Teaching Genre Awareness in the Library Classroom
You’re probably thinking that it’s unlikely you’ll be able to create an authentic learning situation in your typical one-shot library session. There is no denying the roadblocks associated with the one-shot class, but you may still be able to create some genre awareness during a session. For example, little work needs to be done to modify Devitt’s (2014)[1] teaching genre awareness lesson plan for the library classroom environment.
| Devitt’s Model for the Library Classroom | |
| Original Model | Library Lesson Plan |
| Review various genre examples | Put students into groups and provide each group an exemplar of a different search tool (e.g., the library’s catalog, a commercial search engine, and a database) |
| Identify the rhetorical/contextual situations related to the samples | Groups discuss and report to the class the following: (1) Describe who you think is the “author” of this search tool; (2) Consider the purpose of this tool and name some reasons why you might use it; (3) Name some reasons why you think this search tool contains the information it does; (3) Describe who has access to this tool |
| Identify the patterns in the genres | After each group’s reporting, re-combine the class to discuss similarities and differences between the genre’s purpose, audience, topic, author, and location. |
| Analyze these genre patterns | Finish discussion with a reflection prompt (either in the form of a 5 minute written reflection or through discussion). Prompt: Consider the similarities and differences in these different search tools. Do you think all three need to exist? |
Librarian Alison Hosier (2019),[2] described another example of this method she uses within the one-shot classroom. Her lesson is similar to Devitt’s, and starts by introducing students to a specific form of information, such as the scientific article, providing students with particular genre awareness. In her example, students review the article, not by reading it, but by examining the types of information it provides and where and in what ways it is provided. After students review the article in this way, Hosier noticed students could achieve a better understanding of the setting in which this particular genre of writing exists within its context. Thus, Hosier believed, the student achieve more genre awareness, become better able to understand resources as social acts, and may approach research through a more complex framework.
How might you introduce these practices into the one-shot library classroom?
- Devitt, A. J. (2014). Genre pedagogies. In G. Tate, A. Rupiper Taggart, K. Schick, & H. B. Hessler (Eds.), A Guide to Composition Pedagogies (2nd ed., pp. 146–162). Oxford University Press. ↵
- Hosier, A. (2019). Research is an activity and a subject of study: A proposed metaconcept and its practical application. College & Research Libraries, 80(1), 44–59. ↵
