Tag: library
ETL503- Module 5: Evaluating collections
5.1 Collection evaluation
The resources provide a handy How-To article from the National Library of New Zealand Services to Schools (n.d.)- Assessing your school library collection, almost giving step-by-step suggestions when evaluating a collection, which is great for first time librarians and as a refresher. This sequence of events could be added to the Library Policy to ensure consistency and establish procedures when evaluating the collection.
In Forum 5.1, Methods of collection analysis, discuss which of these methods are suitable and practical in school libraries, and which ones you will use.
Working as a Librarian in a small school one and a half days a week, I can’t imagine how collection mapping could be achieved without support from the staff. Even working with pre-organised Scope & Sequence and Curriculum documents, it is a boat load of work for one person alone.
I still believe, however, that evaluating the collection is critical.
At my school, there have been several librarians in the past five years. Our non-fiction section has not had a stocktake for almost that long and our shelves are bursting with physical books on random topics that seem to have no order or theme.
In evaluating the collection, I would rely on both methods of assessment, but focus the initial inquiry on data supplied by:
Quantitative
Use and User-based
- Circulation statistics
- In-house use statistics
- E-resources use statistics
Collection-based
- Collection size and growth statistics
- Content overlap statistics
- Comparisons between different sections in the library
Qualitative
Use and User-based
- User opinions- to find topics of interest
Collection-based
- Collection mapping
A great visual resource when weeding! Original resource located here.
I think the above infographic and various resources suggested in the readings is a great place to start when developing a weeding policy. Everything put in place must be added to the ongoing library policy to ensure consistency in future years.
ETL503- Module 4: Legal & ethical issues of collections
4.1 Copyright
Not something I have spent a whole lot of time exploring, Copyright is a surprisingly large issue for school libraries, particularly in small schools. In larger schools, I would imagine executives or teams highlight and educate staff on copyright guidelines, but in small schools, there is the potential for copyright to fall through the cracks when there is so much else happening. As such, I would suggest delegating copyright signposting and staff education to the TL as part of their role if possible.
Smartcopying is a great, simple to use resource to support understanding of copyright regulations within Australia. It has been developed for and by schools to simplify and clarify copyright in an educational context.
Interestingly, I know a number of schools who have teachers sign in to streaming services to play lunch time to rainy day videos. As long as the films are ‘G’ rated, in compliance with Department of Education guidelines, the general idea is that anything is ok. My interpretation of the above snippet from the Smartcopying website would suggest an additional license is required to do this. I may be unaware, but I don’t believe the majority of schools would have this license on-hand and many staff would not be aware of this as a requirement.
While the information goes on the explain that there is a blanket license to cover playing films etc for non-educational purposes, it also says that not every school is necessarily covered and that staff should check their local copyright advisor (National Copyright Unit). This is useful information to pass on to staff.
Search
Use the Smartcopying website search to search for copyright issues related to ‘music‘.
Select two references of interest and review them for relevance to your situation.
Search: ‘playing music in class’
Results: 22
Most relevant articles:
- Music Copyright Guide for Schools– Outlines the basics for schools to understand how they can and cannot use music as created by other people.
- Music- Guidelines– Outlines the basic concepts of ‘what is music’ and what classifies as music in order to apply the above copyright guide.
- The Copyright Access Reforms 2021– Discussion regarding the need for changes to copyright access in schools to keep up with the development of technology and the digital environment.
Does the school library you are familiar with accommodate children with disabilities?
Not that I am aware of. As a small school, we are limited in the number of students we have and possess a low percentage of students with disabilities. Additionally, I am in the process of developing a library policy for the school and, as of yet, have seen no evidence of past policies with or without accommodation for children with disabilities.
Exploring the article ‘Australian web accessibility laws and policies’ was a fascinating read in that, I would have assumed large companies already included accommodations for people with varying disabilities. However, it is clear that this has not happened in the past. I am pleased to see legislation is beginning to be developed and rolled out to support all citizens in accessing information and opportunities regardless of abilities or differences.
Discussion Forum 4.1: Activity, reflective practice and discussionFrom your reading of the Smartcopying website, choose some facts you think teachers or students in your school may not be clear about. Develop two questions for each fact – one for teachers and one for students.For example as teacher question might be: The Mathematics textbook you want to use for Year 10 next semester is not in stock locally. Is it okay to make a copy for each Year 10 student?
Teacher Question: During Learning from Home, you need to share a new set of sheet music with your choral group. Is it okay to email students a PDF copy of this sheet music?
Answer: Yes, so long as it is via the password protected/restricted DET website or sent via a platform like Google Classroom. Additionally, it is a good idea to mark the PDF with copyright information.
Student Question: We would like to raise some money for the Year 6 formal, can we show a film for a gold coin donation?
Answer: Generally, no unless the teacher has contacted the copyright owner directly.
References
National Copyright Unit. (n.d.) Playing films, television and radio in schools. https://smartcopying.edu.au/playing-films-television-and-radio-in-schools/
4.2 Creative Commons
A great overview of what Creative Commons is can be found on the Smartcopying website. Also, some really useful slides summarising the different CC Licenses Jessicacoates.
Discussion Forum 4.2 – Creative Commons licensed resourcesLocate at least two Creative Commons licensed resources. Write a short description of each and explain the CC license chosen.
All materials located and available on Flickr.
1) Material type: Photograph: Image of a teddy bear on a rainy day https://flic.kr/p/2iVyRgV
Marked with the Creative Commons:
- Attribution
- Noncommercial
2) Material type: Map of Australia
https://flic.kr/p/9XFQfN
Marked with the Creative Commons:
- Attribution
- Noncommercial
- ShareAlike
While Copyright and Creative Commons are not areas I have thought much about in the past, I am curious about how well my current school adheres to these guidelines. I intend to investigate Copyright and CC uses closely over the coming term and discuss my findings with my Principal to ensure regulations are adhered to.
ETL503- Module 2: Developing collections Part 3
Module 2.5: Selection criteria: Activity
Select a resource and evaluate it according to the criteria listed in the modules.
Resource: The boy who tried to shrink his name by Author: Sandhya Illustrator: Parappukkaran & Michelle Pereira (2021)
Summary: When Zimdalamishkermishkada starts a new school, he knows he’s got to do something about his long name. When no amount of shrinking, folding or crumpling works, he simply settles for Zim – but deep down, it doesn’t feel right. It’s not until a new friend sees him for who he truly is that Zimdalamishkermishkada finds the confidence to step boldly into his long name.
Working from the position of Hughs-Hasselll and Macall (2005), in that selection criteria is most useful when based on the teaching-learning context and learner characteristics, I have selected this text to support PDH units on courage, friendship, understanding self and acceptance.
School context: Under 70 students in a predominantly white-Anglo community. Socio-economics range from high to extremely low. Increasing number of tranistory families moving into the area from backgrounds other than white-Anglo.
Primary Considerations
Appropriateness/Scope/Accuracy/Treatment/Arrangement and organisation/Comparison with other works
Being a picture book, this can be adapted to multiple literacy levels and target multiple cross-curricular skills. Set in Australia, and representing the melting pot of cross-culturalism that can be found within our borders, the characters represent a wide range of backgrounds and cultures and the storyline is relatable to a range of students as, everyone has started a new school at some stage. The language is pitched at a middle years level and so early years may require some support in reading along, but this text provides a number of talking points in addressing culture, change, fitting in, confidence and self acceptance. Published in 2021, this text is current to students’ environments and social norms and, I believe, the characters and storyline will age well. The text is laid out in easy to read paragraphs, allowing students to locate in-text information and the illustrations are eye catching without being too busy. Students will be able to examine the images for facial cue to support inferential questioning and suggest how the characters are feeling.
Secondary Criteria
Physical quality/Aesthetic quality/Literary merit/Reputation of author, illustrator or publisher
By: Sandhya Parappukkaran, Michelle Pereira (Illustrator)
Images and text are clear and easy to follow in hard copy, utilising speech marks and other common punctuation whilst introducing new words and names to students. The colours are similar throughout the text and a complimentary combination that will appeal o my learners, as will the age and activities of the main character and his friends and family. There are clear themes throughout and the illustrators style ties in well with the writing style and font of the author. Both author and illustrator will be new additions to my library but worthy of researching further to discover others texts they may have developed, either independently or collaboratively.
Selection Tools Utilised
A lengthy review from Kids Book Reviews discussing the positives of the text and its benefits for students/children. This is a blog dedicated specifically to the review of childrens’ literature and provides some detail on the main points of the text and, potential teaching points. This provides a brief, vague comparison to other books on similar themes in a positive light.
A single written review from Goodreads gives the book a middling score with some ambiguity of the message seemingly apparent within the text. This is more of a personal opinion than a professional examination of the text done by an adult with no context. A number of other reviewers provided high star scores without commentary.
Module 2.5: Selection criteria: Search and curate
The majority of selection criteria I discovered outlined that resources must, at the very least:
- Support and enrich the curriculum/teaching programs
- Align with current and changing student interests
- Provide accurate, authentic and up-to-date information
- Represent a variety of perspectives without bias of one over another
- Be easily and equally accessible to all students
- Be of reasonable cost
- Be produced by reputable/qualified/recognised author/publisher/producer or source of information
Western Australian School Library Association (WASLA). (n.d.). WASLA School Library Collection Policy. Retrieved from ETL503: Resourcing the Curriculum 202190. Module 2: Developing Collections https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContentEditable.jsp?content_id=_4719185_1&course_id=_58478_1
Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS). (2020). Lesson 2: Managing your collection-what does your library collect? https://scis.edublogs.org/2020/02/24/lesson-2-managing-your-collection-what-does-your-library-collect/
National Library of New Zealand. (2016). Annual report. Services to Schools. Retrieved from http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/school-libraries/library-management/annual-report
American Library Associations (ALA). (2017). Selection criteria. Retrieved from https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/criteria
lynnevey. (2018, January 2). Common elements for criteria used to select e-resources. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/lynne/2018/01/02/common-elements-for-criteria-used-to-select-e-resources/
ETL503- Module 2: Developing collections Part 2
Module 2.3: eResources: Discussion Forum: 2.3
Search Scootle for a resource related to critical thinking.
I searched ‘critical thinking’ and returned 199 results.
Utilising the ‘Advanced Search’ option, I refined my search on ‘critical thinking’ by selecting the years K-6 (which I teach) returning with 103 results.
From there, I chose a subject area from a side category that I am currently teaching: ‘Health and physical education’. This presented me with 7 results and a number of units across the grades.
Module 2.4: Selection aids: Discussion Forum: 2.4a
Select a curriculum topic of interest.
Select one of the online communities or resource sharing services listed in this section, and spend some time searching for tags, hashtags, lists or communities of relevance to your topic.
Share a link to a relevant online resource found from that community in Forum 2.4 and discuss the pros and cons of this community as a recommendation source.
We are currently working through the PDH curriculum at the moment with K-1 and discussing ‘courage’ and what it means to be brave. I believe we need more books with specific emotional language as part of our resources so I searched up ‘courage’ on Goodreads, resulting in 13548 resources.
I narrowed the selection using the ‘fiction’ category and the site sent me to a new search specifically on fiction alone.
When I typed in ‘picture books about courage’ I got an error message asking for ISBN numbers, which made me realise, I needed to do a broader search on something like Google Search and use Goodreads to pull up a specific book.
I chose Max the Brave by Ed Vere because one of our key words is in the title- ‘brave’.
I plugged this into Goodreads and it popped up as the first option with a 4.5 star rating.
Clicking in to the book title, I am presented with all the ISBN and Edition information a TL could want, along with alternate cover options.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22712981-max-the-brave?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0FxO5bsODV&rank=1
Pros
- I was able to sort the reviews from newest to eldest and vice versa and filter to show the highest and lowest rated reviews.
- There is an option to ask questions about the book (there were none) and submitted reviews below.
- There is a ‘book data’ pop-up if you hover over the words ‘Rating details’ which allows a snap shot of the ratings this title has received before trawling through all the reviews
- Some reviewers seemed to be teachers who used the text in-class- these reviews provided information on how the book was used, received and suggested age groups at times.
- People can place their reviewed books on ‘shelves’ which group books of a like nature.
- There is a forum community on this site where you can ask for and discuss recommendations of similar texts.
Cons
- Some reviewers are social media-based book reviewers and more still are parents who brought the ‘cute book’ for their kids. Most of these were quite brief and not very useful in determining content, writing style or image content of the book.
- A number of reviews identified ‘Netgalley’ as having provided them a free copy of this text for a review- Would this skew the responses? Does Netgalley target teachers or just anyone open to reviewing?
- ‘Shelves’ are determined by the reviewers individually and can sometimes be misleading, not allowing for any kind of consistency amongst reviewers or collections- potential for rabbit-holes and tangents!
I would use this site for personal selection ideas, rather than professional. The process of locating new texts is simply too laborious and time consuming when there are other resources that allow you to do this all in one place. Additionally, some of the reviews are quite unprofessional and lack the information an educator needs to make informed choices.
Module 2.4: Selection aids: Discussion Forum: 2.4b
Select one of the crowd sourced review sites listed in this section or search for prolific book bloggers in the field and have a look at the way these reviewers discuss fiction relevant to school libraries.
Share a link to an interesting book blog, Goodreads or LibraryThing review in Forum 2.4(b)and discuss your thoughts on the value of such a review, and what issues there might be for relying on such sources as selection aids.
LibraryThing seems to be similar to Goodreads, which I am more familiar with.
Keeping with the theme of ‘courage’ I searched and came up with a much more user-friendly search engine page with filter categories down the left hand side. I filtered the search to Books and Tags which resulted in a list of tags, where I chose ‘children courage’. I was presented with 3 picture books all ‘tagged’ by the same reviewer. I returned to the tag list and chose, instead, ‘teaches courage’ an additional 2 picture books were displayed.
Book: Franklin goes to the hospital by Paulette Bourgeois
https://www.librarything.com/work/54639
Pros
Rating, stats and review numbers visible
Easy access of texts
‘Tags’ clear- leading to similar texts on tagged topics
Similar texts nearby
Cons
Some of the reviews I saw were just random numbers and prices. None were educational or professional.
In comparison, the reviews on Goodreads were much more thorough with a higher number of reviews for this text.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/605137.Franklin_Goes_To_The_Hospital?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=dltHaKVJpb&rank=1
Both platforms are good for general check-overs that the text is good for a certain purpose, or to quickly glean what a text is about but neither provide reliable, professional reviews of texts that I could see. At least, not with any consistency. Perhaps if you invested the time to find genuine, education-based reviewer accounts, you could better appreciate the sites for professional use.
ETL503- Module 2: Developing collections
Module 2.1: Selection in the school context: Discussion Forum 2.1
Using the Charles Sturt University Library Primo search or Google Scholar, conduct a search for a recent article in English that discusses patron driven acquisition.
Similarly to others, I found it difficult to find more recent articles on this topic, most falling into the 2013-2015 period or prior. Rather than start new, I was able to locate the same text as Cassandra and chose to add on to her post.
Jurczyk, E., Pagotto, S., Moisil, I., Grewal, K., Cassadt, S., Cato, J. (2020). Long-term usage of a consortial PDA collection: If they choose it, will we use it?. Collection Management, 45(4), 287-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2019.1702912
Key words/phrases
- Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA)
- data analysis
- collection development
- academic libraries
- pilot
Module 2.1: Professional Reflection
Think about responsibility for resource selection. You may like to use one or more of the following questions to write some blog posts.
- Discuss how the teacher librarian’s expertise and role is different from that required by all teachers.
While the role of Teacher Librarians (TLs) has changed over time (Ciccone & Hounslow, 2019; Cole, 2016), it has been recognised that it is often a dense and complex position (Merga, 2020) and so I will keep my response here brief.
Let us begin, initially, with the expertise required to attain a Masters degree to be ‘officially qualified’ as a teacher librarian in NSW Public Schools. While there are numerous TLs operating without ‘official’ qualifications, the Department of Education encourages TLs to gain their Masters and become dual-qualified teachers (Merga, 2020). While some classroom teachers come into education on a Masters, on the back of an alternate career, the TL role is the only one I can think of that specifically requires dual qualifications off the bat. This study arms the TL with the skills and knowledge of specialised programs to develop and maintain the school collections.
In my experience, the TL is required to be aware of a scope of resources kept within the library space, those maintained elsewhere in the school and those maintained in a virtual environment through various platforms (Merga, 2020). In contrast, classroom teachers, though often aware of resources to suit their own stage or subject will rarely be fully aware of the entire scope of resources available to staff as students simply because their time and energy is taken up by other tasks not applicable to TLs.
TLs require highly developed collaborative skills, as do all staff, to communicate with the school community and outside parties to ensure relevant quality resources are being identified for reasonable prices. Networking with other local school and council libraries is a necessary part of the role to enrich student learning, develop collaborative programs and host extracurricular programs to benefit students and the school community.
TLs are often encouraged to develop and host extracurricular programs, usually during lunch or recess breaks (Merga, 2020). Personally, these have included art club, book club, writing club, student-led tutoring, choir, debating and a quiet place out of the ruckus of the main playground. Most TLs I know are amenable to these activities, within reason and will often be found hosting at least one extracurricular activity in their own time. *Most classroom teachers (CTs) are not pressured to undertake quite as many extracurriculars in my experience.
Finally, the in-school collaborative effort TLs must put in goes above those of the usual CT as the library is considered another arm of the literacy branch in education and so many schools run programs within their library directly linked to the literacy curriculum and programs being run in classrooms (Merga, 2020). This requires TL flexibility to adapt their programs to support specific classroom learning, expertise in core curriculum subjects and allowing someone else to be the captain of their proverbial ship.
*Most because we all know those CTs who go above and beyond their required duties
- Share ideas on how teacher librarians might effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources in a school with which you are familiar.
This year, I worked with staff and the Principal to identify an online platform of non-fiction resources to support literacy engagement in the school, school targets and staff programming. I was placed ‘in-charge’ of the development of this platform, its core uses in the school, communication to the community regarding this platform and educating staff on its various uses.
Additionally, I worked with staff on collating a list of resources to support their current and future programs, across various KLAs. We then collaboratively developed a proposal to take to the Principal and the P&C in an effort to request funding for these resources. Our request was successful and I was able to source, order and accession these resources in time for staff to access and teach alongside their programming.
- Consider also how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.
In my library space, I always have two tables available for students to peruse that are changed out regularly. One table is the ‘new in’ table where the newly accessioned resources, both fiction and non-fiction are displayed. The other table has to do with what students are learning in-class eg the life cycle of a butterfly or important days of the year eg Remembrance Day. Both these tables attract quite a lot of attention and give life to resources that, at times, have not been borrowed in quite some time.
- Who should have the final say on what is included? Why?
In the end, I believe the TL should have the final say, so long as the acquisition process allows for the equal input of all contributing parties including; CTs, Principals, students, community, TL and any other staff engaging with students and the school eg teachers aides etc. I believe this because the TL, presumably, has developed expertise over time regarding staff requirements, student interests, school direction and current collection content. TLs should be open to suggestion but maintain final say as they are the experts in the development and maintenance of their collection.
References
Ciccone, A. & L. Hounslow (2019). Re-envisioning the role of academic librarians for the digital learning environment: The Case of UniSA Online. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 16(1). Implementing online learning: Stories from the field, Article 11. Available at https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol16/iss1/11
Cole, L. (2016). BiblioTech as the re-imagined public library: Where will it find you? Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016- Columbus, OH- Connections. Collaboration. Community. in Session 213- Metropolitan Libraries.
Merga, M. K. (2020). School librarians as literacy educators within a complex role. Journal of library administration, 60(8), 889-908. DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2020.1820278
Module 2.2: The balanced collection: Discussion Forum: 2.2
- Discuss the pros and cons of buying bundled sets of resources, for instance a journal database or a Standing Orders service.
- Consider also the pros and cons of selecting content that is provided via online access but which the library does not own.
Physical sets eg Standing Orders
Pros
- Set and forget order service- you can establish this at the beginning of the year and receive a lovely parcel every three months
- Books are usually award-winning, closely examined and aligned to the Aust Curriculum
- Provides a range of resources (fiction & non-fiction) to get students excited over new topics
Cons
- TLs have no control over the content
- Some texts may be irrelevant to your context
- Some texts may date quickly
- These are often expensive outputs at the beginning (or end) of the year
Online eg ClickView/World Book Online
Pros
- Easy access with newly updated wi-fi and internet connection in most schools and increasing use of BYOD programs and technology
- Access to platforms outside school hours to increase student enjoyment of reading
- Resources are regularly updated and it is unlikely information is outdated
- Read-to options to support student reading level and auditory abilities
- Multiple copies accessible at the same time- great for independent activities and reading groups
- No stocktake!
Cons
- Some can be expensive and include elements irrelevant to the school context eg high school elements in a primary school package
- Overwhelming availability to some staff and students eg too much choice
- Licensing issues
- Access equality- difficulties accessing internet or technology
- Additional training for staff then teaching time for student
ETL503- Module 1: The School Library Collection
Module 1.1: Introduction: Discussion Forum 1
Definitions of collection management and collection development.
Find at least one other definition of collection management or collection development, preferably relating to school libraries, or a statement relating to resourcing the curriculum, and compare it with the definitions provided here.
In particular, see if you can find a definition used by your educational authority or an educational authority with which you are familiar. What are the key elements of that definition? How are they similar or different?
Share your findings with your classmates in Forum 1.
Digging around the CSU Library database for this topic, I came across an article titled ‘Principals and Teachers’ Perspectives of Their School Libraries and Implications for School Library Policy’ (Ee Loh, Sundaray, Merga & Gao, 2021) in which non-library staff were interviewed regarding the roles of Teacher Librarians (TLs), including the development and management of collections in schools. In short, this article outlines that libraries and, in turn, TLs are multi-faceted educators who must:
- support and lead collaborative and innovative practices to benefit staff and students
- make pivotal decisions regarding library direction and tailor collections to suit school contexts
- select materials linked to, and to enrich the curriculum
- promote reading for pleasure organically
- extend teaching and learning within the school
Although this study was conducted outside of Australia, I found these expectations to be similar to those discussed in the modules and the Department of Education (DoE) 2017 Handbook for School Libraries. I suspect the analysis of data that followed by Ee LOh et. al. (2021), demonstrating that few teachers and lead staff visited and utilised their library spaces often enough to understand the complex role of TLs, would also ring true in most NSW public schools.
More specifically, the DoE Handbook (2017) outlines the need for the TL to:
- abide by government policies
- lead the development and application of relevant acquisition and organisation policies
- regular review of the collection and policies in collaboration with school leaders
I like that the Handbook allows TLs freedom of choice in how to establish and maintain these policies and procedures. It also allows individuals to develop their collections independently and tailored to their contexts while providing the core building blocks that allow for inherent accountability of TLs to their supervising staff.
References
(2021). Principals and teachers’ perspectives of their school libraries and implications for school library policy. Journal of Library Administration, 61(5), 550-571. DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2021.1924532
NSW Department of Education. (2017). Handbook for school libraries. https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd-2005-0221
Module 1.3: Pedagogical Initiatives: Think
Choose a level of teaching and a curriculum topic and explore that area. Consider how you might go about resourcing that topic.
- What types of resources would you provide?
- How/where would you find them?
Level: Year 5/6
Topic: Science
I have chosen this topic and year level as I am currently teaching as an RFF STEM and Science teacher at my school, when I am not teaching Library Skills.
Our school is lucky enough to have access to an online platform called clickview.com.au. This is a collection of various resources that can be displayed online- a school-safe, educational version of youtube.com. I would search this online site alongside youtube.com for relevant, useful videos or illustrations related to the topic to present to students either as a whole class or as an independent activity.
Additionally, I utilise mentimeter.com for Stage 3 lessons to increase student engagement and allow students to shape the direction of the lesson, to a degree. This interactive website allows students to respond to and ask questions throughout the lesson, which are then shared and responded to by peers or, if necessary, the teacher. I believe this type of resource that encourages alternate thinking and the development of a variety of technology skills contributes to developing forward-thinking future global citizens (Oddone, 2021).
I would also research student-friendly information sites, such as nationalgeographic.com.au and present students with questions and the pages where they can find answers or present them with a print-out of information to locate answers from. This contributes to developing independent working skills and research skills online and in hard-copy. It also contributes to developing notetaking skills.
Ahead of time, I will also locate from my physical collection within the library and in Teacher Resources, different fiction and non-fiction texts based on or around the current topic. These will be displayed and easily accessible to expose students to new or familiar language and to allow them to make links between information. Additionally, there may be enlarged images, maps, diagrams that could be useful and would be displayed around the work area.
It is important to cater to multiple learning styles (Oddone, 2021) as students do learn differently and can pick up and retain different information from differently presented sources.
References
Oddone, K. (2021). ETL503: Resourcing the curriculum; 1. The school library collection. Interact2.https://interact2.csu.edu.au/
ETL503- Subject Introduction
It’s November 2021, post-COVID lockdown 2.0. I’ve now been an online library teacher as well as an in-class and COVID-pending library teacher as well.
Things have been wild and I am looking forward to a quiet Christmas but, for some reason, I don’t think that it’s going to happen.
Currently, I am taking on ELT503 in an effort to get a jump on the policies and procedures business that I had a stab at earlier in the year. It will also, hopefully, help me garner further support from my Principal whose attitude towards my roles can often put more emphasis on the Learning Support role over the role of TL. My hope it, that with a solid policy to back me going into 2022, I will have greater control over my own budget and over the events held on library time.
I am currently in the midst of a 30-day fitness kick to help get ready for my wedding in October, 2022 and participating in NaNoWriMo 2022- a writing challenge (at which I am failing horribly). Additionally, I have been allocated the festive event planner at my school and data and reports are due ASAP. I figured why not add one more thing and picked up uni again.
Wish me luck!
ETL504- Case Study 3: Group Work Reflection
Case Study 3 Reflection
Our first group work assignment. I was very nervous because, aside from all the madness happening with COVID-19, I was unsure how group work online was going to work, would I have enough time to respond and would everyone be open to communication?
Luckily, I seem to have a cooperative group with varying levels of input due to life outside uni and internet connections. Most seem very enthusiastic and willing to compromise, praise and work with others.
It was a slow start with everyone posting up their initial thoughts in various forms (long, short, referenced, sporadic) but it was useful, later, to pick out the similar themes.
Ellene organised summarising the topics, Melanie organised the groups following my suggestion and Holly organised the Wiki page. Linda orgnaised paired sections on the Wiki to make it easier to work with and editted the final response. All volunteered for these roles and seemed to step into the role naturally or just took on the task and let others know after the fact. Luckily, everyone seems quite ok with this approach. Holly asked if anyone else wanted to post the completed group response before saying she would be happy to do it. Melissa has probably been the least vocal contributor in the group and, like me, the only one not to have taken on a leadership role automatically.
In our pairs, I was placed with Melanie and, after some waiting, I posted the draft with referencing that I had in response and invited her feedback and contribution. I was comfortable taking on this leadership role as I am confident in my abilities to write acadmically and because I had the time. Melanie seemed grateful not to have to do all the work in this regard and added a few of her own thoughts as well. In our next task, should we work together, I would be happy to take my lead from my partner if they are more comfortable in a lead role. I would vaguely label this kind of leadership as instructional, as I took on the bulk of the writing and asked for input.
Next time: I would like to put my hand up to be more of an organiser, however, I enjoyed being able to contribute to the small group and that my referencing and writing was recognised as adequate. I would also like to see some group roles assigned so everyone has a chance to contribute something.
Overall, the leadership was hesitant, with no one person coming out as a dictator, but with various members of the group beginning to show markers of a natural distributed leadership style, with work being shared out relatively evenly to those with an interest or strength in the area (Harris, 2014). Perhaps because everyone is operating at a Masters level, there is a certain recognition of prior learning and shared respect that comes with that. From what I can tell, all group members are working to show respect for eachother and the different life experiences and professional experiences being brought to the table. Bravery is demonstrated in those can admit to their own weaknesses, as well as strengths and, in doing so, members of the group have opened a line of genuine communication that will contirbute to a positive work flow in the next task.
It has been suggested we organise mini timetable meet-ups for the next case study because, although we checked in randomly and often, some people felt they were missing out on things while they weren’t online. I think this would be useful and I am curious to see who and how dates/times are suggested and selected.
References
Harris, A. (2014, September 29). Distributed leadership. Teacher Magazine, ACER.
https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/distributed-leadership
ETL504- Module 4.1 & 4.2: Leadership for Learning
4.1 Introduction to leadership
This video was included as a mention in the 4.1 notes and explained leadership exceptionally well and made me smile.
The two key players to any change in schools or in leadership are the first and second participants; the leader and the first follower. The leader must embrace the first follower, remain open to their input and encourage in order for others to determine how their own contribution will be recieved. The first follower must follow the leader closely, as all consequential followers aren’t just following the leader, but also the first follower to determine the effort needed, the behaviour accepted and the aims or goals.
Also, I love this video.
4.2 TLs as Leaders
Read
American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2013). Chapter 4 Empowering learning through leadership. Empowering learners: Guidelines for school library programs.
I found this reading to be very interesting. Although based on the US school system, it laid out some very explicit and reasonable expectations of TLs as operational leaders within schools.
The type of leader that this reading is aiming to develop is a Transformational leader with a focus on professionalism. Part of the suggested responsibilities of TLs is to participate in local, regional and state education and librarian orgnaisations, as well as publish articles an information in school and community newsletters and media. These are not things I would have considered doing as a TL but I can understand why they are included as it is sharing knowledge and ensuring the TL is a visible leader in the community.
While Bishop (2011) unpacks ‘collaboration’, I find the most interesting and valid point to be that Principals, executive staff and CTs may not have a lcear idea of what collaboration looks like and it is, therefore, the role of the TL to develop that understanding amongst them, presenting all options and determining, collaboratively, what that means for their school context. Interestingly, it never occured ot me that all staff may not have the same idea of collaboration but, now that it has been pointed out, it makes sense. Everyone will have had different experiences with collaboration and some may have come away with a negative perception, or even a skewed understanding of what collaboration requires. Prior to developing a collaborative TL position, it may be necessary for the TL to take on the role of leader to educate other staff on what collaboration can look like and how it can benefit everyone.
Bell’s(2013) acronym for collaboration is something could be quite useful in developing our group work responses for this course, as well as in school settings.
“Bell (2013) offers a useful acronym for the process of successful collaboration:
R = Respect your counterparts.
E = Educate yourself regarding the role of the individual with whom you want to build a bridge.
A = Assume responsibility as the one to reach out. Do not wait or tell yourself it will never work.
C = Communicate and collaborate!
H = Help one another to provide the very best instruction and experiences for students. “
Read (choose two):
Mackenzie, T. (2019, April 21). How your teacher-librarian can be an ally when
teaching with inquiry. KQED News: MindShift.
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53417/how-your-teacher-librarian-can-be-anally-when-teaching-with-inquiry
I chose this one as I have recently been assigned the task of introducing inquiry-based learning to Stage 3 while learning at home. It would be great if this could be continued when students return to school full-time.
While I am excited to delve into enquiry-based learning, I think it is going to be important that the CTs and I are on the same page in terms of what method we are going to teach the students and how often it is going to be employed. It is all well and good to focus on it during library time, learning the acronyms and what they mean, how to find information, etc, but if students are not utilising these skills regularly, including during class time with the support of the teacher AND independently, there is a risk that this process will not translate to different environments.
Softlink. (2017). School libraries share: Ideas for school-wide
collaboration. https://www.softlinkint.com/assets/img/banners/Whitepaper_-
_School_libraries_share_ideas_for_collaboration.pdf
I chose this second resource to check out how else I might collaborate with CTs and other staff at my tiny school.
I quite liked this resource as it is very visual and has collated information, opinions and experiences from around the world, including Australia, which is sometimes difficult to find, particularly in regards to TLs. It also provides TLs with further reading and resources to help support their collaborative development.
Browse and choose one to read in-depth
Goodnough, K. (2005). Fostering teacher learning through collaborative
inquiry. Clearing House, 79(2), 88-92. https//.doi.org/10.3200/TCHS.79.2.88-93
I chose this article becuase I wanted to see how a collaborative picture looks in its whole and what barriers this school faced when implementing collaborative inquiry.
The success of this project relied upon the overall commitment of the team to the project and its contributors (each other), the equal sharing of power and responsibility, the diversity of skills and abilities individuals brought to the project and support from outside of the testing group e.g. executives/principals etc.
In this paper, collaborators developed a unit addressing areas of the curriculum which had been percieved as lacking. This not only served to support students and develop their understanding in this area, it also served to develop staff undertsanding of this topic and gave support in how to teach it to students. Reflection was a large part of this project, both inidivudally and as a group as, I believe, should be the case for all planning, teaching and learning directed by teachers or librarians.
As you read Cole’s (2012) article, reflect on:
– the value and purpose of the different delivery models
– your current position in the delivery/receiver
model
– pathways to contribute to the school’s learning culture
– opportunities for future leadership in supporting teachers’ professional learning.
Take note of the impediments and strategies to address these issues and consider in light of your readings on change management.
Different delivery methods
Large presentations- useful for sharing new, broad-based information, rather than speicifically targetted at indiivduals or groups. Useful for making staff aware that change is needed, but not for implementing changes.
Specialist workshops- usually expensive but useful in addressing specific areas to develop, demonstrate new skills and communicate new knowledge. These should be followed up by reflection, a chance to implement, further reflection and observation, with peer feedback.
Individual PL online- good for addressing specific areas of development with individuals, but must be tooled to contribute to whole school vision and goals. This also gives individuals the chance to taregt their PL in an area that interests them. I believe, however, that they must remain accountable to ensure that their PL is relevant, completed and reflected upon after implementation.
Deliver/Receive PL
Currently, I do not deliver PL to my fellow staff. I undertake independent PL on a range of subjects that interest me and that, I believe will help develop my classroom and library practice. It is difficult, however, doing this alone as I often feel disconnected from my peers, who, as full time CTs get more collaborative PL than I- admittedly, it is usually in small groups or at seminars, so lacking that individual targetting. I can also become disenchanted with the courses I have chosen and most the NESA seem to be tooled towards CT, meaning I have little chance of implementing what I have been learning about, as a TL.
Pathway to contribute to school learning culture/Opportunities for leadership in the future
I am about to undertake a PL course on Aboriginal Education and Language that I would very much like to share with fellow staff members. I currently have the support of my Principal to take this course on and, I hope she will encourage sharing of this knowledge in staff meetings once completed. I feel that the sharing of this knowledge would benefit from a workshop then peer coaching or mentoring throughout a set period, followed by reflection and feedback (Goodnough, 2015)
Additionally, it is my intention to start displaying teacher resources within the library and sharing them in staff meetings to support staff with their planning any way I can. I am currently cleaning out 15 years worth of library resource room stock and am already finding some amazing resources!
I would like to work more collaboratively with other staff in programming, however, their concept of collaboration seems to differ from mine (AASL, 2013). Additionally, many of my current peers seem to be running off their feet, operating in survival mode without stopping to confer with anyone else. This is a cultural phenomenon within our small community that the recently-arrived Principal is working on changing.
References
American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2013). Chapter 4 Empowering learning through leadership. Empowering learners: Guidelines for school library programs.
Bell, M. A., Van Roekel, J. L., & Weimar, H. (2013). School librarians and the technology
department: A practical guide to successful collaboration. Linworth.
Bishop, K. (2011). Connecting libraries with classrooms. Linworth.
Cole, P. (2012). Linking effective professional learning with effective teaching
practice.
https://ptrconsulting.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/linking_effective_professional_learning_with_effective_t
eaching_practice_-_cole.pdf