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Reflective practice.

Through out the course we have been completing case studies relating to the challenge’s teacher librarians have or will face at one point or another in their career. It is to prepare us as future teacher librarians for what we may face and to get us into the mindset of working collaboratively with other teacher librarians, or just even colleagues. The case studies helped to put me in the mindset of a leader and what I will need to run my own team.

The case studies, I found, were quite helpful and put into perspective a lot of challenges that I might face as a teacher librarian. Apart from the size of the school, the scenario of the test school sounded quite similar to my former school in terms of the structure of management and the types of people that you may face. With this in mind, I was able to think back to my experiences and how I dealt with those types of people. The case study that stood out to me the most was case study three. In group 8’s response there was an indication that changed leadership was the best approach to the situation as it would help shift the view of the people that were blocking the actions of the teacher librarian.

While working with the group, there was a clear emergence of two main leaders directing the rest of the group on how the case studies would work and what roles everyone would take during the various rounds. We were able to work collaboratively and with ease as everyone knew what their roles were and what they needed to do. I saw this as the best way to run an online group as there was a clear focus. The style of leadership was more on the side of Instructional leadership as there was a clear directive and effectiveness in their instruction. I have found that this is the best form of leadership during my time as a teacher as there is the seniority element in place and I have noticed that most of my former students respected that.

As part of this unit, I have been able to assess my own approaches to leadership and the effects that is can have on people, both positive and negative. By modelling the best practice that I have read about and witnessed in discussion groups, I am more confident in my role as a leader in the school community and in the community in general. The skills that I have learnt have become a part of my day to day life and have become transferable into situations that I did not think of.

Leadership is not just a quality you need in the workplace, it is a quality you need in life.

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Leadership and the role of a Teacher Librarian.

In general, leadership is a strong quality to have in life. To navigate through this world, a person must have onus of themselves and the people that choose to follow them on this journey. However the idea of leadership and being a leader can go down one of two paths. The person can be a compassionate, fair and equal leader or they can be a negative and tyrannical leader.

As a Teacher Librarian there is a need to be a fair and just leader as you need to be able to cater to the needs of the whole school community and be able to decide what is best for the community. Much like Tony Stark in The Avengers, you are going to have to make some unpopular decisions but there will be other opportunities to meet the needs of people. As a Teacher Librarian, you will be faced with many obstacles, administration limiting your funding and unreasonable requests from other staff members, but a true leader will be able to work around those limitations and provide the best opportunities for all. Within my practice, I wish to be a leader in not only the school community but also in the digital aspect. I want to able to pave the way for the integration of new technologies within already established schools and how they will be able to work in the classroom and the library.

A leader needs to adapt to their environment and suit its needs as well as guiding people along the right path. That is the sign of a true leader.

 

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Reflection

The role and nature of school library collections.

 When thinking about the physical space of the library, its role has evolved over the years to suit the needs of the learning community, however, the core feature has stayed the same. A learning space where reading, inquiry, research, thinking, imagination, and creativity is central to students’ information to knowledge journey and to help develop their social, personal and cultural growth (IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2015, p. 16).  Though, the smooth running of the library space would not happen if it weren’t for the Teacher Librarian to oversee it all. The teacher librarian to a library is like Mjolnir is to Thor or The Eye of Agamotto is to Doctor Strange. They both hold the power to change the present and the future for the best. Wielding such powers is no easy feat, Teacher librarians must be able to distinguish between the important and the insignificant all while trying to maintain a relevant collection and learning environment and defend any potential issues (enemies) that may come about. Collection development policies could be seen as their sidekick to help relieve some of the stress of running a library.

 

While still being the brains of the operation, teacher librarians can turn to the collection development policy to give them some assistance along the way on how to defend their collection, or universe. The teacher librarian must make informed decisions based on the school community and the long-term goals and priorities that are set out in the collection development policy (Johnson, 2014, p. 138). A simple selection process can be created to help with quick fire decisions in a standard yes or no format (Boeti, 2019, March 28). In doing so, the teacher librarian can keep a mental log of this process, as it is not too detailed, and quickly assess a resource to see if it is worthy to move on to the detailed selection process.

 

Importance of a collection development policy

Much like sidekicks, collection development policies are there to support the hero of the library, the teacher librarian. By having this document in place, it outlines how the collection will be created and how it will meet the needs of its community (Braxton, 2014). It will also assist in how to acquire the resources and what the process is in regard to deselection. There are schools, however, that do not have a documented version of the policy and follow with the mentality that we do what we have always done and there is no need to write it down (Boeti, 2019, May 27). This can come at a cost to the library as the policy is there in case the teacher librarian is not available or decides to move schools. Without their sidekick, the hero is at a loss and the same goes for teacher librarians. A library cannot run effectively if there is not a collection development policy in place.

 

Future proofing the collection

 By constantly analyzing the collection and deselecting the outdated or irrelevant materials, teacher librarians can maintain the best collection they can (Boeti, 2019, May 27). There also needs to be a collaboration between the teacher librarian and administration to ensure that the library will run smoothly. If there is that connection in place, the promotion of resources and activities run by the library will occur naturally and there will be a vested interest in the space from the school community because they will see that there is support for the library. There may be an increase in challenged materials in the future so policies should adapt accordingly. Self-censorship should not be put in place, a resource should not be restricted from purchase based on the teacher librarian deeming it inappropriate for readers (Jacobson, 2016, p. 21). By having a collection development policy in place, there is little room for error and questioning by administration. As well a sidekick, the collection development policy is a shield of protection for the teacher librarian.

 

Part B References:

 

Boeti, A. (2019, May 27). Collection Analysis [Online discussion post]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42383_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78886_1&forum_id=_147540_1&message_id=_2311447_1

Boeti, A. (2019, May 27). Digital content within a collection development policy [Online Discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42383_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78886_1&forum_id=_147542_1&message_id=_2294288_1

Boeti, A. (2019, March 28). Selection process [Thinkspace blog]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/adeleboeti/2019/03/28/5/

Braxton, B. (2014). Sample collection policy. Retrieved from http://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/sample-collection-policy/

International federation of Library Associations and Institutions/United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. (2015). School Library Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

Jacobson, L. (2016). Unintentional selection: restricting books with controversial content is on the rise in school libraries. School Library Journal, 62(10), 20-24. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=76df5959-93b8-4b6f-b81e-bb5b57f2df39%40sdc-v-sessmgr06

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Reflective Practice.

Starting off this course, I thought that my understanding of the role of a teacher librarian was somewhat well developed. Well, I was quite wrong on that front. The teacher librarian is much more than a person that “mans” the front desk and the person that makes sure the library is well stocked and kept relevant. They are also expected to liaise with teachers and administration to ensure that the library is considered in all aspects of the curriculum and not as an afterthought.  There are a lot more hats a teacher librarian wears. Within the school, teacher librarians are and should be seen as curriculum leaders, information specialists and information service managers. Ensuring that students and teachers are supported in their learning and instruction.

My understanding of the term Information Literacy was quite limited as I had not come across it before.  However, I was excited to discover this new realm, much like Indiana Jones. As an English teacher, literacy was apart of my everyday practicum. There were targeted literacy programs, designed to assist groups of students with different issues, such as developing their sentence structure or the appropriate use of functional grammar and then there were the generalized literacy classes where they broke down meanings of texts and created their own. Though, when reading the definition provided by UNESCO, I realized that Information Literacy was much more than my initial thought of it relating to just technology. “Information literacy (IL) is described in the Alexandria Proclamation of 2005, as essential for individuals to achieve personal, social, occupational and educational goals.” (Catts & Lau, 2008, p.9), it is more about the holistic approach to education, one that students will carry with them through the rest of their lives rather than just focused in the classroom.

As I kept digging through the course, I found that Information Literacy was also attached to models of teaching. Teacher librarians and classroom teachers should be thought of as a team in these models and not as their own separate entities. Information Literacy models are heavily linked with the inquiry process, that is heavily referenced in the Australian Curriculum, however, Mandy Lupton (2014) suggests that the link between the two is not as defined and therefore makes it difficult for the teacher librarians to implement effectively (p. 15). While reading through I discovered that there were elements of various models that had been implemented into my school though there wasn’t a great connection with the teacher librarian. There was an inquiry process in place, however, it wasn’t entrenched within the library program meaning that students lost that opportunity to build a connection with the teacher librarian. The teacher librarian in a school is the equivalent to an academic support team at a university. They are there to support the students and the teachers in developing and growing their research skills in a way that they are able to transfer from school life to everyday life. I feel that Guided Inquiry and the Big6 approach handles this aspect of thinking quite well as there is vested support and guidance for the students, they are not completely left to their own devices. Students grow and learn better when they know they have that support behind them.

Had there been the input of the teacher librarian within the inquiry unit, there would have been a marked improvement in the assessments the students produced.

Throughout this unit, I have discovered many things involved with being a teacher librarian. The library is not considered a single use space anymore, a place to look at books and study privately, but one that takes on a virtual form as well. With the physical space adapting to modern day needs, so too does the teacher librarian. We, as information specialists, must grow and try to meet the needs of our community to better help them with their goals and their learning in general.

References:

Catts, R., & Lau, J. (2008). Towards Information Literacy Indicators, UNESCO:                 Paris.

Lipton, M. (2012). Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum. Access, 26(2), 12-    18. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-            au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=584040093322031;res=IELAPA

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Facts vs Fantasy

In recent years there has been a rising focus on the introduction of non-fiction text into the classroom. In particular, the English classroom. While working full-time at a school last year, a lot of the English meeting time was spent discussing what the texts should be across the different year levels. A debate occurred when it was raised whether or not we should cut down the amount of fiction we were getting the students to read.

We constantly ask the students to write to a prompt or about past experiences and they are able to do so with ease, but when it comes to writing an expository piece or factual essay students struggle and in some cases tend to give up. This was one of the arguments that was raised by one of my former colleagues and started to get people thinking. It was established that there needed to be an equal balance between the two. We could see from borrowing patterns that the students were borrowing a lot of fiction books on their own accord but required prompting to borrow factual books.

In order to broaden their horizons in both reading and writing styles, student’s exposure to the different types of text will provide them with the varying styles and voices that they were once not familiar with (Mosle, 2012). In doing so, my former school saw an increase in student engagement with different text types and it started to show in their own writing.

Reference:

Mosle, S. (2012). What Should Children Read? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/what-should-children-read/?_r=0

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Library selection process

It would be amazing to fill a library with all the things that interest you. But being a teacher librarian, that is not the case. There are steps that need to be followed in order to properly stock the library with resources that are relevant to the teachers and students. Above is my attempt at creating a selection process map to assist in the process.

 

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Teacher Librarians. The superhero’s we all need.

When it comes to staring at a new school, where is your first port of call? Apart from the business manager, it is the library to collect your texts and any other resources you may need for the rest of the year. This would not be possible if it weren’t for the people that worked in the most wonderful place in a school.

As I moved around different schools in my time as a relief teacher, I made some meaningful connections with the teachers that worked in the libraries. This connection grew at my last school where I would find any time to go down to the library and “pick the brains” of the people in the office. These conversations opened my eyes to the world that was out there in terms of running a library and what was involved. Along with the general conversation, I was timetabled on desk duties a few periods a week, giving me that insight into one of the very many duties of a teacher librarian. Having been a relief teacher prior to working full time in one school, I was fortunate enough a varied experience in different schools and was not just limited to the classroom. Working in the library and talking to various teachers sparked an interest in me to step out and possibly pursue this as a career for myself.

The more I dove into what the role of a teacher librarian was, the more I realised that it wasn’t just manning the desk and loaning out books. According to the Australian School Library Association (ASLA), teacher librarians “support and implement the vision of their school communities through advocating and building effective library and information services and programs that contribute to the development of lifelong learners.” (ASLA, 2019). If that is not the definition of was a superhero is, then I don’t know what is. Forget Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, and Tony Stark, teacher librarians are the true superheroes of the world. Fostering a growth mindset and enabling students with the power to go forth in the world with a thirst for knowledge and the skills to source that out is possibly the most powerful superpower there is.

Having 5 years of teaching experience behind me, the role of the teacher librarian fascinated me. It was something that was so vital to a school and yet in some so under appreciated. Teacher librarians are the backbone of a school and without them, there would be no resources for the students to use, they will not learn the skills to adequately source information, there would not be a place for them to feel welcomed and safe or just somewhere to escape the day to day stresses of school life. To me, a teacher librarian is the true superhero, they have the most valuable power on earth and use it to spread knowledge and an enjoyment of learning in both teachers and students.

References:

Australian School Library Association. (2019). What is a Teacher Librarian? Retrieved from https://www.asla.org.au/what-is-a-teacher-librarian

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