Just Another Teaching Day…

1. Coming into this course I was very new to world of teacher librarians. Even now, 4 months later, whilst I know much more, I still find myself in a world of so much that I don’t understand or even know about. Throughout this course I have learnt that the library is more than just a room full of books. Library collections are ever-evolving, multi-faceted places of learning, reflection and growth. School library collections are having to evolve to keep up with new technologies and student learning styles. I touched upon this notion in my discussion post “My Thoughts on Shatzkin’s Files”. Library collections need to be multimodal. They need to speak to learners through multiple mediums such as print, audiobooks and e-books in order to have the reach to impact students (Shatzkin, 2016). School collections need to be relevant and easily accessible to students in order for students to utilise them. If a school library collection is not being utilised by students then what is the point of it even existing?

 

1. Before starting this course as a very newly appointed teacher librarian I had no idea what a collection development policy was. Since reading about and looking at different CDPs I have come to realise just how vital they are in the operations of a school library. A CDP is used as set of strategic guidelines that outline the future route the library will undertake over the next few years. The CDP should align itself with the school’s strategic direction for their current school plan and should be updated alongside of the school plan. This policy is also vital in offering the teacher librarian some protection when it comes to the challenges presented by parents, students and even other teachers of resource selection. As Lechte mentions in her discussion post “Self-censorship” (2019), librarians are often presented with the reality of having to defend their collections from within the school walls. When your principal questions why you have included a particular resource which could be seen as controversial, by having the CDP which you can reference to show your decision making process when choosing resources that align with the direction of your library. This CDP allows the librarian and all other stakeholders to understand where the library is currently at and where you envision the library to go over the course of the policy. I have had first hand practice at creating my own decision making process model (Somner, 2019). Through this process I was able to critically reflect on the decisions I have made so far in my library and this model has made me think about why I made the decisions I have. This was a great learning opportunity which has prepared me for any future situation where someone may question the reasoning of why I have removed or added a particular resource. This document is extremely important to show how vital the library and the librarian are to the running of the school by highlighting where the library complements the classroom and the learning journeys within the school.

 

3. The CDP is a working document that should be reflected upon and changed constantly. This is to ensure that when technology changes, the library processes and resources also reflect this. The CDP allows the teacher librarian to constantly reflect, evaluate and cull resources in the collection. This allows the collection to remain relevant, up-to-date and useful for the school community. By having ongoing evaluation such as the ADDIE method (O’Neill, 2017) it allows the librarian to successfully weed resources that are no longer credible, useful or truthful. By completing this evaluation annually or even half-yearly it allows the collection to remain strong and to always ensure that new resources are incorporated into the collection. By doing this, it allows the resources to be updated constantly which would stop students getting the wrong information. By having this constant reflection and evaluation of the collection it allows the librarian to ensure that the school library collection is moving in the same direction that they envision the school library and the school to be moving in.

 

References

Lechte, D. (2019, May 6). Forum 6.2 Key takeaway from your reading on censorship [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: 24/5/19

Shatzkin, M. (2016).  Book publishing lives in an environment shaped by larger forces and always has. The Shatzkin Files. Retrieved from http://www.idealog.com/blog/book-publishing-lives-in-an-environment-shaped-by-larger-forces-and-always-has

Somner, J. (2019, March 16). Forum 1.1 Your views on Shatzkin’s writings [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: 24/5/19

Somner, J. (2019, March 24). Decision Making Model for Resource Selection [Online blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/jessicasomner/2019/03/24/decision-making-model-for-resource-selection/ : 24/5/19

Over the course of the last few months as I’ve begun my teacher librarian journey I have developed my thinking and my understanding of information. That isn’t to say that I now understand what information is and how best to teach future generations to read and use it. Instead, I believe I am now starting to constantly reflect, refine and rethink about what information is, what information is important and how we should be accessing it.

At the very start of this journey I was faced with the question of what is information? I had never thought about this before. The term information is so hard to pin down and define with one definition that covers everything, yet it is a term that we use nearly every day (Owen, 2006). I found myself having multiple answers depending on the context. This got me thinking that if I can’t define it, how am I teaching information literacy effectively?

Even looking back on my own blog post from the 16^th of March, my understanding and perceptions about information have changed dramatically in just two months. For teachers who graduate university I believe it is of the utmost importance that you continue to reflect on your own practice and stay life-long learners so that we can keep up with the new generation and their new needs and learning styles in the classroom.

Thankfully, throughout the weeks and the modules, I was given tools, models and definitions that would shape and morph my understanding of information literacy. At first I was overwhelmed with the amount of different Information Literacy Models that are out there that we can use in the classroom. I found myself questioning “If I can’t get my head around all of these models, how will my students?” Thankfully when I came across the Department of Education’s Information Process (ISP), something clicked in my thinking and I understood it. I was finally able to understand the steps needed to ensure that you could process information correctly.

I found myself reflecting on my own education journey and wondering how different things would have been if I had of had access to this ISP earlier. Would I have been able to understand more complex ideas in my teaching degree earlier? Would that have made me a more effective teacher? These questions have driven me to incorporate this ISP into my teaching now.

When I am helping senior students research for assessment tasks and study I find myself pointing out the six steps of the ISP and asking the guiding questions of each step (Department of Education and Communities, 2017). I have found that this has helped students become more student directed in their learning which has helped them learn how to guide their own investigations into the information. Before I was using this model students would often get lost in the amount of information that would come up when looking on the internet. There is too much information for these students at times to be able to learn effectively (Mosbergen, 2016). Now that my students are become more familiar with this ISP I can see them asking themselves the questions during each stage of the information literacy intake which is helping them to eliminate unnecessary information.

Thanks to my participation in this course I am able to see that it is my role to help teach the students how to read the information and interpret it correctly to ensure that they become well-informed and educated members of society (Floridi, 2007). I have also realised that information is ever-changing and that if I ever stop learning about how to interpret and use information that I will be failing my students by not giving them every possibility to succeed and thrive in this modern world. This course has opened my eyes to so many things and I find myself constantly questioning the ideas, terms and concepts within my classroom now which is making me a better educator and human being.

 

Reference List

Department of Education and Communities. (2017, May 17). The information process. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/teaching-and-learning/information-skills/the-information-process

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23, 59-64. CSU Library.

Mosbergen, D. (2016). French legislation suggests employees deserve the right to disconnect. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 2016.

Owen, D. (2006). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. Emerald Publishing Limited.

From my understanding of Karen Bonanno’s keynote speech, I believe that librarians are not an endangered species but the traditional old school, dealing with physical books librarian is endangered. I believe that due to the changing nature of today’s society and our reliance on technology, e-books, podcasts and websites that our librarians need to change as well. As children grow up with less reliance on having to develop the skills to go to a shelf and physically locate a book they are instead developing skills that helps them to search electronically for the information they desire. I believe that librarians need to adapt to being a teacher of research more than locating books.

Information is a term that as a teacher I use daily. Yet when you think about the term more deeply it becomes an abstract thought which is hard to define and isolate what it is. Information is a word that we all use every single day yet when asked what it actually meant you would struggle to give a single definition (Owen, 2006). To me information is anything that you can learn from or about.

Information has only been complicated even more by the introduction of technology and morphed with our reliance on technology in our daily lives. ICT has allowed us, as humans to have access to any answer we need in our pockets at any time. However, this benefit has it’s equal in negatives. We may have unlimited access to learning, but we are now over saturated in information. There are a million articles which each have contradictions out there as well. For every yes article, there is a no article. This has led to the human race being more informed than ever. Due to this we are able to call out people who are misinformed and have facts, details and articles to back up our opinion (Floridi, 2007).

Information now comes in multiple forms, not just verbal or written. This allows all types of learners to access the information and analyse it in their own personal way. I believe that the ever evolving landscape of information is something that we should strive to continue and adapt to in order to advance our species. Information gives us new challenges to overcome and new learning goals every single day.

As a member of a generation that has grown up with technology I find myself reliant on technology in my day to day life. There both positives and negatives to having constant access to information (Mosbergen,2016).

Some negatives that I find are quite relevant to my own personal life and my outlook of technology include the following points.

When the internet goes down I find myself at a loss when I have work to do. I have become reliant on the fact that I could pull out my smart phone, hit a few buttons and have the answer to any question but when that is taken away I feel like my skills in information searching has almost disappeared.

Another negative would be the amount of information that is on the internet. With the amount of information that is out there is becomes hard to find relevant, accurate information. It’s so easy to read an article and draw a conclusion from that article or information yet because anyone can put something on the website it’s very hard to determine which sources are reliable and which are not.

Not everything is negative though. There are many positives for every negative.

One positive that jumps to my mind is the ability to foster your own passion in learning in an area that fascinates you without having to go to a traditional learning setting. For example, I am able to undertake a university degree from the comfort of my own living room or staffroom whilst still working full time. Without the internet I would not be able to work full time, which is a necessity for me to be able to live, whilst studying the further my career and interests.

The next positive is in an emergency you have access to any information that you could possibly need. For example, if you child were to ingest something that they shouldn’t you could type a few things into your smart phone or computer and you would have some solutions to your problem. This helps to ease your mind in the case of an emergency.

One last positive that I think is highly important is that by having information so readily accessible to most people, it promotes a sense of curiosity and helps you become a life-long learner. This is such an important skill in a world where people are expected t change careers multiple times over their lives. they need to have the ability to learn and the curiosity to want to learn new things.

 

References

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23, 59-64. CSU Library.

Mosbergen, D. (2016). French legislation suggests employees deserve the right to disconnect. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 2016.

Owen, D. (2006). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. Emerald Publishing Limited.