Executive Summary

 

This report has been commissioned by Mr C. Future, the principal of Unicorn High School, to outline how the school library will be a well-resourced, technology rich learning common for collaborative teaching and learning. The report provides an overview of progress and developments surrounding 21st learning within the school, and seeks to provide a picture of current thinking about incorporating the general capabilities of the Australian curriculum into units of work. It addresses current issues and challenges facing adoption of evidence based practice in the school.

 

    Methods

The current library space and program was evaluated by the teacher librarian and library staff to consider how well the space and programs meet the needs of teachers and students for 21st century learning. A survey was undertaken with all teaching and support staff, as well as randomly selected students and the P&C to gauge an understanding of the present use of the library spaces, where teachers are experiencing success and where teachers are requiring assistance with the integration of general capabilities and the current level of collaboration within the school.

 

    Results & Findings

The results from the surveys were collated and used to construct a SWOT analysis which highlighted three main priority areas which need to be addressed:

• Greater availability of technology access within the school.
• Curriculum & learning.
• Innovative learning spaces.

    Conclusions & Recommendations

This report identifies three key priority areas to be integrated over the next five years to ensure that Unicorn High School is equipping students with 21st century skills through collaborative teaching and inquiry learning practises. Recommendations include building the collective efficacy of staff through ongoing professional development and creating an innovative, well-resourced and technology rich 21st century learning space.

 

 

 

Contents

Executive Summary. 1

Methods. 1

Results & Findings. 1

Conclusions & Recommendations. 2

Rational 4

Library Vision Statement. 6

Strategic Plan. 7

Priority 1: Greater availability of technology access within the school 7

Priority 2: Curriculum & learning. 8

Priority 3: Innovative learning spaces. 9

Planning for implementation of change. 11

Summary of Final Recommendations. 14

References. 15

 

 

 

 

Rational

 

Education in the 21st century must provide students with the skill set required of them to work productively in a rapidly changing employment landscape. It is suggested that 65% of students entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types, on a global stage, many of which have not yet been created. (World Economic Forum, 2016, p. 11 & Bruniges, 2012, p.2). It is the responsibility of schools to ensure that students are equipped with the skills that will be required of them in future employment. In order for students to successfully develop 21st century skills it is important that schools are well resourced in regards to technology, spaces and provide mentoring, collaboration and support to classroom teachers to create, resource and deliver innovative inquiry based programs.

 

Scott (2017) and Lonsdale & Anderson (2012, p. 1) highlight that schools are now expected to prepare students for this complex and rapidly changing world. In addition to teaching subject content, schools are expected to develop young people who are information and media literate; critical thinkers and problem solvers; communicators and team players. With the introduction of the general capabilities under the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2010) schools must lift the proficiency of all students and provide opportunities to develop the skills they need to approach the future with a dynamic and forward‐thinking mindset through collaborative, inquiry based and cross curricular learning. (Watson, 2017, p. 10 & Scott, 2017). Inquiry based learning provides students with the opportunities to assess what they know and be active creators in their own knowledge through constructivist pedagogy. Lupton (2012, p. 1) & Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014 p. 1) have both noted that the benefits of constructivist pedagogy to meet the inquiry skills of the Australian curriculum. Lupton (2012, p. 8) also highlights how important it is for the teacher librarian to have an understanding of how inquiry is portrayed and sequenced across the Australian Curriculum in order to work collaboratively with classroom teachers to develop units of work that incorporate inquiry skills and can be successfully completed within a well-resourced and planned library space.

 

A major challenge for schools is to provide the space, technological resources and educational leadership related to curriculum and learning to ensure that students are provided with the skills required to prepare them for employment in the 21st century. The teacher librarian is well placed to assist in overcoming these challenges as they assist colleagues, through shared instructional leadership, to improve teaching practises by mentoring and supporting the development of teachers. Teacher librarians, through their active participation in various teams across the school, can provide knowledge and skills to individual teachers and teams by demonstrating innovative teaching and learning practises in collaborative learning environments. (Australian School Library Association. 2013, p.7).

 

The teacher librarian is also charged with the responsibility to create a space where 21st education can take place, NSW Department of Education and Training (2018) have highlighted the need for space and technology with the recent introduction of the eight learning modes for future focussed learning in the 21st century. The reimaging of library spaces, furniture and technology enables learning modes that coexist or can be quickly and easily transitioned, in line with the eight learning modes. This provides an interactive and open learning space where students and teachers can share ideas and work collaboratively with the teacher librarian on inquiry learning projects. Holland (2015, para. 11.) also highlights that the 21st century library provides a welcoming common space that encourages collaboration and allows for the co-construction of understanding from a variety of sources.

 

Library Vision Statement

 

We envision a flexible learning space that promotes and motivates lifelong learning, ensuring all students are equipped with 21st century skills. By 2023 the library will be a well-resourced, technology rich learning common for collaborative teaching and learning.

 

 

 

Strategic Plan

 

Priority 1: Greater availability of technology access within the school

Presently within the school there is a high demand for technology access with only a limited number of dedicated computer rooms available for use, many of which have permanent timetabled classes. The Australian curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. 2010) highlights information and communication technology (ICT) and critical and creative thinking as general capabilities which are embedded throughout all learning areas, through using ICT and critical & creative thinking students are developing 21st century skills that will be required of them in the workplace.

 

Teachers have highlighted two areas that require improvement in order to successfully embed ICT and critical and creative thinking into their programs:

• Greater access to technology, hardware and software, including laptops, 3D printers, makerspaces, movie making & editing and virtual reality.
• Ongoing professional development to teachers to provide support for greater inclusion of ICT and critical & creative thinking in programs.

 

Strategies for establishment:

• Creation of a bank of laptops (25) which will have the required software desired by teachers for use in class, movement of the schools current 3D printer to the dedicated makerspace area of the library where two other 3D printers, secured through a grant, will be housed and accessible to the school community.
• The teacher librarian collaboratively working with the ICT team through shared instructional leadership will develop and present professional learning opportunities formally to staff on a twice termly basis. Teachers will be provided with the opportunity to work collaboratively with the teacher librarian to team teach in the library with classes, which will further develop their ability to embed ICT and critical and creative learning tools into programs to use with classes.
• Provide the opportunity and support to the librarian assistant to complete their diploma of library and information services. Allowing career progression for the librarian assistant as well as freeing up the time of the teacher librarian by assisting with non-teaching administrative and technology tasks (Department of Education & Training, 2018, p. 57).

 

Priority 2: Curriculum & learning

Surveying of staff highlighted the need for greater support and professional development in the area of curriculum and learning relevant to the Australian curriculum to improve student engagement. Specifically staff stated difficulty in weaving the general capabilities into their programs, difficulty accessing available resources and lacked confidence about how to develop programs the incorporated and assessed general capabilities. (Ithaca Group, 2016, p. 15 and Department of Education and Training, 2018, p. 57).

 

Teachers have highlighted two areas that require improvement in order for them to successfully meet the demands of the Australian curriculum general capabilities:

• Greater support to access resources that are readily available for the Australian Curriculum general capabilities.
• Support in developing units of work which embed general capabilities, encourage student engagement and have an emphasis on guided inquiry projects including cross curricular projects.

 

Strategies for establishment:

• The teacher librarian will work with the head teacher curriculum & learning and the curriculum & learning team to create a local bank of resources on Google Drive of available resources that have been developed for the Australian curriculum. Each specific curriculum and stage area will have their own folder where existing resources can be placed and as further resources are developed they will be included in the folder. This provides ready access for teachers to lesson plans, units of work or inquiry projects specifically related to integrating the general capabilities.
• Members of the curriculum and learning team and the teacher librarian will work collaboratively with classroom teachers, through shared instructional leadership, to assist in the development and delivery of specific units of work via team teaching within the library space. This will allow teachers to develop greater confidence in developing and delivering inquiry based programs and lead to greater student curiosity and engagement (Wheeler, 2018). As teacher confidence grows it is envisioned that cross curricular inquiry projects for each stage level will be developed and completed as a major assessment task in years 7-10.

 

Priority 3: Innovative learning spaces

It has been highlighted that space to undertake collaborative inquiry learning projects is at a minimum. Students are being exposed to innovative learning spaces in primary schools and both parents and students are expecting similar spaces within the high school setting.

 

The school community have highlighted the following improvements with regards to space to lead to greater ability to undertake collaborative inquiry learning projects within the school:

• Well-resourced and functional areas which supports the delivery of units of work embedded with the general capabilities and the eight learning modes for future focussed learning (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2018). The space needs to be open and accessible for collaborative student inquiry units of work.
• Availability of space for teachers to work collaboratively within teams, showcase student work and also has the potential to be utilised with wider community groups for school related information events. (Bored Teachers, 2018).

 

Strategies for establishment:

• Working with the librarian assistant the teacher librarian will undertake a weed of the current collection of books within the library. This will lead to a collection of resources which is current, accurate and relevant as well as developing and sustaining a culture of reading, while also meeting the need of curriculum resources which cater for inquiry learning. (QLD Department of Education & Training, 2014 & American Library Association, 2017).
• Through distributed leadership the teacher librarian will work with identified change agents who are members of the curriculum and learning team, the parent & citizens group and the student representative council to reimage the library space to include areas for the eight modes of learning which will allow students to successfully complete collaborative inquiry projects.

 

 

 

Planning for implementation of change.

 

Clement, (2014, p. 47) highlights that a school-orientated approach is often the most successful model when implementing changes within the school because it is inclusive of teachers and positively involves them in the change process. Understanding the present culture and finding a crisis (Combes, Croft, & Bales, 2017). has already taken place as the school community have been provided with the opportunity to voice their opinions through completion of surveys. The results of the surveys were compiled to develop a SWOT analysis of the current position of the school and identified three main areas requiring improvement. The survey also helped to identify individuals on staff which have implemented innovative programs with their classes or are interested in taking part in the proposed changes, these individuals are actively involved in various teams, display leadership capabilities and will be harnessed as change agents for this project.

 

It is imperative that the principal, through professional practice and transformational leadership, communicates the need and relevance of change, as shown in the three priority areas, to the whole-school community in an inspirational and logical way (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2015). This ensures that the school community has a strong understanding of the changes that will take place and can see how these changes will not only improve the engagement of students within the school, but will also develop support and collaboration between staff. The principal will distribute leadership to the teacher librarian, identified change agents and head teachers who are part of the ICT and curriculum & learning teams as well as faculty areas, encouraging all staff to build consensus and take responsibility for implementing change (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2015).

 

Harris, A (2014) identifies challenges of organisational trust, individual threat and the fear of giving others real, authentic responsibility when distributed leadership is used, however through the formation of strong collaborative teams leadership will be naturally and authentically distributed. Other challenges that may occur during this change process include:

• Time constraints – it will be important that adequate time is provided to the leadership teams for planning and also to classroom teachers for integration of each strategy. Clement, (2014, p. 42) highlights that adequate time and opportunity to understand change before implementation is required for positive results. It is suggested that time be made available to the corresponding teams to be able to successfully implement the strategies into the school. This may involve professional development time, allocated time during school development days to present information about projects and a flexible timetable arrangement to allow a greater focus on collaboration and team teaching with classroom teachers through shared instructional leadership.
• Inertia of teachers – when any change takes place in schools there is often negative responses by individual teachers, Clement, (2013, p. 41) highlights that teachers are concerned with the sense of compulsion they feel toward the changes, the lack of opportunity to make meaning of the changes before having to implement them and the transitory nature of changes. Fullan, Cuttress, & Kilcher, (2005, p. 55) and Brinson, & Steiner, (2007, p. 1) highlight that the change process is about establishing the condition for continuous improvement, through open lines of communication and ensuring, the plan is flexible and adaptable to unforeseen changes, in order to persist and overcome inevitable barriers, to do this collaboration between staff and the creation of collective efficacy will take place. Through shared instructional leadership strategies and providing the opportunity to build collective efficacy teachers and staff members will have a greater understanding of the programs and processes to achieve successful outcomes.

 

There may be further unforeseen challenges related to the proposed changes by the school community. However, by acting in a proactive manner to any issues that arise, ensuring that each stage of implementation is communicated to stakeholders and that the changes taking place are seen as relevant, with appropriate time and support being made available for the changes to be enacted, these challenges should be minimised.

 

 

 

Summary of Final Recommendations

 

It is imperative for Unicorn High School to act on this report to ensure students have and are adapt to utilising 21st century skills which will be essential for further education and employment. In order for successful integration of the three priority areas a flexible approach to timetabling will be required to ensure greater development of 21st century teaching material and allowing collaborative team teaching to take place. To reimage the library space and further integrate technology, funding must be made available through the resource allocation model over the next five years.

 

 

 

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2010). General capabilities. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/

 

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). Luthern education: approaches to learning, inquiry learning. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/media/1360/lutheran-education-queensland-inquiry-based-learning.pdf

 

American Library Association. (2017). Collection maintenance and weeding. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/weeding

 

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2015). Interactive leadership profiles. Retrieved from https://legacy.aitsl.edu.au/leadership-profiles/interactive-profiles/leading-improvement-innovation-and-change

 

Australian School Library Association. (2013). Future learning and school libraries. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/2013-ASLA-futures-paper.pdf

 

Brinson, D., & Steiner, L. (2007, October). Building collective efficacy. The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED499254.pdf

 

Bruniges, M. (2015, November). 21st century skills for senior education. Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/paper_snr_21c_skills.pdf

 

Bored Teachers. (2018). Are flexible learning spaces the future of education? Retrieved from https://boredteachers.com/blogs/the-faculty-room/flexible-learning-spaces-future-of-education

 

Clement, J. (2014). Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

 

Combes, B., Croft, T., & Bales, J. (2017). Change in organisations [ETL504 Module 3.1] Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_29926_1&content_id=_1991050_1

 

Department of Education and Training. (2018). Through growth to achievement: report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/662684_tgta_accessible_final_0.pdf

 

Fullan, M., Cuttress, C., & Kilcher, A. (2005). 8 forces for leaders of change. Journal of Staff Development. 26(4), 54-64. Retrieved from https://artseducator20.wikispaces.com/file/view/fullan_cuttress_kilcher.pdf

 

Harris, A. (2014, September 29). Distributed Leadership. Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/distributed-leadership

 

Holland, B. (2015, January 14). 21st Century librarians: The learning commons. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-libraries-learning-commons-beth-holland

 

Ithaca Group. (2016). Everybody’s core business: Research into the non-technical capabilities needed for successful participation in work or further study (Final Report). Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/everybodys_core_business_-_research_report.pdf

 

Lonsdale, M., & Anderson, M. (2011). Preparing 21st century learners: the case for school-community collaboration. Australian Council for Educational Research. Retrieved from https://www.acer.org/occasional-essays/preparing-21st-century-learners-the-case-for-school-community-collaboration

 

Lupton, M. (2012, June). Inquiry skills in the Australian curriculum. ACCESS. Retrieved from http://guidedinquirycommunity.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/79685111/Inquiry%20skills%20in%20the%20Australian%20Curriculum%20Lupton.pdf

 

NSW Department of Education and Training. (2018). Learning for the future. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-for-the-future/future-focused-learning-and-teaching/learning-modes

 

QLD Department of Education & Training. (2014). Role of the school library. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/library/support/role.html

 

Scott, M. (2017, June 29). Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/our-priorities/innovate-for-the-future/education-for-a-changing-world/thoughts-on-the-future/preparing-todays-students-for-tomorrows-world#Education1

 

Watson, R. (2017). On education in the 21st century. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/our-priorities/innovate-for-the-future/education-for-a-changing-world/media/documents/exar/On_Education_RichardWatson.pdf

 

Wheeler, S. (2018, May 15). Let the technology serve the curiosity not the other way round. TeachThought. Retrieved from

Let The Technology Serve The Curiosity, Not The Other Way Around

 

World Economic Forum. (2016, January). The future of jobs. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf

 

 

Part B – Reflective practice

As a member of Group 4 I have enjoyed the experience of developing a group wiki, our group worked well within the context of what was required and most individuals regularly provided contributions toward the final posting. In the initial stages of organisation within our group two areas stand out as being beneficial and ideas that I would use again if the need arises, these were:

• the creation of the page within our wiki ‘study availability for contributions’ (Brickwell, 2018) this allowed all group members the opportunity to put down the days and times they were most likely available to work on each case study and developed a timeline of when contributions would be made.
• Utilising different coloured fonts for each individual as they posted to the groups working document, as stated by Ollis (2018), this provided a more visual display of members’ contributions and created a more meaningful flow of ideas and contributions within the working document.

 

Our group regularly communicated and individuals volunteered to complete various tasks that were required of the group. This in turn developed our collaboration and teamwork skills, ultimately our leadership could be described as shared instructional, with each member feeling a sense of empowerment through their postings, and this created a culture of learning and shared knowledge. Over time within the group our understandings about the case study and strategies to overcome issues developed and contributions began showing this deeper understanding with greater referenced material being used effectively in the final contribution which was posted (Kovacs, 2018). Working within the group also provided another avenue to further deepen my understanding of course material as well as looking at scenarios from the different viewpoints of other individuals in the group. The group work also encouraged me to read further articles which members of various groups had referenced within their postings, again deepening my knowledge and understanding of the course content and providing me with the opportunity to evaluate and reflect on my own learning.

 

While my initial contributions were purely within the working document, the group postings allowed me to further develop my technological skills by creating the case study 5 working doc and final contributions pages of the wiki. While some trial and error took place, creation was ultimately successful and has provided me with essential skills to develop my own wiki in the future. I also found the actual case study to be beneficial in providing a real life example of what we may be faced with as a teacher librarian in a school setting, there were times when I had to laugh at how closely the case study was to people working in school libraries and the personalities you may be working with and with a little brain fog at times when I read the case study scenarios I did have difficulty remembering this wasn’t written about my current situation. The group forum postings do provide some excellent ideas and resources on how to overcome some of the challenges that are ever present in the life of a teacher librarian.

 

Reading and contributing to forum discussions has also been a beneficial learning opportunity throughout this course, I will admit I am definitely more a reader than I am a contributor, some of the fantastic information provided by my peers within the forum discussions has continued to help develop my knowledge and understanding as a teacher librarian as leader. I enjoyed working on the practicalities of locating my school’s vision and mission statement and using this in Forum: Module 5, this allowed me to use the course material and suggested videos to create a meaningful vision statement for my school. (B. Dunn, 2018a). The understandings I gained from completing this forum posting and also reading others contributions such as Jackson’s (2018) forum posting through Thread: 1a Bonnyrigg allowed me to develop a good sense of what was required when completing the library vision statement for assignment two. I also found it empowering to be able to respond and contribute ideas to other individuals forum postings, to provide them with ideas, materials or events that may be useful to developing their understanding and providing opportunities for further training and development they may not have been aware of (Dunn, 2018b).

 

 

References

 

Brickwell, H. (2018, March 6). Study availability for contributions [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/Bb-wiki-BBLEARN/wikiView?course_id=_29926_1&wiki_id=_19654_1&page_guid=dc69246f8962426da3d2b2936373b642

 

Dunn, B. (2018a, May 4). Locate your school’s vision and mission statements [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_29926_1&conf_id=_56307_1&forum_id=_112647_1&message_id=_1782935_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

 

Dunn, B. (2018b, May 1). Re: secondary:opportunity:upskilling through opportunity [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_29926_1&conf_id=_56307_1&forum_id=_112648_1&message_id=_1777004_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

 

Jackson, S (2018, April 24). Bonnyrigg [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_29926_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_56307_1&forum_id=_112647_1&message_id=_1594930_1

 

Kovacs, S. (2018, May 11). Group 4 response [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_29926_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_56307_1&forum_id=_112644_1&message_id=_1797214_1

 

Ollis, D. (2018, March) Case study 2 working document [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website:https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/Bb-wiki-BBLEARN/wikiView?course_id=_29926_1&wiki_id=_19654_1&page_guid=73e7ec91ec3248e384477c910fb3ee73