The CV Tool or "I am a tool"

As part of identifying my previous learning, I was asked to fill in a spreadsheet with items/experiences from my CV, along with what I did, what I learned. Then I was asked to label each ‘what I learned’ with a learning area in order to look for gaps in my professional learning profile. We were given an example table, and a diagram with learning areas on it.

It was really hard. I did not expect it to be so difficult.

First obstacle: spreadsheets

Personally, I find reading spreadsheets very difficult. It is if all the lines turn into the same one and I can’t sort one column or row from the next column or row. The columns in this case were actually alright because they were colour coded. But trying to fit things into a spreadsheet after thinking on them over and over meant much shuffling things around and adding new rows and that took up much of my concentration.

Second obstacle: identifying what I learned, rather than what I “did for the first time”

An example goes something like this: “I learned to use Camtasia. No, I learned to play with software. No, actually I learned I can play with software without breaking it. I learned to fiddle with confidence.” Ahem…

Third obstacle: facing the truth

The truth is, that with all my personal potential, all my gifts and abilities, I cannot organise myself out of a paper bag. My work processes, information management, and productivity are all disorderly (at best). If I am to really address these issues, it is going to feel like rolling in croutons for crumbs in my bed. My partner used that expression when I showed him my learning objectives, and it was absolutely actually the right expression to articulate my discomfort.

Reflections

Now that I am through it, it seems like it wasn't so bad, really…

The biggest thing I noticed while doing this, is just how little of my personal learning has actually been from my ‘work history’ or professional accomplishments, and exactly how much has come out of just being-Tegan-in-the-world.

My point of professional difference comes from my life experience, not from what I have done or learned in my ‘career’. Also, very little of my knowledge comes from what I learned in Library School. Most of my knowledge comes from what I have sought out for myself, or have been generally puzzled by.

As it turns out, flunking high school, unplanned pregnancy and my colourful mental health record may be what sets me apart from the average librarian. Maybe.

"Struck" reading Corlett

This is not an academic blog post, but perhaps a more meaningful one.
Whilst reading about the importance of research data as a tool for self-reflexive practice I found myself thinking of a recent workplace experience.

In this particular situation, a group of information professionals were given recommendations based on the analysis of data accumulated through 1-1 interviews and a number of group workshops. One recommendation that came out of this analysis was that the group need to shift their thinking around delivering information services, particularly around information literacy.

The data indicated that the group had consistently referred to information literacy within the context of on-campus classes and physical presence. With a vast majority of students enrolled at the institution studying off-campus or completely online, the recommendation was that the group needed to address their ways of thinking about delivering and marketing services and resources to be more in line with the realities of the student cohort. On receiving this recommendation, there were cries of, “but I don’t actually spend more time on on-campus students” and “but that doesn’t seem to reflect what we actually do” and other similar comments. This was a perfect moment for reflexive learning. Whether or not as professionals we believe that we address the off-campus and online cohort sufficiently, the data showed that our ‘way of thinking’ about information literacy service delivery was not in line with the current reality of students’ needs.

Although unaware how to articulate my feeling of it at the time, I had a personal experience of being “struck”. Corlett (2013) develps the idea that the uncomfortable moments within a research interview provide moments for reflexivity where subjects can consciously consider their own behaviours and ways of thinking and learning. Corlett (2013, p.457) states that, “the physiological, emotional or cognitive sense of being ‘struck’ is key to critical self-reflexivity and learning because it moves us to question our ways of understanding and being”. This articulates perfectly what happened within my own thoughts in this moment.

In that moment I identified that my beliefs around my own ways of thinking were not reflected in the data. The data revealed that my own patterns of behaviour and thinking were, in fact, out of sync with what I had believed them to be.

Perhaps there is something in this for further development within the information profession.

References:
Corlett, S 2013, Participant learning in and through research as reflexive dialogue: Being ‘struck’ and   the effects of recall, Management Learning, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 453 –469.