .] directly concerned with what people are effectively able to do and to be, taking into
account the resources which they have access to. In other words, the approach focuses on
individuals’ capabilities and freedom (Chigona and Chigona, 2010).
Inability to achieve or non-freedom to achieve is put forward as deprivation of
capabilities (Zheng, 2009; Chigona and Chigona, 2010; Sen, 1999).
According to Zheng (2009), a person’s capability set represents his freedom to
achieve both well-being freedom and agency freedom. Well-being in context of the CA
relates specifically to one’s personal gratification or personal situation and is different
from fulfilling one’s commitments and ideals (Chigona and Chigona, 2010).
JSIT Agency on the other hand relates to pursuing what one values and that which one
13,3 attempts to produce (Zheng, 2009). These two types of freedoms are interrelated and
may have a causal impact on each other (Zheng, 2009). Zheng (2009) suggests that by
putting agency as an explicit component of a person’s capability set, any development
policy or evaluation method informed by the CA should take into account the
aspirations and needs of the people affected. Zheng (2009) continues to explain that
314 most development approaches have focused on the well-being aspect of the CA, while
the agency aspect has been much less appreciated.
In the educational context, including IL and ICT training, it is especially important
to investigate the interrelatedness of well-being and agency, mainly because teachers
together with social workers and nurses are typically portrayed as caregivers or
“development agents” in a community (De Vos et al., 2007). Agency freedom is central
to their commitments and ideals. Therefore, having to fulfil an important role of
“caring for” or improving the well-being of their learners, the understanding of both
well-being and agency and the interrelatedness thereof are central to what this
research project addresses. More specifically, one needs to consider how the IL
training project may enhance both personal well-being of teachers (e.g. the ability of a
teacher to get promotion after the IL training initiative) and agency (e.g. the ability of
a teacher to guide learners to well-being through the training initiative). The proposed
methodology should address both these concerns.
To address the issues identified during the literature reviews and adopting the CA,
the authors propose an eclectic model to support IL training of teachers in developing
South African communities, and research thereof.

5. Eclectic model for understanding IL for teachers in rural communities

Although the authors can at this stage not offer any specific answers to the issues of
contextualisation, sustainability, life-long learning and empowerment in teaching IL to
teachers in townships, rural areas and developing contexts, we can suggest the model
in Figure 1 as a way to proceed in further developing the courses mentioned in
Sections 2.1 and 2.2, aligning these with the needs of developing communities in SA as
well as for empirical research in this context.
Figure 1 shows that in order to understand IL for teachers in developing
communities in SA, theory should be drawn from both ICT4D literature and
international IL guidelines and theory. The figure also puts forward CST as a position
of enquiry as it informs both the way in which literature is scrutinised and how
the realities of developing contexts may be understood. The CA is put forward as a
conceptual lens that will enable the critical social theorist to apply a critical approach
to IL in developing situations. Well-being and agency are specifically foregrounded as
they enable researchers and practitioners to understand and scrutinise the
interrelatedness of these two constructs in the caring nature of the teaching
profession in developing communities. Finally, a number of themes are put forward to
illustrate the expected value and results of combining IL theory and ICT4D literature
with a critical position of enquiry. These themes include issues related to
sustainability, empowerment, understanding the local realities, needs, perceptions
and context and ultimately what constitute capabilities and freedom according to local
view of reality.
 IL training
Conceptual
lens
for teachers
International IL guidelines
and IL theory
ur d
at n
er y a
e
lit eor
Th

Themes

Informs

Towards understanding IL training

for teachers in rural South African
Contextualisation
The
capability
Agency
alignment of IL 315
sustainability
approach ongoing

communities!
(CA) as empowerment
ICT for IL in developing/ conceptual life-long learning
development Informs rural situations foundation local needs and
literature
for applying experiences
CST to local realities and
development tensions
Informs
Informs

Well-being local freedoms and

capabilities
etc...

Critical social theory (CST) as a position of

enquiry Informs

Figure 1.
Eclectic model to
Ontology, understanding IL for
epistemology and
assumptions teachers in rural
communities

6. Conclusion
There seems to be a dire need for IL training, building on ICT training for teachers in
all developing communities and countries. These and especially rural areas pose
unique challenges in terms of sustainability, contextualisation, life-long learning and
empowerment. Currently, such answers do not exist as became clear from the reviews
of literature concerning IL and ICT for teachers and internet searching and use for
teachers. Although the literature from ICT4D offers useful insight, it is not yet fully
aligned with IL training for teachers. Following the CA, with special emphasis on
well-being and agency, especially seems promising for IL training and research as it
may assist in finding answers to the issues of sustainability, contextualisation,
life-long learning and empowerment, as well as the alignment of literature on ICT4D
with IL training for teachers. IL literature, therefore, needs to align with contributions
from ICT4D and the CA.
To enhance research on IL training for teachers in developing South African
communities that may contribute to global perspectives on the issue, it is therefore
suggested that the model shown in Figure 1 is applied in the planning of IL courses for
teachers in townships and rural areas in SA and subsequent empirical research. It is,
however, unrealistic to expect to find all answers to such a complex and important
issue in the first round of research.

Note
1. In order to honour confidentiality and due to the sensitivity of the issues in the community,
fictional names will be used for people and places.
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Appendix. Examples of guidelines and standards that may influence the design of
IL training programmes for teachers
Big6 – http://big6.com/
ALA guidelines in various contexts – http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslproftools/
informationpower/informationpower.cfm
SCONUL pillars of IL – http://sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pillars.html
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) – http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/
standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
IFLA guidelines on IL and life-long learning – http://ifla.org/en/publications/guidelines-on-
information-literacy-for-lifelong-learning

Corresponding author
Ina Fourie can be contacted at: [email protected]

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