Transition program lessens anxiety

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:04:15 +0000

Navigating the complex world of a university library can be a daunting experience for anyone. You can up the anxiety level for first-year students, and then take it up another notch for First Nations Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students, who also face cultural challenges.

Enter the First Nations Transition Program (FNTP) and Professional Librarian Andrea Glover, who navigates the sometimes murky waters of understanding with her Library Science 0500 course.

"I just remember my sister coming home and always saying her Library Science instructor was so cool," second-year student Sheena Tail Feathers says. "And she was right, she is cool. One of the things I loved about the class is she never makes it boring and I always looked forward to going."

Glover has been teaching the course, required as part of the FNTP program, since its inception five years ago, and although she initially had some worries about the concept of singling out FNMI students, she has seen how well it aids their introduction to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ lifestyle.

"The more I looked at it, this was a really good concept," says Glover. "You have them start together and then gradually move out and move on to be a part of the greater ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ population.
"The most important thing for me is to make sure they are comfortable and while that's important for every student, there's a cultural gap they must also cross and if we can help them with that, they'll be much more successful."

The course benefits not only the students but also the instructor.

"As a non-native instructor, I must cross the cultural gap as well to do right by these students, and they help me with that learning process every time I step into the classroom."

Tail Feathers' older sister Nicole advanced through the program first. A
Native American Studies and Kinesiology major, she's set to graduate in this month's Fall Convocation. Sheena is taking the same path and is already off to a solid start.

"I didn't know anything about the library and didn't really understand all that it could do for you," she says.
"Andrea's shown us how to use the web page, how to search for books, use e-reference, pretty much anything you can do here. Basically, I know how to research thanks to the course."

Of course Glover is just the facilitator in this process. Her use of humour, experience teaching FNMI students and enthusiasm for her subject matter are all useful teaching tools but it's up to the students to make the most of her lessons.

"She can get us started and give us all the information we need but it's up to us to actually apply it," Sheena, who came to the U of L from Lethbridge College, says. "The university life is so much different than college because here, nobody is going to tell you to go to class or to do your homework, it's all up to you. The way I look at it, this is my opportunity to try hard and get it right the first time."

Glover says she knows she's made an impact when she sees her students often, meaning they are actively using the library. Her greatest success is still in the works.

"I would absolutely love it if one of my students would get their master's degree in Library Science one day and come back to take over my role in this program," she says. "An FNMI librarian teaching this course would be wonderful – but not until I retire!"

The power of language

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:25:54 +0000

For Glenna Westwood (BA '84), proclaiming the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a culturally diverse campus is literally, just lip service.

By initiating the establishment of foreign language conversation groups, Westwood is helping to foster relationships at the most basic of levels – communication.

"It's not just an opportunity for students to learn and to help them with their studies, it's community-building, a good social exercise as well," says Westwood, the library's Fine Arts librarian and modern languages buff.

The project invites students, staff and faculty to meet in the library on a weekly basis to simply converse in either French or Spanish. When it debuted last fall, a Japanese component was also included.

"We're here not to just support students who are writing a research paper for their professor," says Westwood about her role as a professional librarian. "They have other learning needs and goals and I've always tried to anticipate what those needs might be and then fulfill them.
"I try to ask myself, what can we do for students apart from providing these scholarly resources?"

Her interest in language is well earned and the idea for the conversation groups was born out of a study leave she took to Mexico five years ago. While there, Westwood studied Spanish by immersing herself in the language. She enrolled in a language school with a library in a small Mexican town. Journaling her experiences, she studied what kind of library resources she used to support her learning, then returned a year later to conduct a survey and compile results for a paper she then presented at a conference in Australia. Conversation groups were a part of the informal curriculum, and she facilitated an English group while also participating in a Spanish group.

"My goal that semester was language facility," she says. "I was interested in sitting in that space, seeing what kinds of resources I used and watching the other students and seeing what resources they used. As a language librarian, I was then able to share that new knowledge with the broader professional community."

It was the kind of information she could bring back to the U of L to help her create a better learning environment for the many modern language students on campus. It was more than that though; it also provided her with an opportunity to use the library as more than a research destination but also a community space.

With assistance from the International Centre for Students as well as the Faculty of Management, Westwood recruited students as volunteer hosts of the conversation groups. After that, it was a matter of opening the doors and letting the program evolve in whatever direction it took.

"I don't participate in the actual groups, I just facilitate them and whatever experiences they have, they have," she says.
"I would say it's been a success. Really, even if just one student comes it's a success, and it's something that I want to continue."

GET THE FACTS

• Westwood has worked in the U of L Library since 1992, and was the science librarian before getting back to her roots in the fine arts and languages

• She graduated from the U of L with a BASC (Dramatic Arts) degree in 1984, then earned her Masters in Library Science from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia in 1987

• Westwood chose French, Spanish and Japanese for the conversation groups because they are languages offered as part of the U of L's Modern Languages program

• Conversation groups are open to all students, staff and faculty. Contact Westwood at glenna.westwood@uleth.ca to participate

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Transition program lessens anxiety

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The power of language

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