Reflecting on my teaching journey and what a TL does

Teaching is a relatively new world for me. I only graduated in 2014 and since then I have spent the majority of my time in my KLA of English. Through my experiences in English I have found that student engagement in reading is dropping year after year. This has had a major impact within the classroom. Students are coming into the classroom with no knowledge of common, well known stories such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs”. I have found myself questioning “How am I expecting students to be creative when they haven’t encountered such fundamental stories which inspire creativity in the formative years?” This has had such an impact on student’s ability to think creatively and to engage in reading just for the pure love and enjoyment of reading. Through my view as an English teacher I have found that by incorporating a “Relax and Read” section to all of my lessons for the beginning 10 minutes it allows students the time to engage in reading and to calm down. For some lower ability classes I have utilised reading aloud to the classes. I have had multiple comments along the lines of “I have never been read to before” which has made me question “How, when and where are these students being given access to reading materials if the school’s library isn’t operating to its potential?”

At my current school there was no teacher librarian currently employed. My school is low socio-economic school with of about 600 students. The library was sitting unloved and just a space that was bookable for the computers. The books were untouched and not promoted. This led to the books becoming outdated and not relevant for younger, more modern students. There was no-one for students to approach and ask questions about researching or resources. It also stopped the library from becoming a safe space for vulnerable students. As teacher in the 21^st century I want my students to gain important ICT skills in order to become self-motivated and innovative students who can thrive in a modern world beyond the classroom. Technology aids and assists students in bridging the gap between knowledge intake and a knowledge journey (Wong, Li, Tat-Hueng & Tsz-Ngong, 2008)

Through my role as a literacy coordinator at my school, I was able to have access to this space to plan and develop an intensive literacy program aimed at stage 4 students. Through my engagement in my schools library space I realised the need for someone to take control and reinvigorate the space to get students to visit the library and re-engage with reading.

My understanding of what a teacher librarian role entails is that they are there to inspire students to read and expand on their reading, to create an innovative and welcoming space for students learn in the 21^st century and to teach core research skills to all students to utilise in their later lives. The teacher librarian is there as a facilitator of learning rather than a direct instructor.

References

Wong, E., Li, S., Tat-Hueng, C., & Tsz-Ngong. (2008). Insights into Innovative Classroom Practices with ICT: Identifying the Impetus for Change. Journal of Educational Technology & Society , 11(1), 248-265.