Introduction to Teacher Librarianship
Reflective Practice – What have I learned, what does the future look like? When initially confronted with deliberating the nature of information (Parker, 2020a) my long held (semantic) view was challenged with an alternative and far more interesting approach. Examining ‘The information Hierarchy’ (AEW, 2008) I could see information as a process, existing on a […]
The TL and inquiry learning A review of Levitov, D. (2016). School libraries, librarians, and inquiry learning. Teacher Librarian, 43(4), 28- 31, 34-35. Whilst coming from an American POV it nicely summarises the differences between traditional and inquiry based research. Levitov (2016) continues with a description of the inquiry approach implementation process and the central role the TL should […]
Reflecting on Inquiry Learning I perceive my greatest barriers to developing an effective inquiry learning environment are time (timetabling), the Principal/Exec and the classroom teachers. Delving into the inquiry models available – understanding the most appropriate for our school setting, research, getting all the stakeholders onboard are some areas I perhaps need to consider moving […]
Leader? Adviser? Team member? All of the above? Where do we fit in? Brown (2008) suggests that School media specialists or TLs “hold the key to ensuring successful research projects that bring our world, and its vast amount of information, into a manageable perspective.” (p. 16). An undeniable fact yes, the TL is a curriculum […]
The Teacher Librarian – An Expert, a Leader, a Necessity? Reflections on Karen Bonanno’s 2015 article ‘A profession at the tipping point (revisited)‘ Bonanno (2015) reviews findings shown in surveys undertaken by Softlink to support her discussions around the viability of school libraries and TLs (p. 20). Her “glass half full” (p. 14) approach to […]
The Teacher Librarian – endangered or just misunderstood? A reflection on Karen Bonanno’s speech at ASLA, 2011 conference: A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan. Often considered an invisible profession TLs are however unique in the world of education. It is through strength of character, clear focus, presenting a solid brand, […]
‘The Principal and I’ During my readings for Module 3 – The role of the teacher librarian – I was struck by how significant the relationship between the TL and the Principal really is. Haycock (2007) suggests that there is almost a symbiotic connection at play between the TL and Principal with both give and […]
Teacher Librarian in the Information Landscape Floridi (2007) uses the notion of ‘infosphere’ to capture the idea of a world of information in which we live, what it is and how we interact with it. The Information Landscape is quite literally an ever-evolving concept, impacted by constant technological developments as well as how we as […]
Information Society We are in an ‘Information era’, whereby everyone’s’ life has and is being impacted, affected, determined, to some extent, by technology. Webster (2002, p.8) gives us five definitions to consider when looking at the idea of information society. I would argue that it is difficult to rest easily on one definition as a […]
Thinking about Information An incredibly interesting way to begin ETL401, discussions around the nature of information. More precisely, how do we define ‘information’ and how does it in turn impact the way in which we communicate, learn and use information? Personally, I often use the word ‘information’. In my role I will use it when […]