Information Literacy Education in Disadvantaged Schools: A Case Study of Project Work at a Primary School in South Africa

Abstract

This article reports on an ethnographic field study of project work in a grade 7 class in a disadvantaged primary school on the Cape Flats, Cape Town, South Africa. The purpose was to explore the potential use of project work (encouraged by the new South African school curriculum with its emphasis on continuous formative assessment) for information literacy education. The study found crucial gaps between official policy and classroom practice. Teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning were found to be the key to effective project work-and, therefore, to its value for information literacy programs.