Open AccessReading, School Libraries and Equity: A Socio-Spatial Study of School Libraries and Reading in Singapore
Author(s) -
Loh Chin Ee
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
iasl conference proceedings
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2562-8372
DOI - 10.29173/iasl7183
Subject(s) - school library , space (punctuation) , reading (process) , equity (law) , information literacy , socioeconomic status , literacy , government (linguistics) , sociology , elite , perception , ideology , political science , public relations , mathematics education , pedagogy , psychology , library science , politics , computer science , population , linguistics , philosophy , demography , neuroscience , law , operating system
Although Singapore is lauded internationally for its excellent education system, particularly as a top scorer on the international OECD PISA assessments, official educational policies have been criticized for the tendency to sideline socioeconomic status as a factor for school success. To understand the complex space of schooling and how inequity is worked out in practice, I turn to the space of the school library in two contrasting schools to examine how the organization of space can contribute to or inhibit the kinds of learning desired. Using a comparative socio-spatial approach, I map the library spaces of an elite all-boys‟ school and a co-educational government school in Singapore to understand how a space typically associated with the cultivation of reading habits and critical information literacy may in practice serve as a space for differentiated education. Through the physical, social and affective mapping of two school libraries, I describe, breakdown and examine taken-for-granted practices that reveal underlying ideologies governing perception and use of library space. Furthermore, I argue that viewing the school library through socio-spatial lens allows educators a localized, evidence-based framework to evaluate how effective and equitable their school libraries are.