A belief in the transformative power of literature is what initially drew me to pursue a career in teacher librarianship. However, during the course of this subject, I have come to realise that the role of the teacher librarian involves more than promoting a love of reading. The teacher librarian is typically responsible for presenting and enabling access to information in digital forms, and not only in the printed format. After reading expert articles, I now know that information is a multi-faceted concept that is in constant evolution, and one of the most important roles of the teacher librarian is to enable students to deal competently with information and use problem-solving skills in order to function well in a rapidly changing world (Case, 2006) (Rivero, 2020, 23 July).
Furthermore, the role of the teacher librarian is that of a facilitator of student capabilities in accessing, developing and communicating ideas, that will build students’ knowledge base, and allow them to be meaningful contributors to society by successfully navigating digital resources. In this sense, the teacher librarian has a pivotal role in encouraging exposure to and analysis of multimedia sources of information, such as films, audiobooks and print, as this learning experience will develop competencies in students which they can draw upon to solve real world problems. This important role carries with it the responsibility of creating learning materials which are relevant and significant to students, acknowledge their prior knowledge, and that lead to the acquisition of useful life skills. According to Purcell (2010), the school library media specialist helps both teachers and students in dealing with the inherent complexity of the modern online world, and in order to impact student learning in a positive way, the teacher librarian should focus their attention on inquiry based learning because this is where they can really make a difference in students’ lives (Lupton, 2014; Purcell, 2010). It was with this in mind that I attempted the creation of an inquiry unit of work that connects my students’ women rights to the history of the suffragettes.
As an information literacy specialist, the teacher librarian needs to promote inquiry learning activities that require students to formulate their own questions, find, record and analyse the information that will answer their research question, and share their findings with the rest of class. After careful reading of various IL models, I found that the NSW IL model is the most applicable to my school context as it details carefully planned steps of information seeking and usage that link with elements of the NSW Quality Teaching framework (Rivero, 2020, 30 September).
A challenge of student-centred inquiry learning is the difficulty many students will encounter in framing a specific, topic-related question that will enable them to carry out a task that will deepen their knowledge of a given topic. In the dual role of practitioner and information expert, the teacher librarian has to provide assistance to students in the process of formulating research questions that will lead the students on a learning journey of discovery and experimentation. Due to the ubiquity of information, students will need guidance to direct their inquiries to specific topics, and the teacher librarian can play a crucial role in helping students to narrow down their inquiry objectives, by for example providing information scaffolding tasks and checkpoints that relate to steps in the information-gaining process.
Another hurdle I envisage with inquiry learning methodologies is the lack of motivation some students may demonstrate when presented with a learning task that demands independent work. Once again, the teacher librarian can help overcome this challenge by ensuring that the inquiry based learning tasks are valuable to students and offer them opportunities to learn new skills and competencies that they may later apply in life beyond school, such as learning in groups and solving real-world problems. The development of collaborative, creative and critical thinking skills is crucial if students are to be competent players in today’s world of pervasive information. These skills need to be incorporated into the inquiry learning units that the teacher librarian designs in collaboration with discipline experts. While I was designing this particular unit of work about the suffragette movement, it became evident that a functional relationship between the teacher librarian and subject educators is crucial to the success and lasting benefits of inquiry based learning, which should be promoted over time through scheduled meetings between the TL and the subject teacher, and through a genuine, shared interest in the students’ lifelong learning. In conclusion, through this subject my understanding of the role of the teacher librarian has expanded to incorporate that of an online information specialist and leader in inquiry based learning that integrates online research practises into learning (Lamb, 2011).
References
Case, D. (2006). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs and behaviour. Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=283968
Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with Potential: Mixing a Media Specialist’s Palette. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55(4), 27–36. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1007/s11528-011-0509-3
Lupton, Mandy. Inquiry skills in the Australian curriculum [online]. Access, Vol. 26, No. 2, June 2012: 12-18. Availability: <https://search-informit-comau.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=584040093322031;res=IELAPA> ISSN: 1030-0155. [cited 05 Oct 20].
Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), 30–33.
Rivero, A. (2020, 30 September). How do the dimensions of Quality Teaching relate to Inquiry based learning and project based learning? Available at: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/angelinarivero/wp-admin/post.php?post=35&action=edit
Rivero, A. (2020, 23 July). Thinking about Information. Available at: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/angelinarivero/2020/07/23/thinking-about-information/