Archive of ‘ETL401 Introduction To Teacher Librarianship’ category
After four months of learning in ETL401, and three months in the role of a TL, I feel like my brain is full to capacity! It does not look exactly like Jennifer La Garde’s (2013) image at the end of this post, but it is certainly very similar. It is an image that really spoke to me about the multifaceted role of a TL and one that I had to share. My view of the role of the TL has changed through this subject and there has been a huge shift in my thinking.
I had not given a great deal of thought to the word ‘teacher’ when I had informed people that I would become the junior school librarian. This is not to say that I did not think I would be teaching much; I knew that I was walking into a very busy teaching timetable. However, I had not thought about how important it was to explain my new role as a TL, not just a librarian. Arguably, being a teacher is the most important part of being a TL. I referred to the misconceptions about the role of a TL in my first blog post and I realise that it is partly up to me to demonstrate and educate what a TL can do in a school. O’berg (2006) discusses the importance of principal support and reminds TLs what they should be doing to gain it. Remaining visible to the whole school community, promoting the library and collaborating with all staff are all important aspects of the role.
In my blog post about the multifaceted role of the TL I reflected on many of the roles in La Garde’s image and backed them up with lots of readings. There are two roles that I want to highlight, which are student learning and professional learning. So much learning has taken place for me in this subject, and I blogged about this in Teacher librarians are lifelong learners and Feelings of uncertainty in my personal information search process. The biggest learning curve for me in this subject has been about guided inquiry and Information Literacy (IL) models. My school does not have an IL policy, nor a model that is used, and guided inquiry is not embedded into the curriculum. The school is new and therefore many things need to be ‘rolled out’, which brings with it both enormous challenges and huge opportunities. It has been so useful for me to learn about the different models and think about how I would like to lead the introduction of purposeful information literacy practice. In order to do this, I will need to collaborate with the teaching staff and having been a class teacher so recently gives me credibility to achieve this.
In the coming months, and before I commence the next subject, I will have time to reflect and implement many of the ideas that have stemmed from the learning in ETL401. This blog has barely scratched the surface on some of these ideas, but this image certainly demonstrates many of them well.
References
La Garde’s (2013) Penny For Your Thoughts: What’s Really On The Mind of Today’s Teacher Librarian. In The Adventures of Library Girl Retrieved http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/09/penny-for-your-thoughts-whats-really-on.html
Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18.
I have been meaning to blog about this for weeks as I keep looking at Kuhlthau’s model of the Information Search Process (ISP) and how it is aligned with the Guided Inquiry Design Process (GIDP). I first came across it in an article by Lee Fitzgerald, one the subject coordinators for ETL401, Introduction to Teacher Librarianship. (Fitgerald, 2015; Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2012).
It really hit me how important this process is when undertaking new learning and how this model is unique because it incorporates the feelings, thoughts and actions that learners experience when acquiring new information. The last three months have been an explosion of new learning for me as I have commenced this university study and started a role as a teacher librarian (TL) at my school. Every single day I have moved through the feelings, thoughts and actions described in this model. The first few weeks in my new role were full of uncertainty, optimism, frustration and doubt. But I have had an incredibly supportive staff team to work with and I have found so much clarity in working out what kind of TL I want to be in my school and have created departmental goals for the year that I have the confidence to achieve. I feel like all of the children are learning a lot and I am learning with them. The library continues to be a very important part of our school where students come to read, learn, inquire, socialise and importantly, borrow so many books.
Writing my first assignment was a steep learning curve and I moved through the guided inquiry process shown in the diagram above. I was open and I immersed myself in new information as I explored the readings for the topic. I identified what my stance was going to be when I wrote a journal article on the role of a TL. I continued to gather information from a variety of sources and I created the article, moving back and forwards between the steps of explore, identify and gather. After a lot of angst, I was finally ready to share it as I hit submit to the university website, with one whole minute to spare for the deadline! And then I waited, with a lot of trepidation for my feedback. I was delighted with my result and the notes I received were very useful for me to evaluate my learning and apply to the next assignment.
I am busy writing away at present and the topic is to choose an Information Literacy (IL) model to recommend to my school. This has been a very useful topic to research because this is part of our library development plan at school and everything I am learning is going to help me make some recommendations to our school. I have discussed this at length with our infant and senior school librarians, who are familiar with a number of different IL models. I have also networked with other librarians from the International Schools Librarians Network (ISLN) and analysed what they are using in their schools. So much learning is taking place and it is all so relevant to my job and will help the students and teachers in our school to undertake research and inquiry in meaningful ways.
I know that I will continue to experience these feelings of uncertainty as I continue on this learning journey. But using the ISP model, I am reassured that this is a part of new learning and it hopefully means that I will be moving closer towards feelings of satisfaction as I document and process all of the pertinent information that I need.
References
FitzGerald, L. (2015) Opportunity knocks: The Australian Curriculum and Guided Inquiry, Access, 29(2) 4-17
Kuhlthau, C, Maniotes, L & Caspari, A 2012, Guided Inquiry design: A framework for inquiry in your school, Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
I have been writing my first assignment for this subject and whilst reading one phrase keeps appearing: life long learning! My first month working as a TL has certainly involved A LOT of learning. I have had to learn many of the basics first before I leap into even deeper learning. So far I have learned how to use Destiny, our library management system, about our collection, how the Junior School operates, who all the relevant people are to ask questions of, how the library budget works, how to place orders, how to timetable 31 classes to use our fabulous library space, how to plan induction lessons for students to use the library… and the list could go on and on and on! I feel like my learning so far has been covering the library management essentials and that there is a lot of deep learning that I have to undertake to move forward. A lot of my future learning will involve the curriculum and how I can support teachers and students to create deeper learning opportunities for our students, so this blog is going to reflect on the concept of the TL being a lifelong learner.
Excellent TLs must be committed to lifelong learning so that they can embrace change in education, curriculum and technology and be ready to empower other people in the school community. The ALIA and ASLA standards for professional excellence for TLs (2004) highlight the importance of understanding the principles of lifelong learning and modelling and promoting this in practice. TLs should be working collaboratively with school staff to improve teaching and learning, ensuring that the curriculum is appropriate and relevant and to be integrating relevant technology. They should be creating and fostering professional development for staff and also seeking it out for themselves (ASLA, 2013, p7; (Combes, 2006).
The learning that occurs in a school library will influence how students learn in the whole school, and TLs should work with teachers to develop learning opportunities that are challenging for students. It is true that “Schools are now moving away from behaviourist theories, which tended to view school students as children who would learn best through passively listening to a teacher and repeating tasks to ensure reinforcement of learning, to more cognitive and constructivist theories.” (Herring, 2007, p2) Therefore, TLs should be well informed about information literacy and be demonstrating best practice and constructivist learning. Two examples of constructivist learning are inquiry learning and project based learning. TLs should be guiding students to undertake research, which involves information literacy skills being integrated into the curriculum, and not taught as a separate subject. In a library and school that promotes inquiry, librarians should be guiding students to be collaborators, researchers, communicators, critical and creative thinkers and self-managers (Herring, 2007; Murdoch, 2015; Purcell, 2010).
Boss and Krauss in Reinventing Project Based Learning (2008) discuss the importance of recognising that digital tools are an essential part of students’ lives and how some teachers have reinvented a project approach to meet the needs of digital-age learners. There is a danger of not keeping up with these opportunities because students are ready to take advantage of technology and will become disengaged if it is not incorporated into their learning. Projects that use technology to immerse students in real-world learning will motive and engage them and make learning more personalised.
The day a TL stops learning is that day they cease to remain relevant. Part of this lifelong learning involves seeking out opportunities for themselves to develop professionally. Undertaking action research in the library is important, as is networking with other TLs, reading blogs, journals and other relevant literature and attending conferences and other professional development. I am looking forward to my first International Schools Librarian Network (ISLN) meeting in September and also a librarian conference in October as I know these experiences will provide many learning opportunities for me.
References
Australian School Library Association (2013), Future learning and school libraries. ASLA, Canberra, ACT.
Australian Schools Library Association (ASLA) and Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) 2004, Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians, Retrieved July 25, 2016 from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.aspx
Boss, S., Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing Project Based Learning: International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://www.iste.org/images/excerpts/REINVT-excerpt.pdf
Combes, B. (2006). Challenges for teacher librarians in the 21st century: Connections. Retrieved July 29, 2016, from http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_66/challenges_for_teacher_librarianship_pt1.html
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): Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
The teacher librarian role (TL) has changed dramatically in the 21st century and to be effective they must be a curriculum leader and an information expert. To reflect on my understanding of the TL role I have compared a variety of publications as well as the practice I have observed in numerous schools. My teaching and school management experience has been in Australia, the UK and in International Schools in Singapore and therefore it is relevant for me to understand the different expectations in the role of a TL in an international context. I have particularly focussed on the UK and Australia, because my current school is a British International School and I intend to return to Australia in the future.
The Australian School Library Association (ASLA), American Association of School Librarians (AASL), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the School Libraries Association (SLA) in the UK all have standards and guidelines for TLs to follow. They have a variety of differences and similarities but all stress the importance of a TL being an information specialist, the importance of collaboration within the school and community, having library management skills and supporting teachers to deliver the curriculum. In the UK a School Librarian does not have to have a teaching qualification and the focus is more on information literacy, IT skills and awareness and knowledge of children’s literature and the curriculum, rather than the teaching role. (ASLA, AASL, IFLA and SLA)
Many people, including myself, are attracted to the role of a TL because of their own love of reading and the TL role is viewed by many as someone who is a reading advocate and library collection manager. Herring (2007, p.3) argues “Given that reading for pleasure is a small (but important) part of the school curriculum, it can be argued that this aspect is given unnecessary prominence in some school library mission statements.” Literature promotion is one of the key responsibilities of a teacher-librarian and the ASSL guidelines highlights that teacher-librarians must stay up-to-date with children’s literature to foster a love of reading. My school is an International School and the role expected is more aligned with the statements produced by ASLA, IASL and AASL but the job description also has a big focus on managing the library resources and space and promoting the library within the school and community by organising reading-related events. My focus moving forward will be to demonstrate many of the other skills a TL can bring to a school.
So what else should a TL be? They are teachers, leaders, advocates for reading, inquiry, and learning, instructional partners, tech-savy information specialists, programme administrators, curriculum consultants, community collaborators and digital detectives. (Lamb, Purcell and Valenza)
Not only does a TL need to wear all of these hats but they must be a life-long learner who stays abreast of constant changes or there are implications for the school and the students. Ojala (3013, p.3) states “how libraries evolve to remain relevant in the new information landscape is perhaps the most urgent question facing the profession today.”
ASLA has a motto within their statements:’ inform, innovate and inspire’, and I think those three words encapsulate what a TL should be achieving in their school. At the same time, they must ensure the library is at the heart of a school and try to wear their numerous hats and keep up with the global information environment.
References
American Association of School Librarians (2007). Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/teacher-librarian-qualifications.aspx
Australian School Library Association’s (2014). Statement on teacher librarian qualifications. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/teacher-librarian-qualifications.aspx
Australian School Library Association’s (2014). What is a teacher librarian? Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.aspx
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.
The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)/UNESCO School Library Manifesto (1999; 2006) Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/manifest.htm
Lamb, A. (2010). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning. 55 (4), 27-36.
Ojala, M. (2013). Riding the Waves or Caught in the Tide, Insights from the IFLA Trend Report. Information Today, 30(9), 1.
Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3-), 30-33.
School Library Association (SLA)(2014). SLA standards for Secondary School Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.sla.org.uk/standards.php website:
Valenza, J. (2010, December 3). A revised manifesto Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/.
Welcome to my brand new blog at Charles Sturt University Thinkspace. After all of these years why have I finally jumped into the Blogging World? Well, the simple answer is that it is my homework as part of a Masters Degree in Teacher Librarianship, but the good news is, that unlike homework that I had to do when I completed my first education degree, I am actually excited about this homework. So let’s go back a step, Masters Degree, teacher librarianship? What? Where? When? How? Why??????
My name is Sarah Mounsey and I am a mum, a primary school teacher and a children’s author. I have only just gone back to full time teaching a year ago after being a stay at home Mum for the past eight years. It was a wonderful eight years of spending precious time with my three boys and I also managed to do some part time teaching and published three children’s picture books in the Paw Prints series, which had been a dream of mine for as long as I could remember. My publishing journey led me to visit lots of schools for author talks in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. During this time I met some truly wonderful teacher librarians, who I loved discussing favourite books and authors with, and they also opened my eyes to show we what a contemporary library should be, and how the role of a teacher librarian has changed. I have also closely followed the blog of Megan Daley, an amazing Teacher Librarian from Brisbane. It made me think that it was something I would like to explore at some point and I am delighted that I will become the Junior School Teacher Librarian (TL) at my current school in August. I believe this will be the beginning of an exciting new chapter for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed being back in the classroom again, but I am excited that as the TL I will be involved in teaching 30 classes every week. I think the management and curriculum roles that I had in my previous school in UK will also help.
I have had lots of amusing reactions when I have told people that I will become the TL at my school and especially when I have told them that I will be starting my Masters of Education in Teacher Librarianship to commence this role. I think many people are still stuck with the stereotype of what they think a librarian should look and behave like. Picture someone VERY old, with hair pulled back into a tight bun, specs on the end of their nose and being very busy stamping due dates in books and saying ‘shhhh’, as regularly and loudly as possible! Why would you need to go to University to learn this role?
The great news is that school libraries are not meant to be quiet places anymore. They should be busy places, at the heart and soul of the school where people should be researching, evaluating, collaborating, inquiring, using various forms of technology, playing chess and other games and reading typing or writing. The TL should be working with all of the teachers and children in the school to inspire and enhance their learning experiences, whether it be to help develop research skills, or sharing useful online information, or developing the reading collection to reflect the changing curriculum. AND of course it should still be a place where students and teachers like to come TO READ FOR PLEASURE and to be introduced to fabulous new authors and new books that will stay with them for life.
Can you tell that I am a little bit excited by this? Well I sure am! I LOVE teaching, I LOVE children’s literature and I LOVE writing for children. I am also a little nervous as I know there is so much I have to learn. Technology is constantly changing and children need to be taught how to use it effectively to develop their ideas and knowledge. I also will be learning a lot about how to do this because learning on-line through distance education is new to me. Will I write children’s books again? Absolutely! I could not stop if I tried! I have so many ideas swimming around in my head and drafts in notebooks and on my computer. It is just the simple matter of T-I-M-E. Three gorgeous little boys, a full time TL job and completing my Masters Degree means that I do not think there will be a great deal of free time for such fun. So for now I will be reading, reading and reading, which for those of you who know me well, know that it will be no hardship. I will be reading hundreds of children’s books (YIPPEE!), that I will be able to recommend to all of the children at school and I will be reading dozens of journal articles for this degree so that I can become a teacher librarian who does not sit at the circulation desk and just check out books but instead flies around the school and library sharing all that I learn about research skills, information literacy and, of course, reading for pleasure. Most of these blog posts will be reflecting on articles that I read and with more of an academic focus, but I have certainly enjoyed writing this one. I will finish this first blog on my post with one of my favourite quotes from a legend in the world of children’s literature.
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Image retrieved from http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/09/penny-for-your-thoughts-whats-really-on.html
