Reflective Practice- Resourcing the Curriculum.

Part B Reflective Practice

 

Resourcing the Curriculum is my fourth subject in the Master of Education, Teacher Librarianship course. In many respects, I wish that I had completed this subject earlier as the responsibility of supporting curriculum, leaders, teachers and students gives context to much the role of Teacher Librarian (TL).  What I particularly valued and appreciated in this subject was the opportunity to engage in discussion and reflect on findings, perception and new learning. Many points raised in discussion forums were helpful in clarifying key points of the subject, particularly, discussions around techniques for collection measurement (3.1) and copyright questions for schools (4.1). The course is a return to study after more than 25 years and to be honest, I struggle with online learning. This time I found that being more a more proactive online student, engaging in the discussion, helped in clarifying my understanding and feeling that I wasn’t alone in front of a computer.

It is common to arrive into a new field of study with pre-conceived notions. The management of a school library, I have always understood to be an integral part of the role. Understanding and unpacking how school library collections are managed has been most enlightening. The use of tools such as selection criteria developed with the nature of the school in mind and a clear Collection Development (or management) Policy with structured processes in place, I now know are invaluable.  In my Thinkspace journal entry, ‘Returning to Teacher Librarianship’, I wrote about my decision to study Teacher Librarianship and disillusionment with the lack of TLs in Northern Territory schools. The school I had worked in didn’t have a TL and only had resources that suited the lower primary students. With my knowledge of collection development now, I know that I could help make this library work for all students.

The role of the TL in the school library is instrumental in driving the management of the library’s resources. One other essential aspect of the role is one of effective and collaborative leadership, establishing the library as a hub that brings together teachers and learners from all subjects. An important part of a school librarian’s role is to collaborate with curriculum leaders, classroom teachers and students to build and integrate information literacy skills with curriculum standards. As a result of this collaboration, students are likely to achieve more and become lifelong learners (Copeland & Jacobs, 2017). Again in another Thinkspace journal entry, ‘A Reflection on Developing Collections,’ I reflected on my experience previously in another school, working collaboratively with our librarian, and how this was key in assisting our teachers resource their courses and learners navigate their subjects. The TL whom I worked closely with at this school was more than an efficient organizer of her resources, she was a leader, actively assisting teachers navigate the curriculum. I also reflected here on her influence on me as a teacher and later a curriculum leader and student of Teacher Librarianship.

Collection management and collection development, I’ll admit I found it complicated. I struggled at first to see what the difference is between both. Even though I read extensively, the answer wasn’t straightforward, with much terminology around both being very similar. Sometimes collection development is described as a subdivision of collection management and vice versa (Kennedy, J. 2006).  What I found was collection management is best defined as the process of information gathering, communication, coordination, policy formulation evaluation and planning that results in decisions around the acquisition, retention and provision of access to information sources in support of the needs of a library community (Kennedy, J. 2006). Collection development can be a part of collection management that has primarily to do with decisions around the acquisition of resources (Gregory, 2011). According to Kennedy (2006), collection management is often the more used term and that collection management should be just as important in cyberspace as it is with paper-based books and periodicals, perhaps even more important. As the process of growing, weeding and reviewing are important aspects of effective school libraries, a collection development policy with clear processes would be an appropriate approach.

Two areas that I found endlessly fascinating and found myself wanting to read further and reflect, was deselection (or weeding the collection) and censorship. Both areas can be subjective and difficult to avoid emotion or involve pre-held beliefs. In my Thinkspace journal, I reflected on both of these issues in different posts. In Weeding Your Collection. Does it Spark Joy?, I explored the current fashion of decluttering and mused on my personal challenges and mindsets in this area and the possible dangers of being ill-informed in the deselection process. Establishing and implementing policies and procedures in the school library aims to ensure that there is clarity and equity in approaching these matters. The use of established selection criteria tools assist in making this process less daunting. The IFLA School Library Guidelines states, “A school library policy should be devised bearing in mind the overarching policies and needs of the school and should reflect the ethos, mission, aims, and objectives, as well as the reality of the school.” (Oberg & Schultz-Jones, 2015)

Again in In my Thinkspace journal entry, ‘Returning to Teacher Librarianship’ I reflected on the changing role of the TL, and perhaps how schools in the future will come back round to realising the importance of the TL. With many studies into how students learn and the growing importance placed on STEM, inquiry-based learning and design thinking, libraries are changing and moving to become hubs of innovation. Johnson describes the trends in school libraries of the future will be to provide more resources in a variety of formats, feature learning commons that encourage participatory and collaborative learning. School librarians will be more engaged in instruction and enable students to access information from many sources (Johnson, 2018).

I will leave with a concluding thought, will the school library need to change to fulfill the dual role of the library media center and research hub of the school (Johnson, 2018)? In addition to the discussion around future-proofing the school library, we also need to think about futureproofing our learners? The ultimate goal of teachers and librarians is to help students develop 21st-Century skills and grow as empathic, global citizens. (Copeland & Jacobs, 2017). It may be a matter of libraries together, evolving with the learners of the future.

References:

1. Copeland, A., & Jacobs, L. (2017). The Power of Collaboration between School Librarian and Classroom Teacher. Teacher Librarian, 45(2), 22–27. https://search.proquest.com/openview/432c28235765ec96373feb3a87110a3d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=38018

 

2. Gregory, V. L. (2019). Collection development and management for 21st century library collections: an introduction (2^nd ). Neal-Schuman Publishers. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/CSUAU/detail.action?docID=5850106&pq-origsite=primo

 

3. Johnson, P. (2014). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management. American Library Association. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1711419

 

4. Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection management : A concise introduction. Elsevier Science & Technology. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

 

5. Kennedy, J. M. (2021, January, 19). Censorship challenges in the library [blog post]. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kenneja/wp-admin/post.php?post=98&action=edit

 

6. Kennedy, J. M. (2021, January, 9). Returning to Teacher Librarianship after a long absence [blog post]. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kenneja/wp-admin/post.php?post=83&action=edit

 

7. Kennedy, J. M. (2021, January, 12). Weeding your collection! Does it Spark Joy? [blog post]. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kenneja/wp-admin/post.php?post=91&action=edit

 

8. Oberg, D., & Schultz-Jones, B. (Eds.). (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines. (2nd ed.). International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

 

9. VCTL & ALIA (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centers. (2nd ed.). Australian Library and Information Association Schools and Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians. http://www.asla.org.au/policy/policy-development-manual.aspx

 

 

Images sourced from-

1. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/libraries-of-the-future-2016-8?r=US&IR=T

2. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/02/18/treasure-or-trash-heap/