I’m sure we’re all quite familiar with the “change is always good” line that we constantly hear from people in our lives or even from characters in films and television shows. Does this mean that change will impact how a person feels when it happens to them? A lot of the time, yes that is the case. During my time as a primary school teacher, I have learnt to adapt to change when faced with working in a new environment. This might simply be the change in bell times or how a literacy or numeracy session is planned for a particular class. I know I’m always striving to learn new skills, often through technology, that will improve the way I view teaching content in elaborate ways. For example, during my last session at CSU I learnt about the idea of introducing students to guided inquiry learning which to me sounds incredibly open-ended and expansive for the way we think.
However there are people, yes I have seen them in schools before, that struggle or refuse to learn a new technological skill because it seems like a foreign language to them. The concept I thought was essential for open-ended learning is the concept of transformation leaders that encourage and support classroom teaching in order to ensure new ways that knowledge can be portrayed for the students. Ideally it is the students who will use this new or existing technology to enhance their knowledge and vocabulary as well as think creatively in different learning scenarios. If the Teacher Librarian (TL) makes themselves readily available for questioning and making their presence known throughout the school community then confidence will build when it comes to inquiry based learning or new technology being introduced in teaching. I for one have observed a range of TL that either stress over small things that could be completed by others or know when to take a step back and understand where they should prioritise their work. I thought it was interesting that Bailey (2013) mentions the idea of seeing our thoughts as events or clouds which can be completed and move on so that we can then experience new and exciting learning. Having the TL available to communicate with their colleagues is an incredibly beneficial skill to have as they can ensure new programs and applications are being used in classrooms. A great example I have seen in schools is the implementation of Stick-Bots in order to create new stories and insight students to use their imagination. If we’re able to encourage this technology then we can encourage each other to use it effectively and understand how these programs can work. This ensures that staff members are aware of where it fits into their students’ learning.
Reference:
Bailey, A. (2013). 10 ideas to help teachers beat stress. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/06/teachers-beat-stress-10-ideas
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