Deborah's reflections

My journey to becoming a K-6 TL.

Apr 21

5.3a Discuss either of these two analyses and their potential impact on the need for an IL model in your school.

by debnicklin1

F-10 Inquiry Skills Scope and Sequence by Karen Bonano and contributions by Lee Fitzgerald is a good guide for teachers to develop a Guided Inquiry unit of work. The guide covers the General Capabilities and the Creative and Critical Thinking areas of the Australian Curriculum and focuses on K-year 10. The document is easy to follow and lists a selection of specific tasks possible for each stage. On page 33 there is also a table to suggest technology tools for each step of the Inquiry Process. This document allows teachers an easy transition to creating a Guided Inquiry unit of work. It’s impact could be quite significant as it applies to the History/Science/Geography and Design Technologies areas which are mandatory areas for all primary school teachers. The document is based on the theory in the book called Guided Inquiry Design (2012) “The Guided Inquiry design framework offers a way of teaching many things at the same time within a meaningful and integrated context.” (p.1) This book is a ‘how to’ guide for teachers developing units of work.

My school certainly needs an IL model, particularly for our stage 3 students. We have high achieving students, many who are highly motivated and enjoy learning in an independent manner. Collaboration is an area that is spoken of as successfully implemented however the work I see produced by students in class is very often an individual product whereby the students research and answer the same questions. The individuality appears through presentation choice of the same information rather than students taking hold of their learning and directing it. Collaboration in future projects could deepen their knowledge and skills and give them more independence to direct their learning. Our community of parents however are generally highly focused on achieving good NAPLAN results, entry into local selective schools and a university education. So although an implementation of an IL model would be successful at our school, it isn’t a high priority due to success with standardised results which indicates we are performing well.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2012). Guided inquiry design : A framework for inquiry in your school. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

 

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Apr 21

Reflective Practice Your thoughts: Discussions of information literacy in this module are diverse and interesting. In your journal (Thinkspace), reflect on what you can take from the discussion of information literacy to your IL role in school.

by debnicklin1

Information Literacy is a TL bread and butter. We are the managers of the information in the library and we need to ensure our students and colleagues are literate in the methods to retrieve that information. This has always been the case however recent and rapid technological development has thrown our mostly behaviourist approach on it’s head. This approach is lacking when looking towards our student’s future functioning in their work and leisure lives. Abilock,D.(2015) lists a design process whereby updated approaches or units of work can be structured to reflect a constructivist outlook. Ideally, units of work would be planned with classroom teachers. Realistically, it depends on the nature of how groups of teachers collaborate and the expectation of the Principal and executive staff at individual schools. In my own situation I need to move more towards a constructivist approach. I certainly have elements of this design process however I need to revise and improve some areas, particularly the evaluative and reflective stages. These stages need to be incorporated throughout the research task.

Abilock, D. (2015). Information literacy. Building blocks of research: Overview of design process and outcomes. NoodleTools.

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Apr 16

What is an appropriate role for the teacher librarian in curriculum development? What benefits can a school obtain from the active involvement of the teacher librarian in curriculum development? Should a principal expect that teachers would plan units of work with the teacher librarian? How are students disadvantaged in schools that exclude the teacher librarian from curriculum development?

by debnicklin1

TL should undoubtedly by involved in Curriculum Development and in a greater capacity than fetching the resources. TL can combine their experience of promoting information seeking and gathering skills to support and enhance student performance in learning tasks. Using print and ICT platforms, a constructivist approach can encourage positive and student led exploration of a topic.

Curriculum development school wide is essential for the TL to be involved in. TL can support class teachers with developing ICT and research skills for students to competently complete tasks. Students must have Digital Citizenship knowledge inbuilt across the curriculum to improve their use and access to information in all subject areas.

Principal’s should expect TL and class teachers to collaborate on units of work where appropriate. Our school has 2 staff meetings a term whereby staff are given grade meeting time to plan collaboratively. This inbuilt time is invaluable for the TL to join various grades to peek into their world and plan with teachers.

Excluding TL from curriculum development can disadvantage students and teachers from the expertise of an information specialist. The direction education is moving towards has a 21st C learning focus and students under prepared for this may struggle to in an information environment.

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Apr 16

Australian Government, Department of Education (2014) Figure 6: Analysing the flow of policy and practice in curriculum (source: Professor Brian Caldwell) p88 In Discussion forum 4.3_1, discuss ways in which curriculum is created and delivered in your school, particularly looking at whether teachers in the school have the freedom and capacity to tailor the curriculum to the needs of the school and its students.

by debnicklin1

I believe teachers in my school have the freedom and capacity to create and deliver curriculum as they professionally deem fit. Mostly teachers focus their attention on the NSW Syllabus documents and only a few take a cursory glance at the Australian Curriculum. Our senior science teacher does correlate programming with both documents and aligns outcomes with the NSW syllabus. Grade teams are mostly quite adept at sharing the load and work together and pool resources to implement curriculum. Our Principal encourages collegiality and collaboration and certainly promotes trying new things. An informal recess discussion about how much focus should we pay to the Australian curriculum concluded with an executive staff member saying NSW Syllabus until we hear otherwise. The rest of us are still on the fence… Any thoughts as to where our focus should lie at the moment?

 

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Apr 15

Discussion Forum 4.2

by debnicklin1

rawpixel / Pixabay

Start small. Offering a link or a book to something the teacher may find useful may open up doors. A strategy that has worked for me in the past is to offer the reluctant teacher a brand new resource: who can resist a new book! Building on from here is to share the evidence of collaborative teaching. The results as experienced by the students and their work may be a strong influence in the success of attempting a collaborative approach. 

Fullan, M.(1999) describes the characteristics of a collaborative approach. He lists four attributes; diversity and trust, provokes anxiety, connection and open endedness, fusion of the spiritual, political and intellectual. (p.38) Fullan goes on to describe how passionate teachers generate ideas and thrive in shared communities. Recently this occured in my workplace with the WeDo lego kits on loan from the Dept of Ed. The few teachers who had some experience of implementation were given time by our Principal to collaborate with class teachers to demonstrate the kits in classes. So many teachers commented positively and said it was ‘do-able.’

Fullan, M. (1999). Chapter 3: The deep meaning of inside collaboration. In Change forces: The sequel, (pp.31-41). London, Falmer Press, available CSU Library

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Apr 15

Consider ways in which you might these documents (ASLA Evidence Guides) to further your understanding of the role of the TL, or to inform your practice.

by debnicklin1

I’d like to focus on Standards 6 and 7. Standard 6.1 describes engaging with professional learning. I am continuously engaging with professional development to improve my use of Oliver. As a librarian, I need to manage the physical space and resources and catalogue them carefully. As a teacher I need to ensure I am providing the best possible learning experiences for students to achieve learning goals.

Standard 7 describes engaging with colleagues and the community. The Evidence Guide informs my practice to continue and broaden collaboration with colleagues. On reflection of standard 7, my colleague and I need a written plan to ensure collaboration with teaching staff to ensure consistency across grades.

Australian School Library Association (ASLA)  (2014). Evidence guide for teacher librarians in the proficient career stage.  Retrieved from: http://www.asla.org.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/evidence-guide_ha.pdf

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Apr 13

Discussion Forum 4.1b: Guided Inquiry and today’s education system.

by debnicklin1

I agree with Carolien that our education system is contradictory. 21st Century skills are not the current focus on accountability. The Department of  Education needs data in order to direct funding and focus for future directions. At the moment NAPLAN and the HSC are our major drivers and students who perform well are directing their energies towards these formats. At my workplace Guided Inquiry is encouraged however it sits within the tradition teaching strategies rather than redefining our whole program. A more recent change however is the STEM kits that are on loan for schools to try. We had the WeDo lego kits and beebots last term and they have enthused teachers and students alike. Staff and student collaboration was common. Teachers learned alongside students and all could race ahead or stop and redo their projects without feeling ‘left behind.’ There was maximum participation and we were all learning. Next term we have the green screen for creating videos and movies and it will be set up in the library. As yet, my colleague (TL 5-6) and me (TL K-4) know nothing about how it works so we have the holidays to dip our toes in. We have started to propose simple projects that tie in with themes and have started to look at timetabling and available space. We haven’t looked inside the large boxes yet…

This collaboration has been difficult. Playground duty, sport training, part time staff etc inhibit a meeting time and some teachers are just not interested or don’t know how. Finding a time for us to ‘play’ with the equipment and make our own movie would be invaluable to help our students trouble shoot when they meet a problem. Some staff meeting time has been allocated but more is needed as we have a vast range of levels of experience of ICT among staff. This opportunity does however allow us to evaluate equipment and its value in our school so we are better placed to decide products that have the most value for us in terms of our limited budget. For some of us though, we are like a child lost in a toy shop….

 

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Apr 13

Forum 4.1a Guided Inquiry article review

by debnicklin1

https://primo.csu.edu.au/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=sciversesciencedirect_elsevierS0740-8188(11)00002-8&context=PC&vid=61CSU_INST:61CSU&search_scope=CentralIndex&tab=Everything&lang=en

The article link above describes the study of a Project Based Learning (PBL) unit taught in a Hong Kong primary school. Four teachers were involved including the TL. The teachers planned the 10 week unit beforehand and inserted two online assessment tasks throughout the unit. A control group was carried out using more tradition teacher directed research techniques. The results showed that students’ grades were significantly higher for all students in the PBL group than the control group. Students also reported their enjoyment of the project was higher and parents commented their students were engaged with the search process and collaborative nature of the assignment. Of interest for me was the attention the TL paid to scaffolding search techniques for the students prior to the project and the teachers and parents only stepped in to assist when students were unable to help themselves within their group.

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Apr 8

3.4 Accountability in practice

by debnicklin1

Which of Valenza’s data collection ideas you are likely to use in your own library?

Joyce Valenza’s (2015) ideas are so practical and relevant. The one I’d be keen to use most is google classroom. (What! I here you say, you’re not using google classroom!!!) In our library at the moment I am sharing our space with another class due to a big mould issue in their classroom. As a consequence space is tight so I have lost desk and smartboard access. The 30 desktop computers that are also in the library are timetabled for classes to use so I don’t have access to them at all.  I do have ipad access some of the time as they are shared with science/French and Italian teachers and my classes are working on the floor with placemats as desks. A situation the children don’t mind at all! I am starting small with a half class (year 4 of a composite 4/5) and playing around with how to set up tasks. We are learning together and they have great suggestions for how they would like to use the platform, e.g book joke telling, book reviews and quizzes whereby they make up the questions and take turns to post them. All of which we will do. We have a long road ahead to be considered a digital literacy library, however we are willing to pull on the boots and make tracks in the right direction.

Free-Photos / Pixabay

 

Valenza, J. K. (2015). Evolving with evidence: LEVERAGING NEW TOOLS FOR EBP.Knowledge Quest, 43(3), 36-43. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1643157720?accountid=1034

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Mar 25

3.3 The Principal and the TL. Share your ideas about the ways in which Principals can enable the role of the TL, and how TLs might enable the role of the Principal.

by debnicklin1

rawpixel / Pixabay

“The reality is that influence comes when you solve someone else’s problem or help them achieve their goals, not yours. Therefore, in order for the SLP to be in a position of strength
and importance, the principal, as the key decision maker, must
perceive the SLP as critical to the mission of the school and
capable of helping to achieve the principal’s goals.” (Debra Kachel. 2017)

This is a striking quote to consider by Kachel. She goes on to encourage TL to develop a plan for increased influence for school  administrators to ensure your role is assured. These are factors that I usually associate with the cooperate world, not the world of education where we are all working towards the same broad goals of improving student outcomes. TL need to position themselves as enablers of the Principal’s shared vision of the school and align themselves with key staffing and funding administrators in the school.

Mandy Upton (2016) in her research found that Principal’s valued the contributions of TL in a myriad of ways including awareness of resourcing the curriculum and developing the curriculum, collaborative planning and teaching and more recently ICT resourcing and training. Personal qualities such as collaboration, team work and a sense of leading from the middle was valued. TL has a broad perspective of what is happening around the school in curriculum and pedagogy and Upton describes the TL as ‘the canary in the mine’ of a school. I found this a very pertinent point and as a TL in a primary school in my second year it somewhat rings true in my experience.

References

Kachel, D. (2017). The Principal and the Librarian: Positioning the School Library Program. Teacher Librarian, 45(1), 50–52. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=126080411&site=ehost-live

 

Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_2633960_1&displayName=Linked+File&navItem=content&attachment=true&course_id=_42380_1&tab_group=courses&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iasl-online.org%2Fresources%2FDocuments%2F05luptonfinalformatted49-61.pdf

 

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