student engagement

Reading is more than just an escape (Assessment 2 – Part 2)

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Why read?

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At the beginning of this subject we were asked to consider this question and Shelley (2021, November) summed up my thinking in a comprehensive list. I currently work as an English teacher in the secondary system and we have spent the past four years building an independent program called ‘Read, Think, Succeed’. We have taken students to Readings Bookshop to choose books for purchase, created student reading ambassador roles, and successfully argued for a weekly 70 minute session for every English class from years 7-10 to participate in a literacy lesson that has discussion at its centre. I am confident that we have researched and are imparting the message that reading is everything BUT… it is everything in the context of English.

 

What’s next?

In my blog post The bright future of children’s literature (Kempinger, 2020, November 22), I identified several areas of interest, but there are two that I feel inform my next steps after completing this subject. These are critical thinking through and visual literacy.

With English teachers on the right track, my focus as a teacher librarian is across other curriculum areas. Throughout this subject my work has revolved around the humanities and this has shown me the enormous potential of using fiction to bring another layer of meaning and understanding to students’ comprehension of the (often quite difficult to image) world beyond their personal experiences.

Critical thinking

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We want students to be able to take information and apply their knowledge and experience to think critically about the information that is presented. Are they ready and able to do this without support? In my experience, rarely. Fisher & Frey (2018) identify the value of discussion between students as a way to deepen understanding. My intention this year is to collaborate with humanities teachers to understand the topics that bring with them the challenge of empathy (such as the ANZAC experience) and provide selected fiction texts in varying formats that can be used in the classroom to develop this. Without the empathy, the critical thinking will be unlikely.

Visual literacy

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Complex images surround us in the form of advertising, commentary, comedy and story-telling. If we are to understand the nuance and/or multiple meanings presented in visuals, we need to be able to interpret them. Jaffe & Hurwich (2019) explain that students needs to be able to “read’ an image before they can think critically about the message being imparted.

Although graphic novels and picture books do form part of our current library collection, more care needs to be taken when selecting these titles so that there are opportunities within them for unpacking meaning, discussion and critical thinking.

Multi-literacies

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This idea is multi-faceted. On one hand I want to bring more variety into the library and on the other hand I want students to have more opportunity to show their learning in a variety of ways (including those in the resource kit that I created).

In the discussions for module 5, I talked about the use of podcasts to engage students (Kempinger, 2022, January). This is an area that I will continue to explore to see what is available, of good quality, and listened to by students already, and how they can be best promoted.

References

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2018). Raising reading volume through access, choice, discussion and book talks. The Reading Teacher, 72(1).

Jaffe, M. & Hurwich, T. (2019). Worth a thousand words: using graphic novels to teach visual and verbal literacy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kempinger, N. (2022, January 9). Podcasts [Online discussion comment]. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/

Shelley, S. (2021, November 20). RE: 1.1b: Why read? [Online discussion comment]. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/

Why aren’t we blogging already?

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Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

This module is helping me to understand the versatility of blogs. Up until this time, despite my experiences, I have viewed blogs as journals and thoughtful meanderings that are primarily there for people to share their thinking on specific topics with those who have similar interests. What a missed opportunity!

Due to this closed way of thinking, I have never really considered the ways that I can utilise a blog within the context of my school.  After reading two online articles by Kathleen Morris, I am excited to experiment. As a TL, I see potential for a library blog that could incorporate or link to profession learning and specialist subject area blogs. As a practicing teacher, I am interested in a class blog that incorporates a specialist subject area blog as well as student blogs and collaboration. Time and current work demands mean that I need to be realistic and strategic in where I start this exploration. My teaching load is predominantly in English and, for this reason, it makes sense to begin here. Spending so much of the past two years teaching remotely has also meant that having an innovative and engaging space for students is something that I am constantly on the look out for.

Ideally I would want to build a blog that expands over time. Knowing that it is not possible to “do it all” forces me to consider the steps to take to make this project more likely to succeed and become a way to support student learning. Morris (2018) refers to blogs as a “sweet spot” that allows the teacher to work with and mentor students as they are building skills and understanding across a wide range of literacies and competencies. This really resonates with me as my own experience would suggest that student growth is highest when they have opportunities to work in collaboration with peers and the teacher on authentic activities.

The steps that I intend to take:

  1. Set up a class blog for year 9 English (I have two year 9 English classes and I hope that this will lead to cross-class communication and collaboration). Focus on administrative information and advertise to my students and their families.
  2. Begin to showcase work that is occurring in the classroom and encourage class community comment.
  3. Incorporate subject area content and use this to support student skill development around finding information
  4. Incorporate student/student and student/teacher collaboration
  5. Reflect throughout the process and gather feedback from students and parents. Make adjustments as required.
  6. Present to staff in the school and offer PD and to work collaboratively to support others in this pursuit.

References

Morris, K. ( 2020, February 11). The top 10 ways blogs and WordPress are used in schools. The Edublogger. https://www.theedublogger.com/blogs-wordpress-schools/ 

Morris, K. (2018). Why teachers and students should blog: 18 benefits of educational blogging. Primary Tech. http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2013/03/08/the-benefits-of-educational-blogging/

The bright future of children’s literature

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What do we want? Young people who are passionate and independent readers!

When do we want it? Always and forever!

How can we achieve it?

STUDENT VOICE

Image by klimkin from Pixabay

A conversation must exist between the students and those who are providing books (in this case I’m referring to the school library). Opportunities to try not only a range of genres but a range of formats allows students to develop preferences. When this is coupled with an honest and open dialogue about the different formats, libraries can make informed choices about what students will access and respond to positively.

DIVERSITY

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Although there continues to be a lack of diversity in children’s books, there is an increasing push for books that represent a wider range of cultures and experiences (Short, 2018). Students are unlikely to engage with books if their every experience centres on characters that do not represent their own selves.

Libraries (and educators) need to ensure that they provide contemporary titles that represent a wide range of cultures, gender identities, and abilities. This will allow all students to find a book that they can connect with and will also expose students to a world that they are perhaps not familiar with to develop empathy and inclusion.

CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH DISCUSSION

Image by Miranda Bleijenberg from Pixabay

As is highlighted in Wolf (2014), the discussion around the interpretation of texts needs to evolve to ensure that young people are developing the skills needed to unpack the added layers of visual and auditory elements to a narrative in order to fully and critically consider the author’s/illustrator’s purpose. To be able to do this, educators need to have experience with a range of text formats so that they are able to support the development of metalanguage and direct discussion to the ways in which these elements add to or alter the written word.

Young people are immersed in a visual culture with an emphasis on immediacy so the need for the ability to critically interpret and evaluate the information coming at them is vital (Duncam, 2002).

VISUAL LITERACY

Image by PixelAnarchy from Pixabay

Firstly, educators and librarians need to have experience reading, interpreting and discussing a range of illustrated books, graphic novels, visual narratives, and multimodal reading experiences. Through this, they will be able to develop their own knowledge of what these different styles of story-telling bring to a tale and then work with students to help them to also understand the ways that visuals can affect a narrative.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EDUCATORS

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I often come across educators who bemoan the way that students always seem to be one step ahead in terms of technological advancement and use this as an excuse to maintain a status quo in their practice. This is simply not good enough. It is the responsibility of educators to ensure that they are aware of the ways that students are interacting with their world so that they can support the development of skills that will allow them to successfully navigate and use these the tools available to them.

References:

Duncam, P. (2002). Visual culture art education. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 21, 15-23.

Short, K.G. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.

Wolf, S.A. (2014). Children’s literature on the digital move. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 413-417.

Reflecting (Assessment 3 – Part C)

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Every day I encounter staff who don’t understand the potential that lies in the library. They see libraries as a physical resource that is separate from the classroom environment, rather than an integral part of the teaching community where learning is at the centre (Herring, 2007). They need to be shown that libraries are spaces for integrated learning, where inquiry is at the heart of our practice (Todd, 2007). This is where an awareness of the role of teacher librarians is needed.


Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

These same staff complain about students who are unable to conduct effective research and simply ‘copy and paste’ their work from the Internet. They know what they want students to be able to do, but they do not know how to help them to develop the skills to get there. It does not occur to them that a quality teacher librarian, doing their job, will be able to bridge this gap and help teachers to teach and students to learn (Purcell, 2010). This is where an understanding of Information Literacy is needed.

I'd like to thank Google, Wikipedia and copy & paste“I’d like to thank Google, Wikipedia and copy & paste” by patrickdevries2003 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

And then they sit in the staffroom at lunch whinging to anyone who will listen about students who do not complete homework and sit staring at their computer screen achieving little despite having more than enough work to do. There is a lack of understanding that, just because young people today have grown up surrounded by technology and look as though they know how to use it, they don’t necessarily know how to use it effectively (Combes, 2009). I reflected on this in a discussion thread about information societies that can be accessed here (Kempinger, 2019a). This is where the impact of collaborative teaching using an inquiry learning design is needed.


Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

So, what is my course of action moving forward? To start with, there will be an emphasis on promotion and the way that, as a teacher-librarian, I am in the unique role of being able to look at the school both vertically and horizontally (Purcell, 2010), meaning that it is easier to see the continuum of skills and how these can be supported. While I understand that I will become overwhelmed if I take on too much at once, on my to-do list for 2020 is to look at the humanities curriculum maps from years 7-12 to begin mapping the topics covered and skills required so that I can begin looking for opportunities to work collaboratively with classroom teachers to better prepare students for a life beyond high school that expects them to problem-solve and behave ethically (Lamb, 2011).


Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

When it comes to deciding who to approach for collaboration, I will need to be careful to select a teacher with whom I already have a trusting relationship built on open communication (Haycock, 2007) because, even though effective collaborative cultures need diversity in order to look at situations from a range of perspectives (Fullan, 1999), it will be trust and communication that drive the collaboration.

Thanks to documents like the Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning (2005), highlighting global dedication to the empowerment of all people by teaching the skills to find, evaluate and create information is easy. While there are many models for teaching information literacy, it is important that each setting finds a model that suits them. This is where I see a conundrum for my immediate future- I personally prefer a sociocultural approach to learning where students work in communities on topics that interest them (Farrell & Badke, 2015), but many teachers at my school favour a behaviourist approach as they can fit it into their current practice. For this reason, I will need to remember that different people within the school community will see information literacy from different perspectives and this means that I cannot do what I prefer, but need to factor in these differences if I want to have a positive impact (Bruce, Edwards & Lupton, 2006).

Think positive - illustrations“Think positive – illustrations” by simona bonafini is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

So, if I revisit my first blog post (Kempinger, 2019b) I can see that I still have the same desire to be a driver for positive change, but I am now in a much better position to actually do something about it as I am armed with information that I have been able to experiment with in context, turning it into knowledge, which has power.


Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

References:

Bruce, C., Edwards, S., & Lupton, M. (2006). Six frames for information literacy education: A conceptual framework for interpreting the relationships between theory and practice. Italics, 5(1). Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.11120/ital.2006.05010002

Combes, B. (2009). Generation Y: Are they really digital natives or more like digital refugees? Synergy, 7(1), 31-40. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/fullText;dn=178236;res=AEIPT

Farrell ,R. & Badke, W. (2015). Situating information literacy in the disciplines: A practical and systematic approach for academic librarians. Reference Services Review, 43(2). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1725782993?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=10344

Fullan, M. (1999). Chapter 3: The deep meaning of inside collaboration. In Change forces – the sequel: The sequel, (pp.31-41). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=237391&ppg=43

Haycock, K. (2007). Collaboration: Critical success factors for student learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 25-35. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/57538522/195463D1D10D40CBPQ/1?accountid=10344

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga , NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. Retrieved from  https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/science/article/pii/B9781876938437500028

International Federation of Library Associations. (2005). Beacons of the information society: The Alexandria Proclamation on information literacy and lifelong learning. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/publications/beacons-of-the-information-society-the-alexandria-proclamation-on-information-literacy

Kempinger, N. (2019a). Online access. Forum 2.2 . ETL401 Response in Discussion Forums. CSU. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_38048_1&conf_id=_74551_1&forum_id=_177141_1&message_id=_2632529_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

Kempinger, N. (2019b, November 28). Teacher or TL [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kempinger/2019/11/28/teacher-or-tl-assessment-1/

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. Techtrends : Linking research & practice to improve learning, 55(4), 27-36. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=0a84a319-9bd9-44be-9dc5-d7f547be53c1%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=60840783&db=a9h

Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library Media Connection 29(3), 30-33. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=60171d13-40cb-4fcd-9884-3a2bb1ac5710%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=EJ907292&db=eric

Todd, R. J. (2007). Evidence-based practice and school libraries. In S. Hughes-Hassell & V. H. Harada (Eds.), School reform and the school library media specialist (pp. 57-78). Retrieved from https://doms.csu.edu.au/csu/file/b84e4d87-0e09-4bd5-9dcb-023fe550270a/1/todd-r.pdf

Teacher or TL? (assessment #1)

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It is my belief that some people are born to teach; this is certainly the case with me. Learning new information has always brought me joy and being able to share ideas with others fills me with happiness, confidence, and hope.

Over the past fifteen years, I have worked in classrooms with a broad range of student abilities and levels of engagement, and my favourite experiences are those that allow me to connect with the students in a way that empowers them to take learning and exploration of knowledge into their own hands.

Over time, I find that I am not having these experiences as frequently.

***

As a teenager, the library was a safe space where I could surround myself with books and fantasize about one day working with the always helpful, interested and friendly team of staff. Due to this, when I started work in my first school, I was drawn to the library.

Unfortunately, my first experiences of a school library confused me. While the TLs were incredibly helpful and present whenever I was looking for support or a good chat about a new book, the same was not observed with the students. Students were not encouraged to chat about their learning, and opportunities to engage with the TLs about new books or series were hidden or non-existent. My students told me that the library was not a place that they wanted to spend time.

It seemed as though the role of a TL was to support the teaching staff.

***

Over time, my interest in the school library has never diminished. Opportunities to bring classes into the library space and talk about books, share resources and encourage independent reading have become part of my weekly schedule because the need for our young people to develop good reading habits and research skills remains, yet for many, drive and enthusiasm are waning.

Some great work is happening with our year 7 English teams to re-engage students with reading, but trying to bring this across to other year levels is proving disheartening. As a teacher working within small teams of English staff, I have felt limited and unable to properly support those who do show an interest in making positive change.

Through a series of reading-focused professional development opportunities over the past two years, I have been able to visit the libraries of several schools. Through these visits, the potential of a TL has been highlighted. That I can be the support and driver for positive change by working with teachers and students is what prompted my decision to return to study.

Thanks to the support of leadership, who see the passion I have in this area, half of my teaching load for 2020 will be in the library. Working alongside the current library staff (a part-time TL and two library technicians) I plan to learn, share and bring our library into current times. This will involve the drafting of vision statements and policies, working with teachers and students to support learning and developing an evolving space that takes the needs of our cohort into consideration.