Information Literacy for Future Teachers

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to evaluate primary teacher education programs in Croatia. Prior to evaluation of the primary teacher education programs, expected primary teacher education competencies were defined. The expected teacher competencies were determined according to the goals stated in the Croatian national curriculum. In addition, international guidelines for information literacy development among primary education teachers were used. An extensive literature review on information literacy curriculum in teacher education higher education was conducted as a part of this study. The evaluation of primary teacher education programs is conducted according to the content analysis methodology. Since current primary teacher education programs do not state learning outcomes, future teacher competences are evaluated according to the state course goals. The content analysis indicates that the majority of the current primary teacher education programs include goals that could be linked to information literacy standards. Future teachers are most frequently taught how to evaluate information, but lack instruction on fair use of information. The discussion includes recommendations to raise information literacy among teacher educators and to align course syllabi with the common theoretical frameworks.