Author Archives: sarah.hahn5

21st Century Library – considering the physical space

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What would a 21st Century Library look like?

Some initial thoughts: Australian School Library Association (2013) recommends that flexible and varied spaces be utilised in pursuit of personalised learning. These should involve a mix of communal and social spaces, individual and group spaces that allow students to move between the spaces as needs develop. The increasing integration of technology will require supportive infrastructure such as wifi, charging stations and technical support. Collaboration and group interaction will be important for future focused learning spaces, so technologies that encourage and support collaborative learning, such as interactive touch screen tables, movable and adjustable furniture and technology peripherals such as headphone splitters may be helpful. Small group inquiry always involves students talking to each other and can result in sound difficulties, so attention must be paid to sound dampening technologies. As technology becomes more ubiquitous, BYOD programs may see students bringing a variety of devices with different requirements and abilities. Apps, software and supportive infrastructure will need to be available (eg, a variety of charging cords available in the charging station, apps running a browser based version rather than an iOS or Android specific app). There will always be a place for the print collection, but the nature of it may change and it may become more integrated with the digital collection, for example, linking print and electronic versions of texts in the LMS, offering audiobook and print copies of the same texts etc. As pedagogy shifts more towards content creation rather than content consumption, 21st Century libraries need to provide access to equipment and spaces for this, for example, green screen filming, sound and video recording equipment, video editing software and web authoring tools. But it might not only be a matter of online creation. A makerspace may involve tools for physical creation also: anything from screw drivers, hot glue guns, soldering irons and sewing machines to 3D printers and robotics. Teacher librarians, in designing these spaces, need to consider choices in lighting, sound and colour, flexibility, durability and attractiveness.

The 21st Century library must be staffed with a team of people: teacher librarian to look after the pedagogy and teaching aspects, a technical support officer to look after the technology and a library assistant or technician to look after the collection management aspects. In some cases, these three roles may be

The Pointy End

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What does it mean to be “at the heart of the school”? This is a phrase I have heard quite a bit over the last few years as I have undertaken the study in this course. We want libraries and teacher librarians to be at the centre, the heart learning and the school. But what does that actually look like? Today I had a thought. And it is this:

21st Century Learning is about problems. Defining them, investigating them, seeking, proposing and testing possible solutions, communicating and then applying new knowledge. The 21st Century education is not about memorising lots and lots of facts. It is about learning to find, evaluate, use and think about facts and information. This is the specialist area of teacher librarians. Knowledge management, fact finding, fact connection and evaluating is our schtick – our bread and butter. Teacher librarians, then, are at the pointy end of 21st Century education. Far from being a dying breed, relegated to the dusty innards of a book shed, armed with an RFF roster, a date stamp and supply of unfortunately coloured twin sets, teacher librarians need to be leading, modelling, reflecting on and investigating 21st Century learning in our schools, sharing our skills and new knowledge with our colleagues as well as our students.

My focus now needs to be on how we actually go about this. 40 minutes a week with 2 classes in the room on a fixed schedule 7 periods a day 5 days a week poses a challenge in terms of practicality – actually having the time during each lesson to accomplish all that is needed and give students time to participate, explore and partake in hands on learning as well as manage borrowing time requires exquisite time and classroom management skills. I am not sure it is actually possible and so a new way of thinking about the problem is needed – an opportunity to engage in some problem based learning myself!

Module 3.2: Conflict resolution

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I was struck in this module by the TED Talk given by Campbell ad Clarke (2015) in which the presenters discuss the desirability of using conflict to promote creativity and innovation by looking at situations from other perspectives. I think this is a skill that can work in an educational setting, given the right people involved. Both parties would need to come to the discussion prepared to hear the perspectives of the other before any progress could be made. This is a skill that can be modelled, taught and expected by leaders both of teachers and students. Most people do not go into situations of conflict just to be oppositional (though, it must be acknowledged that some people are bull-headed). I take the view that perhaps the other party in the conflict knows or feels something I don’t know about. If I take the time to investigate why they think or feel the way they do, I can understand their perspective more clearly. Perhaps they may have a point. And perhaps not. I will admit, though, that I am more likely to spend time and effort on these issues if the person I am in conflict with is someone who’s opinion I usually respect. This I have the luxury to indulge because I am not currently their leader. If I were to become their leader, I would need to change this. Taking the self-assessment, results show that I am relatively good at compromise and collaboration, but also score above half-way for avoidance, competing and accommodating. I believe this is probably true and reflects my tendency to approach conflicts differently with different people. I would like to improve my skills in turning conflict into an opportunity to grow by exploring other perspectives. I think this could be a very powerful tool in the right hands.

 

Campbell, C.M & Clarke, S. [TEDx Talks ]. (2015).  Conflict – Use it, don’t defuse it [Video]. YouTube.  https://youtu.be/o97fVGTjE4w

Module 3.1: Stress

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Cross (2015) identifies teacher stress as a major factor in the attrition rate of teachers at all career stages, but especially early career teachers. She identifies as major factors leading to teacher stress:

  • excessive workload,
  • pressures of assessment targets and inspections,
  • changes to curriculum and teaching styles including a lack of decision making contributions,
  • false public perceptions of teachers coupled with poor student behaviour and management of that behaviour leading to poor self esteem and self-efficacy,
  • aggression and
  • classroom and school culture.

Clement (2014) suggests that some factors contributing to teacher stress as it derives from educational change are:

  • feeling a sense of compulsion,
  • a lack of opportunity for meaning-making and
  • teacher perception of change as transitory.

Protective factors against teacher stress, as identified by Cross (2015):

  • resources to increase sense of self-efficacy,
  • connectedness with students and colleagues,
  • support from colleagues and
  • receiving recognition for their work.

Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as “an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments”, in other words, a belief that they are able to be successful. so, how might teacher librarians work to reduce the stress of our colleagues? I believe the key lies in the relationships that we develop with and between colleagues. Servant leadership, characterised by listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building community (Spears, n.d in Burkus, 2010) presents an opportunity to build those relationships and address the needs of colleagues. From a more practical standpoint, teacher librarians can assist by curating a collection of professional learning resources directly around areas of need, analysing and synthesising and then publishing information about key changes and developments in educational theory, provision of instructional leadership as needed, by team teaching with colleagues, modelling key strategies, targeting teaching to areas of curriculum need, eg approaching some HSIE content during library lessons from an information literacy perspective. Collection and curation of resources both for students’ and teachers’ learning needs and promoting them at point of immediate need is an important skill for teacher librarians. Provision of a safe space, a cone of silence, for problems to be talked out can make colleagues feel heard and increase a sense of contribution to the overall direction of the school.

Teacher librarians can also support plans and initiative of the leadership team by promoting the advantages and resources needed to complete the tasks needed.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.

Burkus, D. (2010, April 1). Servant leadership theory. David Burkus. http://davidburkus.com/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/

Clement, J. (2014). Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. https://doi: 10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

Cross, D. (2015). Teacher well being and its impact on student learning [Slide presentation]. Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2633590/teacher-wellbeing-and-student.pdf

Distribution of leadership

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What strategies to take you from TL, the keeper and stamper of the books and the quiet space (library) (how many of our colleagues perceive TLs), to become something different?

The role of the TL is so much more complex than many of our colleagues realise. We are the keeper of the books, though scanning has taken the place of stamping in most schools. We are the keepers of the (sometimes) quiet space, but we also are leaders in our learning communities. Among our colleagues, we form communities of practise and learning. Through collaboration we can both model and learn new teaching approaches, we can pose questions and encourage ways of thinking that previously lurked unrecognised in a TR cupboard. We can collaborate on curriculum development, integration of technology and information skills into the wider curriculum, attaching a genuine purpose to the skills students must learn in these areas.

The space we keep is not just quiet. It is a cone of silence. We listen to peoples’ troubles, concerns, frustrations and annoyances and provide a prodigious amount of chocolate and bickies to keep them coming back. By listening to our colleagues both individually and as a group, by keeping our ears to the ground we can start to recognise patterns and point them in the direction of assistance. We can recognise and celebrate the achievements of our colleagues and are in a position to communicate and promote various initiatives within the school and from the leadership that aim to address the frustrations. In an ideal world, the principal is in a position to provide visionary leadership – to develop transformational goals and map the pathways to success (Ingram, 2017). They motivate and inspire their staff to keep them on the paths set out. The DPs provide the transactional leadership – they keep the wheels in motion, putting out the spot fires and dealing with the day to day operations of the school, keeping the big picture in mind. The APs also provide transactional leadership, keeping the ball rolling and dealing with the everyday smooth running of their stage. The TL provides the servant leadership – focusing on trust, collaboration, empathy and ethics (Burkus, 2010). The TL works to promote the best interests of colleagues, students and the community.

Each leader has role to play in the success of the school. In this way, leadership in the school is often actually a type of distributed leadership – not because some leaders are responsible for different key learning areas, or certain initiatives, but because they are responsible for providing the very different types of leadership needed to keep the school both ticking over and reaching for the next milestone in their improvement journey.

References

Ingram, D. (2019, Fevruary 4). Transformational leadership vs transactional leadership definition. Hearst Newspapers: Small Business. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transformational-leadership-vs-transactional-leadership-definition-13834.html

Burkus, D. (2010, April 1). Servant leadership theory. David Burkus. http://davidburkus.com/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/

CSU Library

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Go to the CSU Library and explore the library site. How does this library change information sources to information resources? Record 5 items in your notes and consider relevance in the school library context.

 

I am unable to access the physical CSU library due to location, so i evaluated the library website. As CSU is a university with a special interest and skill in distance education, I feel that this is an appropriate method of observing the services offered to distance students like myself. I have grouped my observations into 5 groups:

  1. organisation of information sources by subject
  2. educational offerings such as tutorials and workshops
  3. book-based and digital resource lending
  4. Ask A Librarian service
  5. community services such as access for high schools and alumni

The CSU library offers students studying particular subjects curated readings that are searchable by subject as well as by topic, author and keywords. This service includes reserve and e-reserve, reading lists, industry specific database access, but also includes teams of librarians dedicated to particular disciplines. The CSU library employs:

These teams are responsible for selection and deselection and curation of discipline-specific resources. Employing focused teams of specialist librarians allows the library to ensure it is providing the most comprehensive, up-to-date, relevant resources for students and academic staff. These teams can collaborate with teaching staff on course development and resource provision to ensure the collection is as relevant and current as possible and meets the needs of students and academic staff alike. In school libraries, this is done on a much smaller scale. Usually the teacher librarian collaborates with class teachers or subject teams to do the same job as the faculty teams at CSU library: ensuring teachers and students have access to current, relevant resources.

The CSU library offers students workshops, tutorials and recorded webinars on aspects of information literacy, including assignment writing advice, research assistance, digital citizenship advice etc. Students can access this information at point of need or can peruse more general subjects at their leisure. In the school library, these skills are often taught in library lessons or during one-on-one student assistance or booked classes. In high schools, it may be appropriate to include some similar resources on the library website.

The print and digital collection is made available to students and staff of the university through the Primo interface. Using authorised access points along with browsing options, library users can discover resources that suit their needs and can request these resources be posted or digitised for distance students. Providing access to a variety of databases as well as interlibrary loans provides access to a greater variety of resources than would be available in a traditional print-based lending library. Teacher librarians can work to form community partnerships with local public libraries as well as specialist collections such as the Henry Parkes Equity Centre Library in order to increase the offerings for the school community.

The Ask A Librarian service assists students and staff by providing research assistance and providing help to intellectually access the information resources available through the library. By responding to requests for information not only with the answer to the question, but with an explanation as to how that answer was obtained, librarians can model for patrons how information seeking can be undertaken. Teacher librarians do this in schools everyday, though usually in person. Recently the Softlink team added an “Ask the library” button to the LMS Oliver, allowing students to ask questions remotely, which may be particularly useful for students who wish to investigate sensitive or personal subjects.

The CSU library offers access to its collections and services for alumni and high school students, increasing the information opportunities for students and, simultaneously raising the profile of the university and university library in the community.

ETL504 Hopes and Dreams

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This subject advertises that it will be about leadership for teacher librarians. It is my hope that I will learn techniques that I can use to help my teacher colleagues engage in meaningful collaboration with me and my information colleagues, as well as some that may help me to work productively with the school leadership to ensure that the library program contributes to and helps to steer the strategic directions of the school as a whole. I hope I will come to recognise and more fully understand the needs of the school leadership and how I and my colleagues can contribute to the success of the whole school community.

Previous subjects have pointed out the importance of the role of the teacher librarian in curriculum leadership and I am looking forward to learning and implemented techniques to accomplish this. I wonder if I will learn more about the system-wide “bigger picture” and where the school library fits in. I wonder if there will be techniques considered for leading and managing other staff in the library setting, as this is an area I feel I could develop quite a bit.

ETL402 Assessment 2 Part B

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Reflection

Upon beginning ETL402 – see my post ETL402: Literature Across the Curriculum (Hahn, 2020, November 7), I identified that a significant skill I wanted to develop is matching of user with literature. I suspected that it involved a thorough and up-to-date knowledge of the literature landscape, collection, students, and curriculum. I hoped to expand my knowledge of each element and their interactions. And so I have.

In my post, ETL402 Module 1.1 (Hahn, 2020, November 14), I discussed the instructive nature of children’s literature: the religious focus may have shifted, but students are still learning from literature. Teacher librarians must ensure the collection is developed continually, offering a broad selection of current, quality literature in various formats, supporting the curriculum and specific needs of the school community. Resource promotion at point-of-need is important. In my post ETL402 Module 2.1 Professional Knowledge of Children’s Literature (Hahn, 2020, November 21), I discussed strategies for connecting teachers with literature. The creation of reading lists tagged with syllabus links (Cherrstrom and Boden, 2020) has been positive in conjunction with a reference interviews. Annotated bibliographies have been developed, however staff are reluctant to read them. Book talking at planning meetings proved very successful. This leads me to suspect, and Merga (2019) and Bishop (2011) confirm, collaborative magic lies in the relationships teacher librarians form with teachers.

Diversity is a goal for my school library. My module 2.3a forum post (Hahn, 2020, December 5) identified an indigenous literature focus, but it applies equally to other types of diversity. It is important for all students to see themselves reflected in the literature available to them (Crisp et al., 2016) and yet our collection does not adequately depict the lived experiences of our students. Reflecting through a censorship lens, I do not believe this was a deliberate act of exclusion, rather, a failure to pay specific attention to inclusion. I am less certain that this is true of subculture representations such as LGBTQ. Careful and deliberate selection of literature with prominent, diverse characters will be imperative.

Despite Pietschmann’s (2014) contention that primary students cannot comprehend intertextual links sufficiently to access transmedia content, it is through interaction with such content that they will develop these skills (Sukovic, 2014). It will therefore be necessary to augment the digital collection, an area currently almost non-existent in our fiction collection, a not unusual situation, according to O’Connell et al. (2015) but one that must be addressed. As my discussion post for module 5.2 (Hahn, 2020, December 28) suggests, an important notion I will take away is that the digital nature of a resource must give the reader/viewer something that cannot be accessed from the print version.

The teacher librarian is a leader of pedagogy as well as of literature and literacy. Collaboration with class teachers, promotion of resources from a literary learning perspective and provision of professional literature and development required to implement such learning is a vital part of what we do and contributes greatly to the impact the school library can have. The promotion of free reading and literary engagement is vital. My post, Expanding free reading ETL402 (Hahn, 2021, January 2), described two strategies I would like to implement during browsing sessions and discussion in the module 3.1 forum provided many others.

Part B Reference List

Allen & Unwin. (2009, June 25). Anita Heiss — Aboriginal writing: Literature as a political tool [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/0x_34uJww_E

 

Bishop, K. (2011). Connecting libraries with classrooms : The curricular roles of the media specialist. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

 

Cherrstrom, C. A., & Boden, C. J. (2020). Expanding role and potential of curation in education: A systematic review of the literature, The Reference Librarian, 61(2), 113-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2020.1776191

 

Crisp, T., Knezek, S. M., Quinn, M., Bingham, G. E., Girardeau, K., & Starks, F. (2016). What’s on Our Bookshelves? The Diversity of Children’s Literature in Early Childhood Classroom Libraries. Journal of Children’s Literature, 42(2), 29–42.

 

Merga, M. (2019). Collaborating with teacher librarians to support adolescents’ literacy and literature learning. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 63 (1), 65-72 https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.958

 

O’Connell, J., Bales, J., & Mitchell, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. Australian Library Journal, 64(3), 194–208. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043

 

Pietschmann, D. Volkel, S. & Ohler.P. (2014). Limitations of transmedia storytelling for children: A cognitive development analysis. International Journal of Communication, 8, 2259-2281. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/2612/1205

 

Sukovic, S. (2014). iTell: Transliteracy and Digital Storytelling. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 45(3), 205–229. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1080/00048623.2014.951114

Expanding free reading ETL402

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Today I read some really very interesting articles about recreational reading. Krashen (2011) lays out the results of a variety of studies that, taken together, indicate that regular sustained, silent reading (SSR) results in better vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, writing, test performance, general knowledge and increased reading outside of the classroom. Fisher & Frey (2018) point out the advantages that are to be had from increasing the volume of reading students engage in outside of school They suggest that access to books – which should ideally be on a 7 books/student ratio in the classroom and 20/student in the school library – is not sufficient on its own to increase reading volume and must be backed up with teaching choosing strategies and book recommendations from people close to the students – teachers, peers, parents etc. They discuss two strategies I had not been able to articulate previously:

  • Golden lines – students share the best line from what they are reading at the moment
  • Blessed books – teachers share a short recommendation multiple times per week, including title, plot summary, character descriptions and general thoughts on the book, then place the book front facing on a special shelf. Students are invited to contribute to the blessed books also. I think these strategies could translate to the school library program well. Students could write brief recommendations for books, placing them in pride of place.

Fisher and Frey (2018) also describe the use of mini book clubs for students reading the same text by choice. I think this could be used in library lessons by having pairs of students work together to select books for the other to read, ones that they themselves have read  (or we have multiple copies so they can read it together) in the hope of prompting discussion about what they are reading.

 

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2018). Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. The Reading Teacher. 72 (1) 89–97

Krashen, Stephen D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

 

Transliteracy

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Kalogeras (2014) describes media convergence as the flow of content across multiple media platforms. Transliteracy is the ability to combine information from these multiple platforms into an integrated whole. My school library has done this well in the non-fiction domain, offering platforms such as the print collection, internet access, subscriptions to World Book Online and the creation of digital pathfinders for various units of work that incorporate primary sources, video and audio content, artwork etc for use by students and class teachers in their studies, mainly within HSIE.

The same, however, can not be said for the fiction collection. The only offering, aside from the print collection, is a subscription to Storybox Library. There are currently no audiobooks, ebooks, DVDs, games or websites included in the collection. This is an area which I would like to learn more about. I need to develop my knowledge of strategies to be leveraged, resources to be sought out and the best methods of making these available to the school community. Many of our students have ereaders – I have seen them use them for silent reading activities. I think we are missing an opportunity here. I hope that this module will provide some of the answers and suggest areas for further investigation in order to pitch to the TL and the school leadership.

 

Kalogeras, S. (2014)Transmedia storytelling and the new era of media convergence in higher education. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1057/9781137388377