I’ve been away from the classroom for more than 15 years and was apprehensive about writing a unit of work, let alone framing it within an information literacy model, something I’ve not heard of. It’s been a surprise how quickly I slipped back into the mindset of an educator, and I’ve had a sense of growing excitement as I explored the changing role of the teacher librarian (TL).
My first exploration of the TL role was reflecting on my own experience with TLs (Whisson, 2021a) of which I had almost none. Conversations with teaching friends and family followed and I heard of teacher aides shoehorned into the library to keep it tidy and manage loans, through to actively engaged and excited TLs. None however described the TL as a leader, or co-teacher working alongside them to enhance their work in class. Instead they experienced the TL as a source of information for the students and someone who could teach the students specific isolated skills e.g. how to search a database.
From here I explored the sheer breadth (Whisson, 2021b) of the modern information landscape that TLs support students to navigate, and also reflected on the nature of information (Whisson, 2021c). The concept of TL as a school leader (Marshall, 2017) was not one I have considered before, but as my perspective developed I saw that they are specialists positioned to work with school leadership to formulate and enact strategic plans, and support their colleagues’ professional development. (Whisson, 2021d&e).
I’ve also discovered that, thanks to government funding structures in some states, TLs need to work to continually defend their place in schools. At the same time, their role is so multi-faceted (Whisson, 2021f) they must compromise in order to be effective and operate at a high level. In QLD, the prevalence of qualified TLs in state schools is diminishing, with budgets allocated but spending at the discretion of school leadership. A petition (Robins, 2020) was launched last year calling for mandatory “access to a well-maintained school library under the stewardship of a professional library team” for all schools. You can read the minister’s evasive response here.
I then examined the AITSL standards with some initial defensiveness (Whisson, 2021g) but found clarity and inspiration as I explored the AITSL resources specifically for TLs (AITSL, 2017) which helped inform my unit of work. Here was a TL collaborating with a senior teacher to introduce information literacy skills into the classroom and coach the teacher to raise the level of their own teaching in this area.
Finally we come to information literacy (Bundy, 2004) and its relationship to inquiry-based learning (IBL). The information landscape is overwhelming, and with little experience of IBL, I had my doubts: how would it look in practice? Won’t the students be swamped with information? What about explicit instruction? How can the students possibly cover the necessary curriculum when they are choosing what to learn? My anxiety grew as I explored the various information literacy models, until I reached Guided Inquiry Design (GID) based on the Information Search Process (ISP) (Kuhlthau et al., 2012). The difference I saw between GID and the other models I examined was the acknowledgement of the feelings, thoughts and actions of the students as they progressed through each stage of the model and that active scaffolding is needed to support them throughout. At that point in my readings, the potential value of IBL emerged. By now I had identified a key stage, subject and topic for my unit of work, and as I read though the GID stages, the strategies I could employ to deliver my unit according to inquiry-based learning began to form. There could be no other choice of model for me. My path forward became clearer, my confidence grew, and I took ownership of the task. It dawned in me that I was progressing through the feelings, thoughts and actions described in the Information Search Process…!
I will continue to treat inquiry learning with some caution. I agree with John Hattie (2015), who maintains there is a danger of implementing inquiry-based too early and without care. Inquiry on its own does not equal engagement, and for students without the knowledge and skills to execute it effectively, it can be a waste of time. Children still need to be explicitly taught, however the process of designing this unit of work has led me to understand that inquiry learning, introduced at the right time, for the right purpose and, importantly, within a carefully implemented information literacy framework, can be highly engaging and effective. As the information literacy experts, teacher librarians can work with teachers to implement effective information literacy frameworks and therefore quality, worthwhile inquiry-based learning.
References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2017). Information Literacy. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/information-literacy-illustration-of-practice
Bundy, A. (2004). Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework. Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy. https://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/79068/anz-info-lit-policy.pdf
Hattie, J. (2015, November 10). John Hattie on inquiry-based learning [Video]. Corwin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUooOYbgSUg
Marshall, S. (2017). Librarians in the digital age: experts in e-health. connections, Term 2 2017(101). https://www.scisdata.com/media/1484/connections101.pdf
Robins, D. (2020). Minimum National School Library Standards across Queensland. Queensland Parliament. [Petition]. https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=3448
Whisson, A. (2021a, March 8). Reflecting on the Role of Teacher Librarian: When I was a Teacher. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2021/03/08/reflecting-on-the-role-of-teacher-librarian-when-i-was-a-teacher/
Whisson, A. (2021b, March 8). Forum: Module 2 Discussions: The information environment, Thread: 2.5 Teacher Librarian in the information landscape. [Online forum post]. School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Whisson, A. (2021c, March 6). Thinking About Information – Discussion Forum 2.1. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2021/03/06/thinking-about-information-discussion-forum-2-1/
Whisson, A. (2021d, April 28). Forum: Module 3 Discussions: The role of the teacher librarian Thread: 3.3: The role of the Principal and the TL. [Online forum post]. School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Whisson, A. (2021e, March 8, April 27). Forum: Module 2 Discussions: The information environment Thread: 2.3 Information Society. [Online forum post]. School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Whisson, A. (2021f, April 28). Forum: Module 3 Discussions: The role of the teacher librarian Thread: 3.2: The role of the teacher librarian. [Online forum post]. School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Whisson, A. (2021g, April 27). Reflecting on the AITSL Standards – Discussion Forum 3.1. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2021/04/27/reflecting-on-the-aitsl-standards-discussion-forum-3-1/