Study in the time of Covid-19 has been somewhat disrupted and blogging has had to wait. At least Resourcing the Curriculum has provided a mental diversion from global death rates, nightmare cruises, unemployment, soap versus hand sanitiser, kids at home, zoom and pending economic crisis.
Responsibility for resource selection:
How is the TL’s expertise and role different from that required by all teachers?
While the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (2014) state that the ability to “select and use resources” is a requirement of all teachers (standard 3.4), a TLs expertise and role is different to a classroom teacher, in that they are qualified as information literacy experts. The ACT Government (2019) defines the TL role as combining “a command of 21st century pedagogies and curricula with expertise in information science: the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information” (p.3). TLs may be working as Highly accomplished or Lead teachers, who are also professional curators working within a school library context.
How might TL’s effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources?
TLs can effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources as they have a “bird’s eye view” of the school context (ACT, 2019, p.3). Keeling (2019) discusses the value of shared conversation in improving community and collection development. Given these perspectives, at the curriculum planning phase with class teachers, the TL should ideally share their time with each year level team to ascertain the resource needs. Using professional selection criteria to gather a variety of materials, the TL can then present teams with a range of useful, quality resources for class teachers to then select. Other opportunities for collaboration with the school community include book fairs and book clubs which incorporate social gatherings for curriculum and literary conversation, short listed book voting (CBCA) for staff, students and parents, opportunities for book/resource requests, library newsletters and surveys which value feedback on resources.
How can the TL engage learners in the selection of resources for their school library?
Suggestion boxes, student book reviews and star ratings, online requests and written or spoken surveys can be effective ways to engage students in the selection of resources. The National Library of New Zealand includes valuable information on engaging learners in the selection process (thanks Lee for the heads-up!). Aside from written or spoken interviews, students might enjoy online surveys (e.g. Survey Monkey) where they provide valuable feedback on curriculum resources, reading preferences and formats (fiction, nonfiction, authors, genres, graphic novels, ebooks etc). Student Library representatives for each year level could also be powerful spokespeople and advocates for their less articulate peers.
References
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government. (2019). School libraries: The heart of 21st century learning. file:///E:/CSU/ETL503%20Resourcing%20the%20Curriculum/School-Libraries-The-Heart-of-21st-Century-Learning.pdf
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2014). Australian professional standards for teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards
Keeling, M. (2019). What’s new in collection development?, Knowledge Quest, 48 (2), 4-5. https://search.proquest.com/openview/df98b0e57f30ede4e963121d5424d82f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=6154
National Library of New Zealand. (n.d). Student reading interests. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/strategies-to-engage-students-as-readers/student-reading-interests
