Slow And Steady Wins The (Collaborative) Race
‘Collaboration’ has been a reoccurring topic weaved throughout the modules of ETL401, yet it appears to be a concept that many school communities still struggle with. Teacher librarians need to be prepared to be patient and persistent while also setting realistic goals when advocating for a collaborative approach to teaching within a school. Annette Lamb (2011, p. 30) points out that the process is not a quick fix, rather “it may take a number of years to develop the type of open, supportive atmosphere necessary for full collaboration”. A teacher librarian facing a culture that does not value collaboration can plant a seed of inspiration, then cultivate and use this to gain momentum.
When beginning to implement a collaborative culture within a school community, the key is to start small. Kasey L. Garrison and Lee FitzGerald (2019, p.1) encourage teacher librarians to engage their fellow teachers in collaboration “one interested teacher at a time”. Karen Bonanno (2011, 17:15) also shares this perspective, suggesting that teacher librarians should put their energy toward the people who want to work with them. By collaborating with one teacher who is keen and interested, a teacher librarian will be able to co-create a guided inquiry unit that showcases to others the deep and meaningful learning that can achieved through collaboration. Teacher librarians can then use this partnership as a springboard to inspire other classroom teachers into a collaborative partnership. Michael G. Fullan (1999, p. 35) cites the need for “urgency-agency-energy” for collaboration to comprehensively embed itself into the school culture. ‘Urgency’ (motivation to make something happen quickly) coupled with ‘agency’ (the ability to utilise a range of collaborative skills) create the ‘energy’ that is needed to change a school’s culture to one that endorses collaboration (Fullan, 1999, p.35). Starting off small and harnessing the enthusiasm for collaboration that already exists in some teachers is the perfect place to begin cultivating the “urgency-agency-energy” needed to create an overall culture shift towards collaboration.
Communication is another important element in the success of promoting collaboration. Making connections with everyone associated with the teaching and learning process and nurturing these relationships, be it face-to-face or digitally, can bring success to the library program (Lamb, 2011, p. 28). This could be something as simple as emailing “hints and tips” or interesting resources to relevant teachers (Korodaj, 2019, para. 25). Asking to be a part of team meetings can also help create connections to teachers who may be hesitant to collaborate. Once a collaborative partnership between a teacher librarian and a classroom teacher has been established, it is essential to the success of the teaching and learning that the high levels of communication remain constant from the outset to the conclusion of a unit to ensure that both remain on the same page (Garrison and FitzGerald, 2019, p. 7). Sharing collaboration success stories with your school community will also help in changing perceptions to one that values collaboration between the teacher librarian and teachers.
The most convincing point in any argument for collaboration within a school community is the research that clearly demonstrates its positive impact on student learning. Embedding the teaching of literacy, information literacy, and digital literacy into guided inquiry units through collaboration with classroom teachers makes learning richer. One such example exists at the Methodist Ladies’ College in Victoria, where credit of the evident growth of digital literacy skills was given to the collaboration that exists between teacher librarians and teachers (Moloney & Lucas, 2019, p. 17). As these skills are not isolated to the library alone, their inclusion into subject-specific guided inquiry units give students the opportunity to develop and use these skills in an authentic manner.
Another argument for collaboration is a teacher librarians’ ability to assist teachers in meeting the general capabilities within the Australian Curriculum (Korodaj, 2019, para. 11). In an era of education that is still outcomes-based and data-driven, it can be difficult for a classroom teacher to reconcile the pressure to churn through content with the acquisition of 21st century skills. Leaning on a teacher librarians’ expertise in this area can enable a teacher to merge these two, sometimes conflicting, paradigms.
Ultimately, collaboration is considered a 21st century skill that we expect our students to develop, so modelling for them what effective collaboration looks like is only going to increase their understanding. The evidence is clear that collaboration between the teacher librarian and teachers has a positive impact on student learning and results… and after all, isn’t that what we are all striving for?
References:
Bonanno, K. (2011). ASLA 2011. Karen Bonanno, Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan. https://vimeo.com/31003940
Fullan , M. (1999). Change forces: The sequel. Routledge Falmer.
Garrison, K. L. & FitzGerald, L. (2019, October 21-25). “One interested teacher at a time”: Australian Teacher Librarian Perspectives on Collaboration and Inquiry [conference paper]. 48th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship and the 23rd International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Korodaj, L. (2019, April 24). At the crossroads (or a crossover!): Introduction to Teacher Librarianship (ETL401) and Teacher Librarian as Leader (ETL504). Lori’s E-Musings.
Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. TechTrends : Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 55(4), 27-36.
Moloney, S., Lucas, A. (2019). Teacher librarians co-designing learning for effective digital literacy programs. Access, 33(3), 4-21.