Scenario:
You are in your third year as a teacher librarian in a school where you had to work actively to promote the value and services of the library. Classes come to the library either for relief from face-to-face teaching (primary) or supervision for research (secondary) without planned opportunities for collaborative or shared teaching. As you engage with ETL504 you have evaluated your current library role as that of a servant, rather than a servant leader. You seem to be reacting to the immediate needs and requirements of teachers and students in regard to providing resources, responding to immediate information and digital literacy needs, supporting recreational reading requirements and providing technology support.
Task:
- Through the lens of servant leadership, identify and share one proactive approach to lead a shift in expectations and responsibilities that will build the capacity of either teachers or students in one of the following:
- Resourcing the curriculum
- Information and/or digital literacy
- Recreational reading
- Technology
Add the sector and approach in the subject line. E.g. Secondary – Subject related research guides.
Briefly indicate how this is indicative of servant leadership.
- Select an alternative thread to read and respond to one post.
Tip: Keep responses short and succinct. A possible starting point could be the information resources and services identified in the Module 2.1 activity and reflection based on the CSU Library.
Goals:
1. Build a Digital Literacy program in the library for Year 7
2. Lead the Digital Literacy as a general capability to be embedded across the curriculum.
I would begin by advocating for the relevance of teaching Digital Literacy at whole staff meetings, Head of Department meetings and a requested meeting with the principal. Building collaborative partnerships with teachers to create a Digital Literacy focus group would take time but would be invaluable. I would ask the principal for timetabling to create a Teacher Librarian-run Digital Literacy program for Year 7 which would be an instrumental starting point to embedding Digital Literacy across the curriculum. I would clearly define the objectives and content of a Digital Literacy program and present this to the principal. This document would highlight what specific digital skills and competencies the Teacher Librarian would develop in students. This program should cover foundational digital and research skills, online safety, digital citizenship, and critical thinking about online information.
I would reach out to teachers, explaining the purpose and benefits of creating a Digital Literacy focus group. I would then lead and schedule regular meetings for the focus group to discuss curriculum integration, resources, and plan initiatives, linking to the Australian Curriculum General Capability outcomes for Digital Literacy. I would aspire for the the focus group to identify opportunities within the existing curriculum where digital literacy skills could be integrated. With this collaboration, I would develop an online repository of digital literacy resources within the library portal, including lesson plans, tools, and assessment rubrics. These resources would be accessible to all teachers and could be used for Teacher Librarian led professional learning. As TL, I would offer professional development sessions and training for teachers who may not be as confident in teaching Digital Literacy. I would come into classes to demonstrate and assist teachers with teaching digital literacy skill sets. Finally, I would advocate through promoting any success stories or evidence based data that would demonstrate the value of digital literacy and the role of the teacher librarians in enhancing it within the school community.