After watching the following YouTube clip in Module One of this subject I have been challenging my own perceptions and preferences.
The overarching theme of ‘Don’t Believe Everything You Think’ is one which I need reminding of.
If people can have perceptions that there is a preference or predisposition for a particular style of learning, will they get caught up in just believing, or challenge the status quo? Preferences don’t enhance your learning, though do they help you start the learning in the first place. In order to retain information we have to organise it in a way that is meaningful. Most of what we learn is related to connections or to prior knowledge/meaning (Tedx Talks, 2015, April 3). The content of what is being taught often showcases the best way to teach it. However, this does not limit information being only presented in one way.
With this understanding, it now means that I need to organise my connections and relate it to a school library collection. So I posed a question – with the traditional bibliocentric library model gone, how can a school library provide a collection that allows students and teachers to acheive success in their learning? Many factors are involved in this which I am sure to continue unpack for my career.
In NSW, the Department of Education has a policy regarding Library (NSW Department of Education, 2019) where it states that a teacher librarian has responsibilities like being involved in the provision of information related resources or managing and evaluating systems and procedures in the library (budgeting, selection and culling, ordering and acquisitions, cataloguing and classifying using SCIS, processing materials, circulation and stock control). NSW DoE also provides additional information about the concepts in a handbook for libraries where it unpacks concepts of teaching and learning, provision and management of resources, social and recreational development, and environment and atmosphere (NSW Department of Education, 2015, pp. 2-3). With this policy foremost in my thoughts, a library must provide a wide variety of resources to the school community. It must also be a collaborative process, with clear guidelines in place for responsibilities. Which brings up the important discussion, where do you find these guidelines within individual schools?
For many schools, a collection management policy would help address this, but my current school does not have one… it looks like this will be a project for me for the coming year!
References
NSW Department of Education. (2015). Handbook for school libraries. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/media/documents/schoollibrarieshandbook2015.pdf
NSW Department of Education. (2019, October 2). Policy library. https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd-2005-0221
TEDx Talks. (2015, April 3). Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection – Tesia Marshik – TEDxUWLaCrosse [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs