ETL503: Reflecting on how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.

Before beginning to ETL503 Content 2: Developing Collections, I created this introductory library lesson in an effort to gather information about each student; their interests and book choices as I knew that our library was well resourced but in need of rejuvenation.

Unknowingly I created a very ‘Patron Driven Acquisition’ questionnaire for the students to respond to. The link below can be opened by NSW DET staff only. Names of teachers and school included.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AYWb7hTJliPlVqK-WxffjcqIgnBDIcJXuGVi_GUmW0M/edit

I am now in the midst of the readings for Developing Collections and I am intrigued by the issues surrounding PDA and realise that this criteria for collection should be used as one of many tools when resourcing the library.

Conclusion: student-driven selection is important but professional knowledge of teachers and TLs should ultimately drive the selection process in order to offer literature and digital content that reflects curriculum content, cross-curriculum initiatives, classical literature, new authors and resources that reflect the diversity of the school community.

What do you think?

Blog-worthy: an amazing read.

Australian research supporting what we do and inspiring what we should aim to do in our Australian School Libraries.

ACER Report 2003: Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement:          a Review of the Research.

Report for the Australian School Library Association
by Michele Lonsdale
2003

“Existing research shows that school libraries can have a positive impact, whether measured in terms of reading scores, literacy or learning more generally, on student achievement.

There is evidence to show that:

• a strong library program that is adequately staffed, resourced and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the socioeconomic or educational levels of the adults in the community;
• a strong computer network connecting the library’s resources to the classroom and laboratories has an impact on student achievement;
• the quality of the collection has an impact on student learning;
• test scores are higher when there is higher usage of the school library;
• collaborative relationships between classroom teachers and school librarians have a significant impact on learning, particularly in relation to the planning of
instructional units, resource collection development, and the provision of
professional development for teachers;
• a print-rich environment leads to more reading, and free voluntary reading is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling and grammatical ability and writing style;”

ETL503 Reflecting on the selection process

I have extracted the passage below from ETL503 Learning Content 2 as I want to remember it  … and so I’ll read it again and provide abbreviated dot point notes for myself and for you reader, who has found yourself here.
Q: Why do I want to remember this passage?
A: I find myself overseeing a beautiful, well established, traditional library that has many many books on its shelves. I am lucky, so very lucky to have inherited a space that is aesthetically beautiful and well resourced. As beloved as it is by teachers, students and the community it does require tlc (teacher librarian care) in the form of weeding, increasing popular titles and developing a senior fiction collection that reflects the needs of the Year 5 and 6 students who are avid, sophisticated readers. This course has come at the perfect time for me. I am learning as I practice. I’m quite certain failure and success will be had in equal measure.
Here we go …
Dot points to help me remember the importance of:
  • collaborate
  • it states students possibly should be part of the selection but I think students should DEFINITELY be part of the process.
  • abilities and needs of users must be considered
  • collaborate with experts in community (in my context – school’s APCI, local bookshop owners, local library, Highly Accomplished Teachers / colleagues with expertise in English and Technology)
  • the final dot points are so important. It makes me remember that I must also collaborate with our AP of Enrichment to identify students with diverse needs including HPGE, accelerated and learning support students.
Selection and the teaching and learning context
Selecting resources for the school library collection must be a collaborative effort. Teacher librarians (TLs) are considered to be experts in identifying and including appropriate resources; however, there is some debate on whether the TL should be the only person responsible for this. Teachers, and possibly students, can and should be included as active participants in the selection process within their areas of expertise.
It is clearly flawed to try and argue that the TL alone has the knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the school curriculum, the range of abilities and needs of users, and teaching and learning programs to make these decisions. While the TL can do their best to stay across this information, consulting with the wider community can ensure that the collection best meets the needs of the community.
The New South Wales Department of Education (2016) states that it is the responsibility of the TL to collaborate with teachers in the planning, implementing and evaluating of teaching and learning programs, including the integration of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and literacy. TLs should have a knowledge of:
  • the curriculum
  • learning and teaching pedagogical approaches
  • child development
  • student achievement levels
  • collection development
  • resource selection criteria
  • changing technologies and access.

Note to self: I must learn how to reference university lecture content accurately.

In memory of Ruth Elston. Teacher/Teacher Librarian 1965 – 2023, Colleague and Friend.

I was lucky enough to realise a long time ago that Ruth was a guide. She was knowledgeable, clever, creative and a storyteller. We spoke often of the world and its wonders, of schools and education and the importance of life-long learning. In April of last year, she walked into my classroom holding a folded, stapled piece of paper. She had printed the university course outline of Teacher Librarianship and hand delivered it to me. Without knowing what would unfold at the end of that year, I still knew that this was a significant moment in my life and hers. For me, it meant the beginning of something new in an area of education that I loved the most and for Ruth it meant that she was willing to share her sacred space and her years of knowledge and expertise. 

And so we met every Wednesday where I hoped to learn how to accession books and where Ruth taught me about every other worldly topic but.

While studying recently, I came across a paragraph in a reading titled: Empowering Library Users Through the 5 Laws of Library Science (stimulating, I promise) and seemingly it was written for Ruth …. 

 

The library, irrespective of its time, and type, is not only concerned about the present, but also about the past and the future. The present, because it acquires materials to meet the present needs of its clients; the past because some materials that are acquired are of historical significance and can influence the present; and the future because the past and the present can be used to shape the future. Through its systematic collection, the library tells us where we are coming from, where we are and where we should be. It thus enables us to understand and appreciate our past and present and empowers us to plan for the future.

Libraries have been an instrument of socio-economic, cultural and political change. The library is a foyer of living ideas that permeates and animates all aspects of national life (Ikoku, 1971). According to Aguolu (1989), the library is a place where the dead may be said to be alive, that is, a place where the ideas, knowledge and experiences of great men and women, fully documented and preserved, continue to move the world although these people may be no more. Opara, U. N. (2017). Empowering Library Users through the Five Laws of Library Science. Library Philosophy & Practice, 1–14.

 

I will be forever grateful for inheriting Ruth’s beloved Library but mostly I will be forever grateful for working alongside a colleague and friend who inspired me and many others to think freely, to be independent and strong and to believe that the world and its people, regardless of race, gender or age, should be appreciated and learned from. 

“I don’t believe in age, race or gender” as said by Ruth Elston … always.

Prue Car’s Post: Deputy Premier of NSW, Member for Londonderry, Minister for Education and Early Learning.  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pruecar_i-recently-received-some-really-sad-news-activity-7137531014112837632-R0qu

 

ETL401 Assessment 3: Reflection

Reflections of a teacher gradually transforming into a teacher librarian – one subject at a time.   

Since beginning CSU’s Masters of Education – Teacher Librarianship in July 2023, I have been asked many times by colleagues: Why Teacher Librarianship? This question shall act as my overarching inquiry question for this reflection – in an act of displaying, via direct application, my reflection of information literacy, inquiry learning and the role of a teacher librarian.  

Chosen Inquiry Learning model: Darryl Toerien’s the Fosil Cycle. https://fosil.org.uk/fosil-cycle/ 

Fosil Cycle Stage 1: Connect: Drawing on what you might already know in order to better understand what you do not yet know  

I know teaching: I have been teaching for 25 years and in an age of teacher burn-out and low retention rates, I recognise that 25 years is a long time. I also recognise, within myself, that I love teaching, so much so, that when I went looking for a career change – I chose teacher librarianship because it meant that teaching remained at the core of my change.  

Fosil Cycle Stage 2: Wonder – Identifying those questions that will best guide your investigation 

At the beginning of this course I wondered what I would learn. I thought I would learn about literature, about library budgets and accessioning. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/eleni/2023/07/03/post-it-note-a-brief-introduction-of-me/  I thought my answer to -why teacher librarianship?- was “I can teach English all day and incorporate the arts … I can focus on my passions and expertise.” 

Fosil Cycle Stage 3: Investigate – Knowing what scholarly resources are available and being able to use them effectively 

This has been my biggest lesson thus far! Learning to find and use academic and practitioner literature to further my understanding of the teacher librarian role, information access, information literacy and inquiry learning. Readings, readings and more readings! I am surprised at how much I have read and analysed and thought of. I am also surprised how hard it is to take those readings and turn them into essays. I’m not sure if it’s because I work full time as a teacher, or because I’m not in a TL role or because my personal life is also demanding – but I have found it hard and I look forward to next year when I will be in a TL role and will have one whole weekday per week to study!  

Fosil Stage 4: Construct – Building an accurate understanding based on factual evidence 

Building my scholarly library of TL academic writers has been more enjoyable than I imagined. I love that the more I read, the more connections I find between readings and how each academic influences another and how you begin to see the researchers that are referenced the most. I particularly love when I find an academic that puts into writing what I know, through years of experience, to be the best strategy or the secret to teaching. But I must admit, constructing my own voice from the voice of others has not been easy for me. Essay writing is something that I will need to improve on, which leads me to Stage 5 of the Fosil Cycle: Express. 

Fosil Stage 5: Express – Making the most compelling case given your evidence and audience  

My high school daughter has a tutor for English and Maths. A young man in his first year of university. I find myself asking him questions like – how do I reference this or how do I embed that??? Expressing my ideas, supporting them with evidence and referencing correctly have been my steepest learning curves and I am expecting to keep climbing, for I know that I know not how to express my complex, creative ideas in well-structured, eloquent, evidence-based essays. 

Fosil Stage 6: Reflect – Evaluating how you have worked and what you have produced 

When I reflect on my overarching inquiry question – why teacher librarianship?- I realise my answer has changed due to my ETL401 studies – and is now something like this ….. I love learning. I love learning as much as I love teaching and the library is the perfect place for a teacher librarian to model a thirst for learning, a love of reading and how literacy and information literacy give you the tools to succeed in the 21st century. 

ETL401 Reading List: Inquiry Learning

Inquiry Learning:

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/thepoweroflibraries/2020/10/20/inquiry-learning-models/

https://kappanonline.org/linking-librarians-inquiry-learning-information-literacy-lance-maniotes/

https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/literature-review-the-role-of-the-teacher-in-inquiry-based-educat

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1350231.pdf

Inquiry-Based Learning

https://web.archive.org/web/20210428065707/http://wp.comminfo.rutgers.edu/ckuhlthau/information-search-process/

https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/content/pdf/10.1007/s11423-021-10025-4.pdf

Fosil Cycle

6 Questions Students Can Use To Guide Their Inquiry-Based Learning

ETL401 Assessment 1 Part B: Reflective Journal

Libraries are sacred places; they exude the kind of light and peace usually reserved for places of worship; I guess, for bibliophiles, they are just that. And a school library is no different. Its presence is often central and its doors are always open. It’s a refuge from the chaos of lunch breaks – a calm space created and controlled by the teacher librarian. This is the perception I come into this course with, along with the following ideas. A TL is a person who:

  • is a fountain of knowledge regarding books, authors and cross curriculum resources
  • is a mentor for students who love books, organising and assisting – often providing them with their first ‘job’
  • maintains a safe, organised, fully stocked, up-to-date, creative space
  • keeps themselves informed
  • has an exceptional relationship with the local library and bookshops
  • is in charge of purchasing, organising, distributing and maintaining books for students and teachers
  • ensures quality books support and enhance the curriculum in all Key Learning Areas
  • promotes books that inspire young people to read and widen their reading choices
  • organises Book Week, author visits and parades

The list above is an extensive job description, one that would keep any Teacher Librarian very busy, however, after only a handful of ETL401 readings, lectures and online meetings I am beginning to understand that Teacher Librarians, while perhaps a threatened role, have never been more important. Why? Because we live in a world where a library is as much about digital technology as it is books and that this digital world has opened the floodgates to information overload, a wide web of uncensored information, fake news and artificial intelligences that can seemingly answer any question and produce a polished product – all of which is coming to the consumer fast and furiously.

More than ever before our young people need information specialists to help them navigate this world, keep them safe and find channels of appropriate, reputable sources for them to learn from. In schools, these information specialists are our Teacher Librarians and while I have always seen this role as important, I am beginning to see that the role is especially critical in our current world and in our modern libraries.

Within a short time I also better-understand that today, the Teacher Librarian will flourish in a school if they embrace the privilege of being able to build a communal space that supports students, teachers and leaders to achieve the overarching school goals.

 If I am fortunate enough to move into this role in my current school context, I look forward to not only stocking the shelves with quality literature, bringing books to life through theatrical experiences, encouraging reading and promoting life-long readers and learners, but I look forward to igniting inquiry, guiding research and finding solutions. I look forward to helping the school cater to all students, including our HPGE and special needs students, by providing a space whose doors are open for students to be curious, collaborate, create or find a quiet nook to curl up in with a good book. 

A Teacher Librarian’s importance has always been clear to me and I look forward to increasing my knowledge of all the role’s possibilities through this course.

ETL401 Reading List: Information Access and Digital Platforms

Aiming to use this post to keep track of my reading list related to ETL401

This post will track all my reading / referencing material while researching/preparing for ETL401 assessments.

  • Learning how to reference!! These websites help: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples

https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/3371843/Charles-Sturt-University-APA-7th-ed.-Referencing-Summary.pdf

20 Trends in Education Technology That Will Have A Major Impact in 2024

Literature review – digital technology in education: https://www.education.sa.gov.au/docs/ict/digital-strategy-microsite/c3l-digital-technologies-in-education-literature-review.pdf

School libraries, then and now in the digital environment: https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-120/school-libraries-then-and-now-in-the-digital-environment/

New trends : https://linchpinseo.com/trends-in-the-information-technology-industry/

Global Literacy Report: https://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/need-know

TL in digital environment: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=746b544edc5eec255c0f0c3705303d5e6d7fad28

ETL401 Introduction: Eleni Todaro

Where does one begin to briefly describe who they are and why they find themselves creating a post on a blog about Teacher Librarianship?

It all began with Algernon and his love of cucumber sandwiches and the discovery that words on a page could be brought to life with voice and gesture and that hours of enjoyment could be had with a book.

In 1998 I completed a degree in English Literature and Theatre but I left it all behind and worked with babies, children and adults with disabilities for three years. During this time I discovered my love of teaching and by the year 2000 I completed my Bachelor of Education.

Combining all my great loves I went on to teach in the classroom and managed to convince hundreds of children, over 22 years, that books are worth reading, that reading improves every aspects of one’s life and, of course, many other things.

Fast forward to 2023 and I find myself wanting to leave ‘the many other things’ behind and focus my teaching efforts on books, reading, writing, creating, dramatising, documenting, researching, discovering …. and the best place for me to do all that … is in the Library.

And so here I am at the very beginning of my Masters of Education in Teacher Librarianship – studying while working and parenting. Cucumber sandwiches anyone? Tea? Coffee? Copious amounts of coffee …

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