Dr. Ismail Abdullahi, currently an associate professor at North Carolina Central University, is no stranger to education in the LIS profession. A graduate of the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Denmark and the University of Pittsburgh, and a former faculty member of Clark Atlanta University and the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Abdullahi has written and lectured about international LIS education, multicultural services, and the digital divide - just to name a few - in several countries. As a notable member of the American Library Association's International Relations Round Table (IRRT) and the recipient of several awards, Dr. Abdullahi continues to research the international library field.
In his paper Diversity and Intercultural Issues in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education, Abdullahi acknowledges that although the treatment of diversity in LIS education is superficial and not reflective of the current level of diversity in society, there is a way to successfully and systematically improve LIS educators and curriculum to include diversity issues. At the center of Abdullahi's paper are four distinct characteristics that "define the culturally responsive LIS teacher" (453), which include the following: being socioculturally conscious, maintaining affirming views of students with diverse backgrounds, feeling responsible for educational change, and finally, using knowledge of students' background to give their students adequate access to learning. Not only should these characteristics be central to LIS educators, but it is argued that the future LIS curriculum inherit the same characteristics.
The author breaks down the four characteristics further, exploring their importance to LIS educators and new LIS professionals. Sociocultural consciousness challenges information professionals to understand their students or patrons by first exploring their own sociocultural identity, which includes race, cultural groups, language, and gender. Sociocultural consciousness as described by Abdullahi is not so different from examining the "tiles" that make up one's cultural mosiac. Educators must also maintain an affirming view of their students from diverse backgrounds by validating the existence of differing perspectives. This goes beyond tolerance of different backgrounds, as affirmation involves supporting and including these students in the classroom and viewing their background as assets to the classroom experience, rather than viewing them as a hinderance that needs to be replaced by the dominant world view.
The last two characteristics, the commitment to act as an agent of change and the willingness to incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices go hand-in-hand together. Libraries have the power to change society, provided they can get past the bureaucratic tape. LIS educators also have the ability to influence change, by challenging injustices and inequalities in the library profession, and socializing their students, the budding LIS professionals, into agents of change. Once the LIS educator has committed to change their profession, curriculum, and their students by bringing diversity issues to the center of the classroom, then the educator can incorporate culturally responsive instruction practices. A large part of the culturally responsive curriculum encompasses empathy, inclusiveness, and knowledge of each student's diverse background.
Abdullahi creates a clear and realistic framework for promoting and including diversity education in the LIS profession beyond the current trend of pushing diversity education to the sidelines. This vision of an increasingly diversity-inclusive multicultural services may not happen immediately, but if every LIS educator exhibited those four characteristics of a culturally responsive educator, it may happen sooner than later. If every LIS educator started out each semester with a cultural mosiac exercise, then perhaps the importance of diversity issues in LIS education and the amount of culturally responsive LIS educators and students will match the increasing diversity of our society.
References
Abdullahi, I. (2007). Diversity and intercultural issues in library and information science (LIS)
education. New Library World, 108(9/10), 453-459.
American Library Association. (n.d.). Notable IRRT member Ismail Abdullahi. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/irrt/notablemembers/abdullahi.cfm.
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