Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. The indicators set by the UN focus on reducing global disparity regarding access to equitable educational opportunities. This is emphasised for primary and secondary education, but remains applicable for tertiary education.
Universities continue to work to ensure that students have equal access to the skills and knowledge to engage with their studies as critical and literate learners. This extends to the acquisition of skills for lifelong learning and career development, as set out by Government in their funding and reform framework for higher education Funding the Future, which recognised the need for the creation of a unified, balanced and integrated knowledge and skills system as a key priority to enable a coherent and comprehensive range of learning opportunities.
My paper will focus on the changes in the teaching and learning environment, for both students and those who teach, during and since the Covid-19 pandemic, with examples from the teaching programme offered by MU Library’s Teaching & Learning team.
I will address the social inequity currently faced by students and the impact on the teaching environment, and propose approaches for libraries in supporting students to find and use information effectively and to enhance their capability as critical learners, beyond their studies. My talk will include case studies from MU demonstrating practical approaches to teaching, the student experience, and outcomes from our teaching programme 2022 – 23
Attendees will understand more about how libraries can implement SDGs as part of their information literacy teaching, and find out about practical tools and methodologies for library-driven teaching approaches.