Month: April 2022

Collaborating with the School Principal

‘It takes a village’ is a statement often made when raising children. It is true for the school community as well. Each class teacher, specialist teacher, support staff, and executive team cannot provide an optimum learning environment working individually. This is especially true of the Teacher Librarian. Their teaching, support and learning encompass the whole school community. When a Teacher Librarian is supported in their role by the executive team, especially the principal, they can work towards the goal of student achievement.

The Teacher Librarian needs more than a ‘gold star’ or ‘merit award’ from their principal. They need practical support, which is conducive to working together to achieve school goals. Support that is visible, documented and shared with others are more likely to achieve positive results.

Some of the ways in which the School Principal can support the Teacher Librarian can include:

  • Promoting a positive school culture where learning is a supported and shared experience.
  • Providing time within the schedule/timetable for ‘non-teaching’ time to attend to other aspects of the Teacher Librarian’s role.
  • Ensuring adequate resources and time by making them a priority within the school operating budget.
  • Consult with the Teacher Librarian on whole school decision making, including a budget allocation to teaching and learning resources.

Lupton, (2016), states, “The principal’s perception of the role of the Teacher Librarian is crucial to the way that the school library and the Teacher Librarian is supported (or not) in the school.” (p.50). With encouragement and validation from the executive team, especially the principal, the Teacher Librarian becomes a powerful advocate for children’s learning within the school community.

Conversely, it is important that the Teacher Librarian also becomes an advocate for their profession. They are a valuable member of the teaching team as they are uniquely qualified as educators and librarians and implement the curriculum across the whole school. They have a knowledge of resources and an understanding of the curriculum. They can teach students how to research by using critical and creative thinking skills, which can be applied to different learning scenarios and experiences.

Collaboration with the principal provides the Teacher Librarian with the ability and confidence to prepare students for the future.

References

Lupton, M. (2016) Adding Value: Principle’s perceptions of the role of the Teacher-Librarian. School Libraries Worldwide, 22 (1), 49. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/94981/

 

 

 

Referencing Smartcopying for Music Related Copyright Clarification

The Smartcopying website is the official guide designed to provide copyright information for schools and TAFE in Australia.

Did you know? Copying activities include:

Scanning, Downloading, Printing, Saving to another device such as a tablet, USB, mobile or hard drive, Photocopying, Taking a digital photo, Performance activities such as playing music and films, Singing songs, Playing instruments, Acting out a play, Reading a book or Reciting a poem to the class.

I searched two subsections of the Smartcopying website to gain insight into what copyright is relevant to the Music strand of the Creative Arts key learning area. Not only do music teachers need to be aware of specific AMCOSm (Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society)  and APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) education licences, but all teachers should be able to reference the “Do’s and Don’t’s.”  Any teacher may decide to include aspects of music such as using sheet music and sound recordings etc into their teaching or other educational experiences.

Under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 section 28, teachers and students can:

  • Sing songs and play instruments
  • Play sound recordings using a tape/CD/DVD player, electronic reticulation system, learning management system, interactive whiteboard or virtual classroom software
  • Play a film (VHS, DVD or online film) that contains music using a DVD player, electronic reticulation system or learning management system

Copying Sheet Music in Schools

My daughter is in the senior school band. It is interesting to note that a teacher can copy up to 10% of a music resources book, according to the Australian Copyright Act. That is the same as for any other printed resource. Schools have an agreement with AMCOS to allow schools to make multiple copies. This is beneficial for practising and performing musical pieces of work, for example in a school assembly or musical where multiple groups or classes of students may be working together on the performance. There are, of course, limits depending according to the type of print music, the number of originals and whether the school is Primary or Secondary.

Sound Recordings

Sound Recordings are recorded versions of musical works.  Examples include Apple or Spotify tracks, MP3 files, vinyl, CDs, audio cassettes, reel to reel tapes and any other method for storing sounds. The copyright associated with sound recordings is important because many times audio can be played throughout the school day.  Teachers can upload sound recordings to a school intranet in order to play them in class, but they should remove them, or disable student access to the sounds recordings, as soon as the class is over.

For more clarification on music copyright for school use visit:

 https://smartcopying.edu.au/music-copyright-guide-for-schools/

My First Annotated Resource List

Assessment one for this subject was to compile an annotated bibliography for a Cross Curriculum Priority Area of the Australian Curriculum. No easy task for this student. I have never used the Australian Curriculum or have had the opportunity to integrate a Cross Curriculum Priority into my teaching. So my first step was to read about the three CCPs. I selected Sustainability as I am passionate about creating awareness of caring for our environment and embedding sustainable practices within the classroom and family life.

Next, I was to compile a series of ten resources relating to Sustainability that could be used for students and teachers in Stage One classrooms. The annotated bibliography was more than just a list of ‘favourite’ resources. For high quality, carefully curated school library collection to successfully deliver teaching programs and meet the learning needs of the students, O’Connell (2017) suggests resources are selected for the school community’s needs, goals, mission and priorities. When these are addressed, the result will be a collection of appropriate, high-quality print and digital resources (p.384).

I selected a wide range of formats and delivery modes, including:

Physical: Big Book- Non -Fiction, Games and Picture books.

Digital: Music Video, Television Series and Websites.

I know that I will use my annotated bibliography with future students to cover the broad concepts of Systems, World Views and Futures within the Sustainability Cross Curriculum Priority area.

Reference

O’Connell, J. (2017). School Libraries. In I. Abdullahi (Ed). Global library and information science: A textbook for students and educators. De Gruyter Saur.

 

 

 

The beginnings of Collection Development and Collection Management

 

I have a confession to make. I have never worked in a school library or any library for that matter. So the concepts of collection development and collection management seemed overwhelming. I knew it was a mammoth task to keep any library’s physical and digital resources current and relevant. The Teacher Librarian is responsible for developing and managing the growing collection of resources. Pentland (2022) claims, “Collection development is a science and an art that certified school librarians are specifically trained for” (para.1).

It takes qualified and experienced Teacher Librarians to support the information access and management of the school library. However, it is not just the expertise alone that can keep the collection in check.

Teacher Librarians are guided by their understanding of the unique school context, needs of their students and the curriculum framework. With this knowledge, the Teacher Librarian can participate in the constant practice of keeping the school collection alive. After all, the library is not a book warehouse. Instead, it is a vibrant place of learning for the whole school community.

Developing a school library collection is a continual cycle in which the Teacher Librarian actively participates in the “collection of and access to resources that will meet the instructional requirements as well as the cultural and recreational needs of the community” (Pierce College, 2022, p.2).

The perpetual process is not to be confused with a ‘hamster wheel’ approach where it feels like the task of collection development and management is insurmountable. As the collection grows, any new resources added must be thoughtfully selected and evaluated for the needs of the learners within the school community. The Teacher Librarian is first and foremost a teacher; they interpret the learner’s needs against the curriculum framework that guides their learning, curating content and creating suggestions and applications for their school’s teaching and learning programs.

 

References

Pentland, C. [Knowledge Quest] (2022, January 11). The art and science of collection development. Collection Development. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/the-art-and-science-of-collection-development/

Pierce College. (2022) Library – collection development and materials policy. Pierce College. https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/library-collection-development-policy