What skills are needed to engage in a "participatory culture"

Just in case I am not the very last person to read Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, I will recommend it here. Published by the MacArthur Foundation in October of 2006, the 60 page white paper defines a participatory culture as one "with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices" (AKA Web 2.0) and asks what media literacy skills does one need to be fully involved in such an environment.

The paper first identifies three concerns which require the need for "pedagogical interventions":

1. The Participation Gap — the unequal access to the opportunities, experiences, skills, and knowledge that will prepare youth for full participation in the world of tomorrow.
   The Transparency Problem — The challenges young people face in learning to see clearly the ways that media shape perceptions of the world.
   The Ethics Challenge — The breakdown of traditional forms of professional training and socialization that might prepare young people for their increasingly public roles as media makers and community participants.
   

The majority of the report addressess 11 "new skills" students need to be fully successful in the social networking environment:

• Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
• Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
• Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
• Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
• Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.
• Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
• Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
• Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources
• Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
• Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
• Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.
  

About a two-page explanation of each skill is given, followed by a few paragraphs called 'What Should Be Done?"

As I read, I kept asking, Which of the skills above do we actively discourage in schools? Don't these sound like Daniel Pink's suggestions in A Whole New Mind? How well do the refreshed ISTE NETS Standards or the draft AASL Learning Standards address these skills? How do adults go about learning these things themselves - can we teach skills we are not confident of ourselves?

Ironically perhaps, I am wrtiing this after just having listened to Maureen Lese, FBI Agent from the Minneapolis Field Office, spend an hour and a half talking about how she and her staff track down online child sexual predators and child pornographers. Genuinely scary stuff.  I am guessing the viseral reaction to her talk by the 100 or so tech coordinators at the TIES conference here in St. Cloud was much the same as mine, "What in heaven's sake are we doing even letting kids near a computer! Let's double-block MySpace!" But I hope most of us reflect and realize that the only genuine protection kids have online are parents and teachers who are informed and able to teach and talk about Internet dangers. The growing power and importance of online life requires all kids to be able to navigate, discriminate and use all resouces - static and human - if they are to be considered truly educated.

Tip of the hat to Ian Jukes at the Committed Sardine blog for passing this document on to me.

 ______________________________

Some quotable quotes from the document: 

We are using participation as a term that cuts across educational practices, creative processes, community life, and democratic citizenship. Our goals should be to encourage youth to develop the skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks, and self-confidence needed to be full participants in contemporary culture. p. 8

What a person can accomplish with an outdated machine in a public library with mandatory filtering software and no opportunity for storage or transmission pales in comparison to what person can accomplish with a home computer with unfettered Internet access, high bandwidth, and continuous connectivity. (Current legislation to block access to social networking software in schools and public libraries will further widen the participation gap.) The school system’s inability to close this participation gap has negative consequences for everyone involved. p. 13

 In her recent book, The Internet Playground, Seiter (2005) expresses concern that young people were finding it increasingly difficult to separate commercial from noncommercial content in online environments: “The Internet is more like a mall than a library; it resembles a gigantic public relations more than it does an archive of scholars” p. 16

 One important goal of media education should be to encourage young people to become more reflective about the ethical choices they make as participants and communicators and the impact they have on others.We may, in the short run, have to accept that cyberspace’s ethical norms are in flux: we are taking part in a prolonged experiment in what happens when one lowers the barriers of entry into a communication landscape. For the present moment, asking and working through questions of ethical practices may be more valuable than the answers produced because the process will help everyone to recognize and articulate the different assumptions that guide their behavior. p. 17

...textual literacy remains a central skill in the twenty-first century. Before students can engage with the new participatory culture, they must be able to read and write. Youth must expand their required competencies, not push aside old skills to make room for the new. Second, new media literacies should be considered a social skill. p. 19

Beyond core literacy, students need research skills.Among other things, they need to know how to access books and articles through a library; to take notes on and integrate secondary; to assess the reliability of data; to read maps and charts; to make sense of scientific visualizations; to grasp what kinds of information are being conveyed by various systems of representation; to distinguish between fact and fiction, fact and opinion; to construct arguments and marshal evidence. If anything, these traditional skills assume even greater importance as students venture beyond collections that have been screened by librarians and into the more open space of the web. p. 19

When individuals play games, a fair amount of what they end up doing is not especially fun at the moment. It can be a grind, not unlike homework.The efforts allows the person to master skills, collect materials, or put things in their proper place in anticipation of a payoff down the line.The key is that this activity is deeply motivated. p 23

The Accidental Leader

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve. Tom Landry

Miguel Guhlin over Around the Corner wants to start a new meme: “What are 7 qualities we don't know about you that help you be a leader?”  and tagged me as one of seven district level administrators. I’ve mulled this one over for a few days.

I have some issues with the term “leader.” It’s been bandied about way too much and has lost much of its meaning. Being a leader assumes one has followers, and heaven help anyone who follows me since I am usually quite lost. Our current crop of public, political leaders, I am sorry to say, don’t exhibit many qualities with which I wish to be associated.

I don’t know what I can really add that won’t sound cliché, so I will come at this a little differently. These are some of the things accidental leaders, people who don’t set out to direct anyone, do that still makes them worthy of being followed. I can’t claim to have a one of these attributes, but they are qualities of people I have liked as a boss or coworker and do my best to emulate.

1. When asked if something could be done, I like people who say, “Anything's possible." After discussion it might not be practical or advisable, but an idea to my kind of leader always starts out as possible. I admire people who are all about helping other accomplish what they want to accomplish.

2. I respect those folks who show respect for everyone. I like the “leader” who shows as much interest in his foot soldiers and he does his generals. People are people are people and all have value – and not just as employees. This also means being transparent about how decisions are made, giving people credit for having enough brains to understand things like making policies, developing budgets, and having their own visions.

3. I genuinely appreciate anyone who accepts responsibility, takes blame, and shares credit. Too many people shirk the responsibility, shift the blame and take the credit. These people are also known as jackasses. Or too often political partisans.

4. I admire considered risk-takers. They think things through, but don’t need to know all the answers before trying something. They might well live by Theodore Rothke’s line “I learn by going where I have to go.”  Plus they know when to cut their losses if they get unanticipated consequences.

5. My deepest admiration goes to those who can actually turn vision into practice. There seem to be ten educational architects for every educational carpenter in this world. Ask me, the carpenters, who can actually take the blueprint and make it stand against the wind, are not only leaders, but even heroes. I think I liked it best when leaders are actually sitting on the horse at the front of their armies.
    
6. Those folks I like working with have a sense of humor. Especially about themselves. (If everyone else is laughing at you, you may as well join in.)

7. I like anyone with a highly developed sense of perspective. Knowing what hills are worth dying on and which aren’t. These folks who know it is usually not worth spending hundreds of hours trying to write a mission statement no one reads anyway. These are bosses who recognize that families are more important as jobs. People in authority know that the best rule is to sometimes break a rule. Coworkers who know most mistakes are not fatal and there are few things that you can do that will actually get you kicked off the planet.

One of the ironies of being in a “positional” leadership role – a director, a manager, a supervisor – is that one quickly finds out how little power one actually has. Ordering a thing to be done or a philosophy to be believed is usually about as productive as ordering a two-year-old to eat his peas – you might eventually get the peas in the kid, but the mess will be so bad, you’ll wonder why you started the process. Even “positional” leaders soon find they can lead best by example, with humility, and with common sense.

If this is a meme that interests any of the Blue Skunk readers, please consider yourself nominated to continue it. Passing on these memes make me feel about as guilty as telling a telemarketer the names of other people who might be interested in their product. People do it, I suppose, but does that make it right?

 

Shy Person's Guide to Lobbying

I wrote this as legislative chair for MEMO. Please suggest changes/additions. Feel free to adapt to your own state organization if you'd like.  

The Shy Person’s Guide to Lobbying
Doug Johnson, MEMO Legislative Chair, 2007
dougj@doug-johnson.com

How can you tell a Minnesota extrovert? He looks at your shoes when he talks to you.

If you believe the stereotypes, MEMO members are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to legislative lobbying. Both as Minnesotans and as librarians we have a reputation for shyness, modesty, and introversion. Despite our brilliant intellects, charming personalities, high moral standards, and devastating good looks, we far too seldom participate in the legislative process.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to influence legislators is through active lobbying. Lobbying is communicating with legislators and the executive branch to encourage them to take action on specific legislation or regulations. Each and every MEMO member should be actively advocating for the bills that will benefit those people who use their libraries and technology resources. Even those of us who are shy.

Here is a short primer on how even Shrinking Violets and Shrinking Vincents can gain the confidence needed to be effective lobbyists:

1.    Recognize that lobbying is your job and find opportunities to speak to your legislators face-to-face.
Obtaining funding and directing policy by being an active part of the legislative process is an important professional duty. No MEMO member should simply assume that MEMO “leaders” or our hired lobbyist can effectively be his/her voice to our legislators. This is work is too important to be left to other people. I mean this.

MEMO and MLA annually host Library Legislative Day. This event is held at the Capitol in St. Paul and has proven to be an expedient means of speaking to many legislators in a short time frame. Check the MLA and MEMO websites for registration information. Being surrounded by other MEMO and MLA members is, well, comforting.

For those working stiffs who find it difficult to get a day off and travel to St. Paul, watch for regional legislative events. Our state multitype library organizations often host these get togethers. Be there, be counted, be heard.

2.    Learn something about the legislative process – or at least who your representatives are.
There is a genuine wealth of information at <www.leg.state.mn.us>. At this site, you can find out who your House member and Senator are and their contact information – phone, e-mail, and mailing address. You can also track the status of bills that are important to MEMO members on this site.

Truth be told, most of us are mystified by the legislative process, even after being politically engaged for many years. A very good overview of our state legislature and how laws become enacted can be found at <www.leg.state.mn.us/youth/legislature.asp> OK, so it written for kids, but at least I understand it!  And if you have a question, please let a member of the MEMO legislative committee know it.

3.    Understand the MLA/MEMO platform and know the talking points.
Each year MEMO and MLA join write a joint legislative platform that includes planks of interest to all types of libraries.  The document itself is usually only a page or two long and can be found on the MEMO website’s Legislative section <www.memoweb.org/htmlfiles/linkslegislature.html>.

The second set of documents that are important to read are the “talking points” that go with each platform plank. These short statements give reasons for and research behind the issues addressed by each plank. At this time, a working draft of the talking points for MEMO specific planks can be found at: <dougj.pbwiki.com/memo>. Check these regularly for updates.

Having a basic understanding of the platform and the reasons behind the planks in it is vital for effective lobbying efforts. While you do not need to be an expert, you do need to be familiar with the issues. If a legislator or staffer asks a question that you can’t answer, it’s just fine to say, “I don’t know that, but I will find out and get back to you.”

4.    Be effective when visiting with your legislator.
One guide suggests that when talking to legislators to remember the ABC’s - Accuracy, Brevity, and Courtesy. Stick to the platform. Be clear about what you want the legislator to do. (Vote for HF 101, for example.) Always frame the request by demonstrating the benefit to those you serve, not the benefit to you. Listen as well as talk. Answer questions. Leave copies of the platform with your legislator. Oh, work with the legislators who represent your district.

5.    Be a rational, pleasant human being.
If you are a school library media specialist or technology person, I can simply say, “Be yourself.” But just in case you are new to Minnesota or the profession, here are a few do’s and don’ts… Thank your legislator for past support when possible. Avoid party politics. As the Humane Society reminds us, “Animals have friends on both sides of the aisle.” Do tell personal anecdotes related to the issue for which you are lobbying. Don’t threaten retaliation, especially in the voting booth. It’s fine to disagree – but don’t be disagreeable. Make your case firmly.

Send a thank you after you visit. Your mom would be proud,

6.    Write, call and e-mail – effectively.
Face to face conversations with your legislators are excellent ways to put your message across, but writing, calling and e-mailing on specific bills are also important. Here are a few “rules” for such correspondence:
•    Be clear about what you want, listing the bill, and the action you want your legislator to take.
•    Tell a story or give an example to make the issue relevant to your legislator and to his own part of the state.
•    Ask for a direct response with his or her position on the issue or bill.

Personal letters are better than form letters or petitions. Use your official letterhead. Letters are usually more effective than e-mails. Calls on an issue can be helpful since legislators sometime simply count the number of calls pro and con on certain matters. Watch your e-mail for requests for calls for action from MEMO and MLA. Then do it!

7.    Work on developing a relationship with your representatives.
The people I know who have the most success in influencing legislators are ones who have a long-standing relationships. Few things are achieved in a single legislative session. Cultivate a friendly, trust-worthy reputation that will serve you and your patrons well into the future. Become your representative’s reliable source of information on school library and technology issues.

So, eat your Powdermilk Biscuits or whatever it takes, but overcome your reticence and make your voice heard.

For more detailed information:
•    Democracy Center <www.democracyctr.org>
•    Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest <WWW.CLPI.ORG>
•    Minnesota Library Association Advocacy Page <www.mnlibraryassociation.org/Legislative.htm)
•    Minnesota Educational Media Organization Legislative Page <www.memoweb.org/htmlfiles/linkslegislature.html>