Chapter 7: Summary, conclusion, and recommendations
3.2 Brief history and overview of the Internet
3.2.3 School library and Internet Acceptable Use Policies
67
68
Particularly, policy of a school library standardises provisioning and indorses focused intervention (Du Toit and Stilwell, 2012:124). It is important to note that, the existence of a library policy does not generally assure the development of well-organised and functional school libraries, however,
“its inherent value cannot be over emphasised” (Mojapelo and Dube, 2014:3). Turner (2006:60) advocates that the school library policy must not be a sizeable document, but “it should be a clear and concise summary of what the library currently does in the school and its aspirations”.
A good policy acknowledges and outlines policy problems clearly, and because the “school library policy is embedded in education it should take into account educational frameworks such as outcomes-based teaching and learning” (Du Toit, and Stilwell, 2012:128). The school library policy therefore needs to provide the conclusive realistic statement of the status of the library and its staff and the “fact that a school has an operating library means that there is some formal or informal policy about it” (Turner, 2006:60). The IFLA/UNESCO’s (2002:3) School Library Guidelines asserted that “the school library should be managed within a clearly structured policy framework”.
Since the school library policy is founded on the objectives of the school library, individual libraries need to have a policy to reveal their own unique culture because a school library policy serves as “a written statement of the aims and functions of the school library” (Turner, 2006:60).
A policy of a school library should reflect a dedication to equal access and foster use of the library rather than dissuade since “policies should facilitate the equitable use of the library by all students”
(Harper, 2017:51).
According to Turner (2006:61-62), the school library policy shows good library management and thus serves the following purposes:
• It can be used as a tool of advocacy that explains the role and function of the library and librarian in the wider school environment to all stakeholders in the school.
• It helps in overcoming confusion about how the library can assist teachers, learners, other staff, and parents.
• It demystifies the library to its users by clearly outlining its aims and objectives.
69
• The status of the librarian and the place of the library in the school can be clarified by a policy that has been authorised by senior management and disseminated to stakeholders.
• If the policy is the core philosophy of the library, problems of misuse of the library and misconceptions about the librarian’s role can be authoritatively solved.
• It also demonstrates the strategic management skills of the person producing the policy and so can raise his or her profile in the school community.
The growth in Internet usage in libraries and schools are compelling school administrations to struggle with appropriate policies to regulate its acceptable use and future developments (Sun and McLean, 1999:1). However, policy limitations “ought to be addressed and accommodated in such a way that the policy will make allowances for new developments and anticipated change” (Du Toit and Stilwell, 2012:128). Bosco (2011:2) argued that, ICT policies in schools have two dimensions: ensuring that “students are protected from pernicious materials on the Internet” and enabling “student access to the extensive resources on the Internet for learning and teaching”. An Internet Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) stipulates these two dimensions and it provides, in some cases, legal rules that lessen the chance of conflicts. These polices are therefore to ensure guidelines, rules, reasonable procedures, non-discriminatory and neutral viewpoint restrictions on Internet access and computer use at school (Batch, 2015:63).
An AUP for a school Internet facility is a written agreement that outlines the terms and conditions for Internet use and this document precisely “sets out acceptable uses, rules of online conduct and access privileges as well as covering penalties for violations of the policy, including security violations and vandalism of the system” (Sun and McLean, 1999:7). To corroborate, Batch (2015:63) asserted that the “policy should advise Internet users of their rights and responsibilities and should describe unacceptable behaviours, the penalties for violations, and how to appeal a decision imposing a penalty”. These attest to the fact that schools’ Internet AUPs concentrate on preventing harm to learners or misuse of the schools’ Internet facilities and in many cases, the viewpoint of the AUP seems to suggest that the Internet facilities contain more risks than advantages (Bosco, 2011:3).
70
In 2003, the UN ICT Task Force envisaged the problems and difficulties growing economies faced in planning for the incorporation of ICTs into national education and training systems and their recommendation resulted in the birth of Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI).
The GESCI has over the years engaged in expert provision of ICT Policy advice and strategic planning for Information and Communication Technology for Education (ICT4E) and development by working closely with government partners to improve the ability of future developers of education policy to “develop and implement policy and strategy that cost-effectively utilises e-learning with the objective of improving the quality of, and access to, education at the primary, secondary and vocational levels” (GESCI, 2014:2).
In 2006, the GESCI commenced the Ghana e-Schools and Communities Initiative as the framework for all ICT in Education initiatives in the country. The GESCI through this initiative assisted Ghana Ministry of Education to create its first ever Curriculum Framework in 2009. Other beneficiaries of GESCI initiatives and interventions in Africa are Kenya, Namibia, and Rwanda.
The NEPAD e-school’s initiative is also another intervention towards the development of ICT policies and infrastructure with the aim of imparting ICT knowledge and expertise to young people of Africa in primary and secondary schools. The implementation approach of this initiative is based on “continental coordination and national implementation” (Kinyanjui, 2007:180). Hence, this initiative has helped many African countries such as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Lesotho, etc.
to improve on their ICT delivery and policies in schools.
The most common policy stand of school management and administrators on Internet use by learners is the reliance on blocking and filtering to remove access to harmful sites and others basing their policies on the “premise that children need to learn how to be responsible users and that such cannot occur if the young person has no real choice” (Bosco, 2011:3). McPherson (1997) as cited by Sun and McLean (1999:8-9) proposed that an Internet AUP for a school should include the following components:
• Privilege- The use of the Internet by a student in school is a privilege, and not a right that can be suspended if unacceptable behaviour occurs. The school reserves the right to make
71
all final decisions on what is considered inappropriate use of the Internet within the school classrooms or labs.
• Etiquette- Most students bring little experience in Internet usage to the classroom, so rules of etiquette should address
a). appropriate language;
b). politeness; and c). privacy.
• Security- A lost or stolen password, trying to access another individual's account, or destroy the data of another are all security breaches.
• Vandalism- Any malicious attempt to create, upload, or download any computer virus;
deliberate and wilful acts to damage equipment or software; delete nonpersonal files, to hack, or any attempt to break into another system constitutes vandalism.
• Legal issues- Violation of copyright laws, stealing of data or access codes, defamation and privacy have legal consequences.
• Warranties- Schools should not be held accountable for the loss of data, service interruptions, mis-deliveries, non-deliveries, or the accuracy or quality of information obtained.
Hanson (1997) and IFLA School Library Guidelines (2015:22-23) asserted that school administrators, librarians and ICT officers should develop and implement Internet AUPs. Critical to the accomplishment of AUP policies is the sense of possession of the policies by their major target - learners. In this case, possession necessitates that learners “understand the policies, the reason why they are put in place, and accept them” since learners’ involvement in policy formation can assist in generating learners “buy in” (Bosco, 2011:3). Turner (2006:68) also advised that, “for a school library policy to be effective, it needs to be produced in consultation with internal and external professionals and agencies” (Turner, 2006:68). It is therefore important to add that, once the school library policy is adopted, all staff and learners should be trained in appropriate implementation for its success (Batch, 2015:66).
In developed nations, “such as the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and Japan, schools have functional libraries because they are guided and directed by clearly defined school
72
library policies and guidelines” (Mojapelo, 2015:46). Many researches have stressed the need for African countries to develop national legislated policies on school libraries to promote the development and growth of libraries since it is a crucial tool in rolling out effective school library and information services (Stilwell, 2009; Du Toit and Stilwell, 2012; Hart, 2013; Mutungi, Minishi-Majanja and Mnkeni-Saurombe, 2014; Paton-Ash and Wilmot, 2015).
Lack of a school library policy impedes the efforts and initiatives required for effective provision of information services at school (Hart, 2013; Stilwell, 2009). In South Africa, school library policy development “seems to be a series of missed opportunities and even though the process has been ongoing”, there is the need for such policies to address inequalities as well as contribute to change in order to “promote the development of school library services” (Du Toit and Stilwell, 2012:125). According to Le Roux (2002:11), “the absence of national school library policy guidelines is of great concern to the school library profession as this has an adverse effect on the provision of school library services and curriculum reform initiatives in South Africa”.
Many countries in Africa are not having functional school libraries and a major contributing factor to this is lack of national school library policies in these countries. A legislated school library policy helps in fronting the organisation and sustainability of standardised and well-stocked practical libraries in schools (Hart, 2013 and Paton-Ash and Wilmot, 2015). A study by Du Toit and Stilwell (2012) found that, efforts and initiatives towards the enactment of school library policies in Namibia and Swaziland had not been encouraging. In Botswana, Baffour-Awuah (2002) opined that development of school libraries are hindered due to lack of a national policy to outline standards in guiding a national foresight towards school library development. Mutungi, Minishi-Majanja and Mnkeni-Saurombe (2014) also in their study bemoaned the negative effects of lack of a legislated school library policy in Kenya. In Uganda, Magara and Batambuze (2009:142) asserted that, there are setbacks in the establishment and development of functional school library development due to lack of a legislated policy on school libraries.
In Ghana, the situation with school libraries and their policy formulation is not much different from what prevails in other African countries (Omenyo, 2016:24). Studies have found that, many schools do not have well-resourced and functional libraries due to lack of a legislated policy to
73
regulate the establishment of libraries in schools (Donkor, 1999; Amavi, 2008; Bentum, 2012).
The GESCI and Nepad e-School initiatives assisted the Ghana MoE with policy frameworks on ICT developments in schools but these policy frameworks are yet to be legislated. Lack of a legislated school library policy in Ghana has made it possible for some schools to operate without providing for functional school libraries (Alemna, 2000; Alemna, 2002; Banbil, 2011).
Although the establishment and development of school libraries in Ghana have not been fully achieved partly due to government’s lack of commitment in the establishment of library policies and guidelines, many schools that have libraries have also failed to develop polices and AUPs to regulate the management of these libraries and their resources (Agyekum and Filson, 2012;
Omenyo, 2016).