Assessment 3 – Part C – Reflective Practice 

Through my studies during this course I have had the incredible opportunity to learn new and exciting ways of thinking, I have had the chance to express my opinions on a variety of topics and reflect on my own thoughts, skills and teaching strategies that will guide and support my further role as a teacher librarian (TL). Throughout this process my opinions and ideas on what it is to be a TL within a school environment and some of the skills and knowledge I thought I would need to be successful in this role have changed significantly. My first thoughts when enrolling in this course and thinking about what a TL is and does were seen in my very first (ever) blog post ‘ What is a TL??’ (Winkless, 2020) where I discussed my initial thoughts on the role of a TL,

                  “My idea was that a teacher librarian was someone who not only introduced the students and staff to a wide variety of quality texts but also someone who taught them the values and                               importance of a library for researching and information, both traditional print based and through technology.” (Winkless, 2020)

Although this image of what the role of a TL hasn’t really changed but evolved and developed once I became involved in the course materials, in particular Module 3. As I read many articles and explored more in depth what a being a TL was all about I found a quote from the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) website that particularly resonated with what my ever changing opinions of a TL are,

“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” (Australian School Library Association (ASLA, 2019).

I have had discussions with others through forum posts about the importance of a TL being flexible and adaptable to new situations while being that all around support person for staff and students alike in a school environment. Such as this except from a discussion with Rebecca from Module 3.2.

“I think our roles as a TL leave us in a unique position to develop different social connections with students and staff and be that back up person everyone comes to when they require                        support and new learning and as Purcell (2010) mentions there is a point where our students and staff need to assist us and we need to be able to delegate parts of our role to effectively                  support the needs of our students.” (Winkless, 2020).

Overall my ideas and thoughts around the role of a TL have changed and evolved significantly and I believe that will continue to evolve for some time as I learn and experience new things within this role. The thing that has really stuck with me the most throughout this course is Information Literacy, not only what it is but also its importance in the role of a TL and such a fantastic way to support students and staff through modern and effective research strategies.

Coming into the learning modules around information literacy I can admit I had never really heard of or seen it in practice in my teaching career. I was a little apprehensive to start with but have since been opened up to a world of varied and highly supportive teaching strategies that I can see supporting not only the range of students coming through the library but also staff. My thoughts on information literacy and thee guided inquiry model in particular have developed quickly, even changing in sort periods of time, such as when I began developing my inquiry unit of work. By working with and reading widely around the different styles and strategies each information literacy model offered I have developed a real eagerness and interest in exploring these topics further and finding effective ways to implement them into my teaching. My changing thoughts on information literacy and then the effectiveness guided inquiry could have in a library environment can be seen in two back to back blog posts from within the same module content ‘Information Literacy’ and ‘Guided Inquiry – A way of learning’ (Winkless, 2020). On reflection I have even surprised myself on how quickly my ideas and thoughts were changed within this module.

For me diving more deeply into the role of the TL and the ways I can implement information literacy and inquiry style teaching and learning into my school community are a while off. I am eager to continue to build and evolve my understanding of what a TL is and how I can be the best one possible for my school community.

References 

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

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.

Winkless, A (annie). (2020, September 20). Guided Inquiry – a way of learning. Wondering Down the Yellow Book Road. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/annie/2020/09/20/guided-inquiry-a-way-of-learning/

Winkless, A (annie). (2020, September 19). Information Literacy. Wondering Down the Yellow Book Road. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/annie/2020/09/19/information-literacy/

Winkless, A (annie). (2020, July 25). What is a TL?? Assignment 1 Part B. Wondering Down the Yellow Book Road. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/annie/2020/07/25/what-is-a-tl/

Winkless, A. (2020, August). I think our roles as a TL leave us in a unique position to develop different social connections with students and staff and be that back up person everyone comes to when they require support and new learning and as Purcell mentions there is a point where our students and staff need to assist us and we need to be able to delegate parts of our role to effectively support the needs of our students. [Comment on “3.2 The role of the teacher librarian”]. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_47578_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_94200_1&forum_id=_201754_1&message_id=_3006570_1