Skolans hjärta? : En undersökning av skolpersonalens syn på skolbiblioteket som plats
(2013) ABMM54 20131Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- The starting point of our master’s thesis was the recent debate regarding the school library arising from the implementation of the new version of the Swedish Education Act (Skollagen SFS 2010:800). Many have criticized the new Education Act, claiming that it puts a too large focus on the library as place. Some even claim that the school library as place is out-dated and not relevant in today’s society and should be replaced by digital resources. We believe that the school library as place is more than just a storage for books or a pedagogical resource, e.g. as a social meeting place, or a neutral place in contrast to the classroom.
The aim of the master’s thesis is to study how significant the school library as place is according to... (More) - The starting point of our master’s thesis was the recent debate regarding the school library arising from the implementation of the new version of the Swedish Education Act (Skollagen SFS 2010:800). Many have criticized the new Education Act, claiming that it puts a too large focus on the library as place. Some even claim that the school library as place is out-dated and not relevant in today’s society and should be replaced by digital resources. We believe that the school library as place is more than just a storage for books or a pedagogical resource, e.g. as a social meeting place, or a neutral place in contrast to the classroom.
The aim of the master’s thesis is to study how significant the school library as place is according to school staff in Lund. We are especially interested in staff who meet the students in contexts regarding their psychological and physical health and their future, and therefore decided to contact guidance counselors, school nurses, school psychologists and counselors. We also investigate how teachers, principals and school librarians perceive the school library as place. A secondary aim is to study how the students perceive the school library. Our three research questions are: What meaning do the school staff believe that the school library as place has to the students regarding their health, well-being, comfort and future? What opinions are the most common among teachers or non-teaching staff regarding the school library as place? What connection is possible to see between the school staff’s profession and their perception of the school library as place and its meaning to the students?
Our focus is on the school library as a neutral place and as a pedagogical resource in contrast to the digital school library. Our theoretical background is place-space, which can be used to discuss the relationship between humans and places and how places impact humans and their identities. We have investigated the perceptions of staff on both public and private schools in the municipality of Lund through a questionnaire.
Our results indicate that the school staff do not have a clear view of what significance the school library as place has for e.g. the student’s well-being. Teachers and non-teaching staff seem to focus more on the library as a room with books compared to what principals and school librarians do. One of our conclusions is that all the different functions of the school library need to be made visible, especially the library as place. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3807587
- author
- Ekström, Johanna LU and Larsson, Malin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The heart of the school? : A study of school staff's perceptions of the school library as place
- course
- ABMM54 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- enkätundersökning, tredje plats, place/space-teori, det fysiska biblioteket, skolbibliotek, library and information studies, school staff, questionnaire, neutral place, third place, place/space, School library, library as place, biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap, skolpersonal, neutral plats
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 3807587
- date added to LUP
- 2013-06-20 11:05:13
- date last changed
- 2014-04-11 14:16:34
@misc{3807587,
abstract = {{The starting point of our master’s thesis was the recent debate regarding the school library arising from the implementation of the new version of the Swedish Education Act (Skollagen SFS 2010:800). Many have criticized the new Education Act, claiming that it puts a too large focus on the library as place. Some even claim that the school library as place is out-dated and not relevant in today’s society and should be replaced by digital resources. We believe that the school library as place is more than just a storage for books or a pedagogical resource, e.g. as a social meeting place, or a neutral place in contrast to the classroom.
The aim of the master’s thesis is to study how significant the school library as place is according to school staff in Lund. We are especially interested in staff who meet the students in contexts regarding their psychological and physical health and their future, and therefore decided to contact guidance counselors, school nurses, school psychologists and counselors. We also investigate how teachers, principals and school librarians perceive the school library as place. A secondary aim is to study how the students perceive the school library. Our three research questions are: What meaning do the school staff believe that the school library as place has to the students regarding their health, well-being, comfort and future? What opinions are the most common among teachers or non-teaching staff regarding the school library as place? What connection is possible to see between the school staff’s profession and their perception of the school library as place and its meaning to the students?
Our focus is on the school library as a neutral place and as a pedagogical resource in contrast to the digital school library. Our theoretical background is place-space, which can be used to discuss the relationship between humans and places and how places impact humans and their identities. We have investigated the perceptions of staff on both public and private schools in the municipality of Lund through a questionnaire.
Our results indicate that the school staff do not have a clear view of what significance the school library as place has for e.g. the student’s well-being. Teachers and non-teaching staff seem to focus more on the library as a room with books compared to what principals and school librarians do. One of our conclusions is that all the different functions of the school library need to be made visible, especially the library as place.}},
author = {{Ekström, Johanna and Larsson, Malin}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Skolans hjärta? : En undersökning av skolpersonalens syn på skolbiblioteket som plats}},
year = {{2013}},
}