The NSW Department of Education states that ‘ libraries are an essential resource within the NSW government schools to support teaching and learning in the context of syllabus and curriculum requirements.’ (NSW Department of Education, 2016, Library Policy – Schools, 1.1). Whilst libraries have always been an essential component of schools I believe the focus and use of libraries within the school setting is presently going through major changes to keep up with the learning needs and desires of 21st Century Learners and the teacher librarian is the catalyst of these changes.
It may not be the perception of the principal and executive but how ready the individual is to accept change and make the library the learning centre of the school. If the librarian is willing to accept change, are seeking out new teaching and learning strategies and assisting staff to put these into practice they will be perceived as an individual that can be utilised within many areas of the school and ensure that school programs meet desired outcomes. Kieran Moors, Senior Leader and Learning Resources Manager, Adlinga Beach School, SA recently presented at the EduTech conference in Sydney on the ‘Changing role of the school librarian and transforming the learning environment to create a learning hub within the school’ his enlightening presentation showed the present position that many school libraries may still be in, as a traditional 20th Century library, and the changes that he undertook to create an accessible and tech savvy resource centre where student engagement thrived.
Teacher librarians are becoming the change agents of the school and school libraries are being totally restructured to become the learning and enrichment centres of the school. Teacher librarians are increasing the face of new teaching ideas and technologies that can be implemented in collaboration with classroom teachers to ensure the learning goals of students and the school are met. Increasingly there are many learning areas within the library with many different styles of learning taking place – librarians can be the driving force of change and the face of new teaching ideas and strategies.
Creating future ready libraries is in our hands it’s an exciting time to become a teacher librarian as schools see the benefit of the library becoming the learning hub of the school. I have been lucky to join a school on the cusp of restructuring their library space and sought out a number of new teaching strategies and opportunities for classroom teachers to utilise in the library. The library has become a buzzing learning space within the school with only a few changes taking place, I am looking forward to continuing to work with the school to develop flexible learning spaces within the library which are highly demanded and improve the learning outcomes of all students.
References:
ACT Department of Education (n.d) School Libraries: The Heart of 21st Century Learning Retrieved from: http://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/916301/School-Libraries-21st-Century.pdf
NSW Department of Education (2016, 5th August) Library Policy – Schools Retrieved from: https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/library-policy-schools?refid=285831
NSW Department of Education (2015) Information skills in the school: engaging learners in constructing knowledge. Retrieved from: https://education.nsw.gov.au/supporting-learning-and-teaching/media/documents/infoskills.pdf
SYNERGY (Volume 12, Number 1, 2014) The Next Generation of School Library. Retrieved from: https://www.slav.vic.edu.au/synergy/volume-12-number-1-2014/perspectives-global/369-the-next-generation-of-school-library-.html
Hi Belinda,
You’ve left a thoughtful commentary on Siobhan’s blog which comments on both the appearance and the content of her post. You were struck with her comment, that “TLs are first and foremost an educator….they dedicate themselves to further the curiosity of the academic”, and said so.
Your post showed you grappling with the nature of the role of the TL, and using some official sources to round out your thoughts. You find it an exciting time to become a TL, as there are many opportunities for us in schools, if the TL is proactive enough to seize them. You have some errors in the way you use in-text references – the Edutech one was far too detailed, and should have just read: Moors (2017) and then there should have been an entry for it in the reference list. There are entries in the reference list which do not have a corresponding in-text reference, which must happen. The Synergy article should have an author, and Synergy should not be in capitals.
As you work, you should have the APA referencing summary open beside you. It’s in Resources/ General Subject Resources.
For the next task, the literature review, you will need to work on your referencing. The demand for referencing is much higher in this task, and you will need to find, compare, contrast and comment on references from academic literature(research studies); TL practitioner writing; and popular commentary. The focus is an issue that affects information access, and there will be help with this at the online meeting to be held this Thursday 3 August.
Well done on a good start.
Lee
ETL401 Subject Coordinator