Part A:
An effective Teacher Librarian possesses an ever-growing suite of skills and dispositions to share with her school community. As a student-centric educator, she creates an inviting Library and has a deep and authentic drive to provide the best possible service. She advocates relentlessly for the Library’s services and resources, continuously devising creative ways to engage student voice and involvement. She inspires students and teachers to attain more reading mileage and equips students with the knowledge and strategies to research ethically and think critically. Being a warm and affable professional, she collaborates with every faculty in the school to ensure each department is comfortable accessing the Library’s resources and services.
Part B:
Collection Development
Undertaking the subject ETL 503 Resourcing the Curriculum opened my eyes to many aspects of collection development, including how using Patron-Driven Acquisition can bring student voice into the collection and boost the reading culture. Creating a report that highlights how acquisitions have augmented student outcomes may help the library budget to be less susceptible to budget cuts (Tarulli, 2012).
One of the biggest take-aways from undertaking this subject, was learning how essential it is to weed the collection effectively. To effectively weed, we need to build a criterion for weeding. A large part of our role as TLs is to get the best most appealing resources into the hands of our students and teachers to match their research and recreational needs. If our shelves are stuffed with dusty, raggedy old books, our students might avoid the Library. It is already difficult to get students to read, so a part of building the reading culture of the school is to give tender loving care to the shelves to make them inviting. It is better to have a smaller selection of high-quality books than a tonne of books that hold little interest for our students.
Regarding the nonfiction collection, Baumbach and Miller (2006) outlined how to weed according to category, as the publication date that we use to guide our weeding practice will vary according to the subject area. Some subjects (such as computers, science and technology) require much more frequent weeding than other areas (art, history and philosophy). When I am weeding the non-fiction collection, I now print off these pages and use them as a guide. Weeded books can be repurposed for book folding art and also for bookmarks.
Further, a collection evaluation is essential for accountability, transparency and to ensure that the library is serving the teaching and learning needs of the school. It must be carried out thoroughly, using various means, to ensure that the data obtained is useful to evaluate goals set and devise new goals. Usage data statistics are very useful for determining the books and types of books that are circulated. This quantitative data, however, must be combined with qualitative data as there is essential information missing from user statistics, such as whether the title the user has accessed was relevant or useful for their research or recreational purposes.
Collaborating with teachers to assess the collection would be helpful in developing stronger relationships between the library and teaching staff. TL’s must access subject assessments to ensure that the collection is truly meeting the needs of the students and supporting the teaching and learning programs, including curriculum developments.
Evaluating this task against my own practice, I know that I must ask teachers for their assessment tasks for the year and then we can go through the resources we have to support the students to research these topics. I might then consider upgrading these collections, with input from teachers, so that we have augmented library use.
The TL should know and understand the collection deeply and getting to know the collection is not just about ordering and checking circulation statistics; it can mean doing lots of shelving. Tending to and evaluating the collection according to curriculum areas and year levels is an excellent way to review and document the real needs of the collection requirements.
References
Debowski, S. (2001). Collection program funding management. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J.McGregor (Eds.). Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.) (pp. 299-326). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. (e-reserve)
Grigg, K. (2012). Assessment and evaluation of e-book collections. In R. Kaplan (Ed.), Building and managing e-book collections (pp. 127-137). American Library Association.
Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658, Posted onJanuary 7, 2023
Tarulli, L. (2012). The library catalogue as social space : promoting patron driven collections, online communities, and enhanced reference and readers’ services. Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. https://doi.org/10.5040/9798400679032
Image of Teacher Librarian weeding books, created using Gemini.
Information Literacy and Inquiry Models
After undertaking the subject Introduction to Teacher Librarianship: ETL401 I became highly motivated to introduce the Guided Inquiry Design Framework (GIDF) into my secondary school. I have created educational tools around introducing this framework but am still yet to advocate for the ubiquitous implementation of the GIDF. The GIDF provides students with the necessary scaffolding to navigate the information environment and use higher-order thinking skills to achieve optimum outcomes.
I regularly see teachers give students research tasks with the expectation that they complete the assignment on their own, “although teachers have good intentions, they don’t realise that their traditional research approach is actually not supporting student learning” (Maniotes & Kuhlthau, 2014). This gap between research and the scaffolds to support the students is where I must now turn my focus. I hope to create teacher “buy-in” by communicating that I will save them time planning, whilst simultaneously augmenting student outcomes by providing an extra teacher in the room to guide students to become more effective researchers through use of the framework.
Information literacy skills are skills we must constantly and consciously augment in order to be effective lifelong learners and successful participants of our advanced civilisation (Fraillon, 2022). Since undertaking this subject in 2022, the world has changed in ways that I could not have imagined. I see the ramifications of the lack of discernment of online content causing democracy to unravel. While there are many benefits of having information at our fingertips, we have a duty to instruct our students on how to evaluate sources. One idea is to deliver a series of bite-sized presentations for year level assemblies, where the skills can then be practiced and reinforced in library classes. I am even more determined than before that our students must be explicitly taught what is at stake if we do not value and acquire these skills, and what is at stake is the future of our democracy.
Sometimes I feel educators take for granted that “information literacy provides the central scaffold to participation and learning in all areas of work, education and everyday life” (Talja & Lloyd, 2010). Our students are so comfortable with technology that educators often overlook their ability to critically evaluate information. Information literacy (IL) skills are not acquired through osmosis, they must be taught, practiced, assessed and report upon (Singh, 2023).
Students’ willingness to access, utilise and analyse “gold-standard” digital resources is evidenced during research classes. While students are shown how to access quality resources and well-regarded databases, anecdotal evidence shows us that many students are opting to use basic Google search functions and low-quality sources for investigations and inquiry tasks. This use of low-level sources for research inevitably leads to low-level assessments produced by the students. By providing explicit instruction on how to use evidenced-based inquiry models, our school library can make a measurable improvement by augmenting academic outcomes across the entire curriculum frame (Bogiannidis, Southcott, & Gindidis, 2023). Improved educational outcomes will be evident through NAPLAN scores, results assessed by teachers and VCE study scores.
References:
Bogiannidis, N., Southcott, J., & Gindidis, M. (2023). An exploration of the possible educational opportunities and the challenges at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds occupied by 10–14 year-old students. Smart Learning Environments, 10(1), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-023-00246-w
Fraillon, Julian. (August 2019). Digital literacy: Myths and realities. In K. Cockle (Ed.), Research Conference 2019: Preparing students for life in the 21st century: Identifying, developing and assessing what matters: Proceedings and Program: 4–5 August 2019, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. (pp.68-72). Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research. https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1357&context=research_conference
Maniotes, L. K., & Kuhlthau, C. C. (2014). Making the Shift: From Traditional Research Assignments to Guiding Inquiry Learning. Knowledge Quest, 43(2), 8-17. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/making-shift-traditional-research-assignments/docview/1667947095/se-2
Singh, A. (2023). Globalisation [Image]. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/globalization-abhishek-singh/UNESCO. (2024). Q&A: Why digital global citizenship education is essential. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/qa-why-digital-global-citizenship-education-essential#:~:text=It%20has%20the%20power%20to,in%20particular%20social%20media%20platforms
Talja, S., & Lloyd, A. (2010). Integrating theories of learning, literacies and information practices. In A. Lloyd & S. Talja (Eds.), Practising Information Literacy (pp. ix-xviii). Chandos Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-876938-79-6.50019-4
Digital Citizenship
One aspect of digital citizenship that I am still deficient in and must fast become an expert in is Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). The critical need for Information Professionals to be leading and paving the way in GenAI was also emphasised during our Study Visit to the LaTrobe University Library. Students must learn how to use it as a tool, not to completely offload all cognitive work onto GenAI .
GenAI can help “gather writing information, improve sentences/grammar, and enhance vocabulary in their writing” (Wu & Zhang, 2025) however some experts predict “would result in the demise of writing” (Chiu, 2023). A part of our role as TLs is to be forming the academic policies and frameworks regarding fair and ethical use of GenAI for assessments, where students still garner the skills required to thrive in the 21st century, including analysis and accurate use of language (Dobrin, 2023).
Digital Citizenship education must evolve rapidly to keep pace with the everyday digital spaces. A crucial aspect of this includes money management, as interacting with the digital economy. Ecommerce is key to becoming a responsible and knowledgeable digital citizen (Wahjusaputri & Nastiti, 2022). Through undertaking the subject Digital Citizenship in Schools: ETL523, I understood that a part of our role as TLs is teaching our personal responsibilities as ecommerce providers and consumers. It was fantastic to create an animation using PowToon to teach ethical and practical ecommerce lessons and I intend to augment my learning and impact by creating a series of these PowToon lessons, replete with quizzes, as part of Digital Citizenship education at my school.
Digital citizenship encompasses many lessons and values students will have been taught already for face-to-face interactions, however there are additional concerns when interacting online such as safety concerns, privacy, legal and copyright (Harris, et al., 2022). There is much work to be done to upskill our students in these areas, and also to equip teachers to be reinforcing ethical and safe online behaviour.
Rereading my notes from ETL523, I am reminded that in order to augment my school’s Digital Citizenship education, there are a number of actions we could take. This would include creating and sharing:
– a digital learner profile and learning continuum (Casa-Todd, 2018).
– policies and procedures to support the shared understanding of what it means to learn and interact in the school’s digital learning environment.
– a strategic document outlining how technology will be integrated across curricula to enhance learning, including plans for training teachers in new technologies and pedagogies.
– education around behaviour that constitutes cyberbullying, replete with reporting mechanisms (Polizzi & Harrison 2022).
I recognise that teachers do not have the time or resources with which to teach essential digital citizenship behaviours, dispositions and skills. This is a place where the Library can add much value. My immediate goal is to create online learning modules to equip learners with the skills and knowledge to conduct effective research.
Part of creating these learning modules will be to deliver Professional Development to augment teacher knowledge and confidence in our expectations around digital citizenship at our school.
References
Casa-Todd, J. (2018). Reflections on digital citizenship. Teacher Librarian, 45(3), 15–18.
Chiu, T. K. (2023). The impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on practices, policies and research direc-tion in education: a case of ChatGPT and Midjourney.Interactive Learning Environments,1–17.https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2023.2253861.
Dobrin, S. I. (2023).Talking about generative AI: A guide for educators. Broadview Press.https://sites.broadviewpress.com/ai/talking/.
Furze, L. (2023) AI Ethics. https://leonfurze.com/2023/01/26/teaching-ai-ethics/
Harris, A., Walton, J., Johns, A., & Caluya, G. (2022). Toward global digital citizenship: “Everyday” practices of young Australians in a connected world. In P. K. Kubow, N. Webster, K. Strong, & D. Miranda (Eds.), Contestations of citizenship, education and democracy in an era of global change (pp. 133–155). Routledge.
Klein, A. (2024, January 22). National ed-tech plan outlines how schools can tackle 3 big digital inequities. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/technology/national-ed-tech-plan-outlines-how-schools-can-tackle-3-big-digital-inequities/2024/01
Polizzi, G., & Harrison, T. (2022). Wisdom in the digital age: A conceptual and practical framework for understanding and cultivating cyber-wisdom. Ethics and Information Technology.[KG3] , 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-022-09640-3
Toony Ali Al-kardousi, A., & Abd El- Hameed Zaghloul, B. (2024). Digital citizenship: an introduction to developing e-commerce competencies among students of commercial technical education. International Journal of Advanced Humanities Research, 4(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.21608/ijahr.2023.211050.1013
Wahjusaputri, S., & Nastiti, T. I. (2022). Implementation of e-Commerce in Improving the Competitiveness of Vocational Secondary Education Student Entrepreneurship Products. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 16(3), 384-391.
Wu, D., & Zhang, J. (2025). Generative artificial intelligence in secondary education: Applications and effects on students’ innovation skills and digital literacy. PloS One, 20(5), e0323349. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323349
Part C
As a devoted and committed lifelong learner, I know that despite all the skills, knowledge and experience I have garnered through undertaking this Masters, I have infinitely more to learn. Specifically, I wish to build my knowledge and experience in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), to be at the forefront and leading the School in developing policies around the use of ensuring academic integrity while using this technology as a tool.
Throughout the entire Masters, a recurring theme across all subjects has been the crucial importance of collaboration. I have applied this understanding in consciously developing positive rapport and will continue to build on established and new relationships across all faculties. Through working closely with educators, I am better placed to align library resources with curriculum goals, so that each student can receive targeted support tailored to their individual learning needs. Also, through readings across all the subjects in this course, it is clear that garnering support from the School’s leadership can be instrumental to then garner teacher “buy-in” for initiatives.
Part of advocating for the Library’s services is highlighting how we bring a different set of skills to subject teachers’ classrooms, where they can concentrate on delivering the curriculum content, while TLs guide students to navigating the tsunami information available to them, and the instruction on how to critically evaluate sources. For example, I went to the English faculty meeting seeking authentic feedback regarding the Wide Reading Program. One teacher expressed that she would like a class focused on navigating the school’s audiobook collection; we responded immediately to this suggestion and all students met the success criteria for these classes.
One fundamental aspect of being a TL is to constantly be advocating for the school library, we must always be seeking innovative and engaging ways to champion our resources and services. After undertaking Research in Practice: ETL567, I was inspired to pursue research to both inform library programs and to provide evidence regarding how they are (or are not) achieving their aims. It was a revelation to be able to read peer-reviewed literature and understand the structure behind the study design, methodology and gain further strategies to how to analyse and interpret the data. Currently we use user-data to support our programs, however this data must combined with other methods, for example surveys and focus groups (both teacher and student) to ensure we are meeting the curriculum and recreational needs of the school community.
One area where I must build my skills, which will soon become very relevant is strategically plan and budget for improvement in library and information services and programs. I would need guidance and support with this area, as although it is essential, my focus has always been on providing top-level service to our school community and devising creative and engaging programs to support the school’s strategic goals relating to study skills and literacy. I have identified two ways I could build my budgeting competencies; the first (and most cost-effective) way would be to reach out to the ASLA networks, who have managed school budgets before and gain understanding of the methods they use to succeed. The second way would be to undertake a short course in business budgeting.
Image of teacher librarian struggling with organising the budget, created with Gemini.