Theory and Education: A Case of Structuration Theory

The everyday work of information professionals is culturally, socially, and organizationally structured. The education of information professionals should not be limited to the teachings of practical skills and should include theoretical knowledge. A theory-based education provides the necessary intellectual tool for information professionals for critiquing, evaluating, improving, and refining practices, on the one hand, and for reflecting on the authority, legitimacy and acceptability of professional standards and policies and their cultural, ethical, and social implications, on the other. This paper suggests that structuration theory can make a valuable contribution to iSchool education, for it provides the necessary concepts for the study of the interrelationship between the everyday work of information professionals and “the social” that provoke critical and reflective thinking.