Tag Archives: Literacy

Observations of leadership in the TL role

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I’m fortunate to be working in the TL role at my small Sydney school. I have a supportive principal and a wonderful small staff who are supportive and collaborative. However, the more I progress through my course, the more I access various TL forums and read about the profession, my views on what leadership means in this role is ever changing.

Prior to commencing this course, my view on leadership was somewhat narrow and limited to the executive staff who ultimately lead, guide and mentor the staff of the school. Having been in the role now for a few years, I am increasingly seeing how my input and suggestions have made positive changes both in the achievement of students with regards to reading, an appreciation of the library as a space of positive wellbeing for students, a source of supportive resources for staff and students and opportunities for effective collaboration among all staff, be they teaching or non-teaching.

Many a time I have not considered myself to be ‘leadership material’. But my ongoing evaluation of the changes, improvements and directions that I have had input in, as mentioned above, I wonder? Am I already partaking in a leadership role? One that is collaborating with the formal executive team? One that is unintentionally (or intentionally!) making changes for the benefit of staff, school and more importantly the students.

I mention the phrase ‘formal executive team’. My small school status in a lower socio-economic demographic means we have strict budgets, tight schedules and limited resources which are closely managed by the executive and administration teams. So whilst I see my role’s visibility increase within the school, I am aware it is not recognised formally as a role that equates to leadership.

My hope for this course is to understand how the qualities of leadership permeates to the TL’s role and how it can have greater input into the management and structure of whole school programs such as literacy and technology.

Approaches to information

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When I think of the word ‘information’ I think of the knowledge, understanding and skills that are presented to me in a variety of formats. These formats can be visual, text, aural. Increasingly the information we have access to is multimodal.

I hadn’t thought about approaches to information. Though I dare say we consume information with these approaches but on a sub-conscious level.

What are those approaches I hear you ask?
Behaviourist, sociocultural, phenomenography approaches.

The behaviourist approach lends itself to a fairly self explanatory definition. The behaviour in which one approaches and uses information to build on their skills from a range of sources. It is interesting to see how the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy framework clearly illustrates how the information gained is used and built on which lends itself to the concept of lifelong learning.

The sociocultural approach deals with the aquisition of information. How do I aquire information? I mentioned earlier that information can be found and consumed in many different ways. Listening to audio podcasts, reading text in papers or books, viewing a multimodal webpage, immersing oneself in an interactive experience are all forms of knowledge attainment. This is a valid illustration of the sociocultural approach.

Phenomonography. Such an interesting word. My understanding of phenomenography is that it is the method whith which one interprets and understands information. By interpreting, analysing and reflecting on the information gained, one has gone through a process that spurs on further investigative projects.

With these approaches in mind, I then begin to think which of these approaches are my students using? Are there gaps in their aquisition of information? What can I do to ensure all students are not only gaining information, but interpreting and being critical in their analysis to apply new information and skills to other areas of their learning. Now I am understanding the bigger picture of information literacy and the importance for the TL to scaffold and provide learning and immersive opportunities for students to build on their skills.

I’ve always used the term ‘lifelong learning’. And I like to think I understood that term. But understanding these approaches has shown me that there are aspects to learning that come together to form an overarching idea. A process of development that occurs over a period of time and should be facilitated correctly throughout a students journey in education.

My Place

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Front Cover

My Place has always struck a cord with me since I first laid eyes on the text back in the 1980’s.
My Stage 2  (Yrs 3 and 4) students have been observing the historical concept of change over time. The students have been able to make connections with characters in the story observing the change in local community and identifying with the multicultural landscape evident in the text.

I find Nadia Wheatley’s style appealing. One that builds curiosity and provokes thought. My students, displaying a range of learning abilities, all engaged with this text and always found something new to discover which prompted discussions. My lower readers were captivated by the maps, flicking between pages identifying the changes over time. My more capable students discussed the family connections through generations, the familiar names that were the neighbours. The characters coming to life to the point where I had students ask, “Is this story true?”

If you haven’t read this book or had an opportunity to use it in teaching, please do so. It’s a fantastic reminder that we are all somehow connected and that the past has a remarkable impact on the way society is shaped.

My name is Lizzie Flynn

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My Name is Lizzie Flynn
I’m currently teaching concepts of history to students in my school. Stage 3 (Yrs 5 and 6) have been observing and identifying primary and secondary sources. At the recommendation of a colleague, I read Claire Saxby’s My name is Lizzie Flynn. It was such an eye opener for the students.

The life of a young convict girl. Sentenced to 7 years in the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania, Lizzie certainly faces the hardship of convict life and wonders what her future entails. Thrust with a bag filled with fabric scraps, she soon finds herself participating in an activity that will become a treasured source now held in the National Gallery of Australia. The Rajah Quilt is a beautiful piece of history reminding us that no matter our circumstance, we all have something to give.

Linking the text to the image and information provided in https://nga.gov.au/rajahquilt/ made such a great lesson in discussing what made a primary source of information versus a secondary source.  It was great to see the students discussing and comparing their lives to that of Lizzie. The wonder at realising the quilt itself could be viewed in this day and age, more than 150 years later. In understanding the importance of information sources and their relevance, I’m hoping I’ve tickled the curiosities of my students. Spurring them to seek and develop their information literacy. Knowing that sources can make information relevant and applicable to their lives.

 

Thoughts on being a Teacher Librarian

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Charlotte’s Web, The 27th Annual African Hippopotamus Race, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, My Sister Sif. These are just a few of the titles I remember being read to me as a young student. The library was a safe haven. A place to immerse myself in worlds, imagined and real. A place to load my empty school bag at the beginning of school holidays to bring these worlds to my home.

Later, I came to understand that literature was so much more than just stories. As a class teacher beginning in a small school, I knew that my love of reading was something I wanted to share and promote. Fast forward a few years and I was presented with the unique opportunity of stepping into the Teacher Librarian role. I commenced the role with a naïve excitement not fully aware of the scope of the role.

I have learnt and realised there is much more to the role and practice of the Teacher Librarian. Systems, collaboration, dialogue, curricula, literacies are all but a small part of the position.

In this day and age of technologies and increasing expectations on students to ‘be ready’ for the future, teacher librarians allow opportunities to facilitate an inquiry-based pedagogy. Education allows society to progress and move forward. Students must be prepared with the ability to learn, critically evaluate, and apply new concepts that come their way (Excell, 2010).

The era of new 21st century schools have brought about the construction of schools without libraries and by extension no teacher librarians. Morris Gleitzman, well known Australian author and past Australian Children’s Laureate, has voiced his concerns of this reality and as such continued to promote the validity of libraries. “A good library supports every area of learning within the school, making practical application of the more curriculum-based areas of learning so potent” (Gleitzman, 2019).

It is only by allowing students to explore and develop their use of literacies, can we have a hope of ensuring our future leaders are informed, equipped and critical users of language. And herein lies the importance and need for the teacher librarian to make the library a functional and necessary hub of society. The Australian School Library Association sums up the role of TL in three short key notes: curriculum leaders, information specialists, information services managers (Australian School Library Association, n.d.). The role is clearly a complex and diverse one. One that requires research, training and qualifications.

Through this course I hope to develop skills in facilitating systems that enable students to learn and appreciate the power of communication. By being selective in information literacies, students will be able to shift their understandings into practical applications.

As I begin on this Masters journey, I reflect on my current situation and realise how fortunate I am to be in a school where the library is a valued space. The TL a valued member of the staff.

In time I hope I can build on my knowledge and continue to develop skills to be an expert and leader in information literacy, strengthening the skills of classroom teachers and students (ACT Government Education, 2019). As I’ve always said to my students, reading is everything!

Bibliography

ACT Government Education. (2019). School Libraries: The heart of the 21st century learning. ACT Government.

Australian School Library Association. (n.d.). What is a teacher librarian? Retrieved March 14, 2020, from Australian School Library Association: https://asla.org.au/what-is-a-teacher-librarian

Excell, T. (2010, March 31). Preparing students for the future: Creating personlised Education opportunities. Retrieved March 14, 2020, from SEEN Southeast Education Network: https://www.seenmagazine.us/Articles/Article-Detail/articleid/569/preparing-students-for-the-future

Gleitzman, M. (2019). Morris Gleitzman on the uniquely contributive role of school libraries. Connections(109), 1-2. Retrieved from Schools Catalogue Information Services.