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I had a meeting with my principal recently where I had to address a number of negative issues. As I am new to the school I also wanted to leave her with a positive impression about myself and the role of the library.

And while I did the nominated issue, I was able to move the coversation forward into a positive direction to discuss what I (the TL) can do to help ensure the school is meeting their obligation to students to address the General Capabilities. (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d.).

The General Capabilities, combines with the Cros-Curricula priorities, are one area where Teacher Librarians can ease the burden of teachers, and create vibrant learning opportunities for students where they can thrive and become 21st Century Learners (La Marc, n.d.).

The General Capabilities are also a place where Librarians can encourage students to be international citizens with the skills needed to empathise and understand the needs of people in other situations and conditions. Reading is of course the greatest precursor to encourage Ethics  and Intercultural Understanding through empathy, There is nothing more compelling to address ethics and understanding than developing empathy in young minds. And the most fertile place for developing empathy is through student’s imagination and stories. For example, there’s no better way of learning what it is like to be a runaway refugee than by readinga story like Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh or there’s no better way to question what is normal and how to overcome differences than by The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guinm, and when a student reads them then they can start to realise what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes (Wolf, 2019). But this is the only one entry point into the General Capabilities that the Library and TL can offer.

As a  TL specialist, the TL can address Information Literacy to improve ICT Capabilities and Literacy.

Lastly, the TL has opportunities to develop teacher collaboration through developing guided inquiry units that develop Critical and Creative Thinking and Personal and Social Capability. The only General Capability that is really not covered is Numeracy; however, the possibilities are endless given that the TL should liaise with multiple KLAs.

The challenge, of course, is to have the principal on side to support and encourage learning collaboration.

My meeting with her ended up being very proactive. She had a limited idea of what the library currently offered and that it could offer so much more.

I have a very lovely principal who wants to do the best for everyone in her care and meet the demands of a busy job. I was able to make one part of her life easier, and, hopefully, with her support the students can flourish through whole staff collegiality and exciting learning opportunities embedded by the TL.

References:

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d.). General Capabilities (Version 9).  https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

La Marc, S. (n.d.) Curriculum, Culture and Community: The School Library and the General Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum. International Association of School Librarianship. https://iasl-online.org/resources/Documents/c1_6larmarcapp.pdf

Oddone, K. (2022). 5 Reasons we need Teacher Librarians and School Libraries in 2022. Libraries Research Group at Charles Sturt University https://librariesresearchgroup.csu.domains/blog/2022/05/02/5-reasons-we-need-teacher-librarians-and-school-libraries-in-2022/

Wolf, M. (2019). Reader Come Home. Harper Collins.

I can’t stop reading. 

I read in the car, I read while I’m watching TV and I read on the headland while I’m waiting for the whales. When I’m not reading, I’m talking about books, the characters, the plot twists, what I like and what I don’t like.

It makes sense that I ended up studying to be a Teacher Librarian, I mean, that’s all I need to do isn’t it – read!

My journey to this point of time was not preordained. I was a journalist because I wanted to tell the stories of people who inspired me. I became an author because I needed to tell the stories about my passion. I became an English and History teacher to share how people and their words have changed the world. And now I have become a teacher librarian because it seems my world has coalesced to give students the tools and encouragement to become lifelong learners with a delight of reading.

But how do I do this when so many of my students ‘hate’ reading? And they might hate reading, but nobody hates stories, stories are what makes us human after all.

Vicki Newton’s article, Teacher Librarians: Literally Irreplaceable (2011 PETAA) has grounded me that the role of a teacher-librarian is so much more than stories and reading.

It is about managing time, budgets and collections, developing diversity, acceptance and client-based collections, liaising with the syllabus, the staff and the ever changing landscape of the digital age. It is about creating excitement through events and teaching experiences and creating opportunities through executive and parent interactions. 

Is it too much? 

Yeah. Nah. It can’t be too much because the students I have in front of me need to find all the hope, inspiration and dreams that come from reading. And the students that do bring joy into their own life – and mine too. Some students read fishing guides, others read graphic novels five at a time while the very rare senior student attempts Pride and Prejudice.

But most read nothing at all. Nothing. And that is scary. Renaissance Readers estimate that reading 15 minutes a day makes all the difference to students. They perform better in English and comprehension topics, but, surprisingly, they also perform better in Maths and Science examinations, even when the questions are symbol based.

Reading, not socio-economic factors, not the school system and not even the teacher, but reading is the biggest indicator of student success in their examinations. Examinations is one thing, but it is also creates and opens opportunities in their adult life, if for no other reason that it acts as a defence against self-congratulated ignorance. 

But more than that, reading allows these students to dream, escape their anxiety and enter into a new place.

And while all the other roles of my life are important – the resourcing, the management and the liaison, there is nothing more important than encouraging these students to read. Is it too hard? Yeah. Is it unachievable? Nah. I just have to find new ways to make it happen. 

Sometimes I dream stories, I dream of characters, words, imagery and plots. I dream  of beaches and whales and the stories that splash their way to the surface.  

The stories take me to a new place, a new world, a better world.

All because I read.

I hope I can ‘open the gate’ to have my students enter their world of reading and dreaming too.

Linda Gleeson

14 July, 2023