ETL401 Introduction to Teacher Librarianship

The interactions we have with the people around us can be an incredibly impactful experience as we strive to improve our literacy and critical thinking skills on a daily basis. Students are constantly working to improve their thinking skills but struggle to adapt and improve new research skills as they prefer to interact with skills that they already know (Gerrity, 2018, p.455). However, during inquiry based learning, the role of the Teacher Librarian (TL) changes to encourage students to question and interact with learning activities in different settings then they’ve previously done. The school library is a great environment to view information in many ways as well as interacting with each other to enhance our learning experiences. Information Literacy (IL) and Guided Inquiry (GI) focus on constructive methods of developing new critical thinking skills. Both of these methods strive to encourage students to work together, whether it be in a classroom or a real world scenario.

There are multiple frames that source information as they all contribute towards how students can collaborate effectively when working in different teaching and learning settings across the curriculum (Bruce, Edwards & Lupton, 2006, p.3). All of these frames highlight the importance of processing information particularly as IL can be different when the learning environment changes. This environment can vary and change according to the way that students interact with IL as working in a flexible classroom setting is vastly different to completing an assessment task at home (Farrell & Badke, 2015, p.333). Many of these frames overlap as they assist in situations that require students to problem solve which is something that can be constantly improved. During those early years of school, students can be introduced to problem solving skills as they continuously challenge the learner’s thinking when faced with different learning settings, whether it be as an individual or in a group setting (Maniotes & Kuhlthau, 2014, p.14). Students are being provided with more opportunities to interact with each other and use the resources that are available to them to solve problems together. Technology is often a big contributor in this interaction as it assists in understanding how to use and improve a new skill.

The TL has several important connections to different aspects of the library environment, including the teaching and learning aspect of the school library. Challenging the way that students think is a fantastic method of inquiry based learning which can be viewed through more creative methods of teaching. The change in the physical library setting is continually demonstrating that schools are adapting more 21^st Century based classrooms that can assist with enhancing students’ creativity and collaboration (FitzGerald, 2015, p.20). However, standardised testing conditions often reduce the ability to accommodate for more flexible evaluations of student learning at the end of an inquiry unit. This means that TL and CT need to be aware of how individual students learn during these flexible settings and encourage group interaction when expressing their thoughts about a particular inquiry based question. Different group activities can be beneficial for students that are continuing to harness their higher-order thinking skills particularly when focusing on a social framework (Lupton, 2012, p.16). At an early age students are able to commence interacting with these thinking skills, particularly when included in GI units.

Inquiry based learning also presents new opportunities for students to be in charge of self-directed activities that the TL can monitor when interacting with new questions. I have previously thought about different IL models and how they can be adapted to suit the needs of the TL. The Guided Inquiry Design (GID) model encourages students to work and think abstractly through eight stages of critical thinking as well as provide collaborative group based activities. However, as technology changes so does the way that students think, which forces the TL to implement new ways to question and share their research based learning with others (Maniotes & Kuhlthau, 2014, p.11). Technology has become an increasing influence in students’ lives as screens are predominantly how they view new information. The video ‘What does it mean to be literate in the 21^st Century?’ was released over a decade ago and just goes to show that teachers were able to understand that technology will assist in displaying new knowledge to benefit the student’s learning. Students are reaching a stage where they are able to experiment and become more aware of how certain programs work even before the teachers do. Therefore the TL has the onerous obligation to develop new learning tasks that cater for using this technology in a way that students can become more innovative in these problem solving activities.

References:

Bruce, C., Edwards, S., & Lupton, M. (2006). Six Frames for Information literacy Education: a conceptual framework for interpreting the relationships between theory and practice. Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, 5(1), 1-18. doi: 10.11120/ital.2006.05010002

Farrell, R., & Badke, W. (2015). Situating information literacy in the disciplines: A practical and systematic approach for academic librarians. Reference Services Review, 43(2), 319-340. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1725782993?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=10344

FitzGerald, L. (2015). Guided Inquiry in practice. Scan. 34(4), 16-27. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/fullText;dn=211651;res=AEIPT

Gerrity, C. (2018). The New National School Library Standards: Implications for Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 44, 455–458. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/search/advanced?docId=10.1016/j.acalib.2018.05.005

Lupton, M. (2012). Inquiry skills in the Australian Curriculum. Access. 26(2), 12-18. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/fullText;dn=584040093322031;res=IELAPA

Maniotes, L. K., & Kuhlthau, C. (2014). Making the shift. Knowledge Quest. 43(2), 8-17. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1620878836?accountid=10344&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

It’s one of the main skills that every teacher let alone every working adult needs to practise: time management!

Time has been a significant aspect of the readings in module 6 and I thought there were two key questions being asked in these readings.

1. What practical strategies can an information specialist/teacher librarian (TL) use during their day-to-day activities?

I thought it was quite interesting that part of the notes this week even mentioned the idea of keeping tea, coffee and biscuits in the library office as an incentive for the managerial staff members (so that they come back I suppose…). This idea allows the to TL gain an additional task of making all the people who visit the school library feel incredibly welcomed, which I also think is really important. The creation of guide sheets was one of the points that jumped out at me as the continual use of these templates saves time for the TL and also classroom teachers (CT) too. Each of these templates could vary from a newsletter being printed or included on the school’s website every week as well as creating program evaluations which focus on keeping all of the student work samples together in one place. I also thought that it was incredibly important to highlight that the TL is also worthy of having a break in their home/social life rather than bombarding themselves with more work to organise and plan while they’re at home. In short, taking time for yourself once you’ve achieved the small goals for the day.

2. How can the TL be more open and inclusive with their colleagues in a school environment?

I believe it’s incredibly important for the TL to be constantly communicating with other members of staff in particular CT in order to further understand the literacy skills of their students. We are all constantly improving our personal skills and learning new ones, I for one am not musically talented but wanted to expand my knowledge so started learning the ukulele so I can include it in my teaching practice. However some of these skills can tricky to change particularly if we’re set in a certain frame of mind and so criticism can be difficult to handle. Taking criticism can be a tricky task to include in our work, particularly if we aren’t good at taking on those suggestions made by other people (Gilman, 2007). The best thing that we can understand and learn from in these situations is that everyone is different. Providing new ways of addressing a content area can often be a good thing as you view how others might display that knowledge to their class. Having multiple members of staff with similar key ideas is important, particularly when assessing or evaluating students, however each of those staff members may want to gain information on a weekly basis as well as at the end of a unit. For example providing students with the opportunity to present PowerPoint or Smartboard slides as an oral and visual assessment about a relevant topic. Ensuring that we become more open to suggestions that colleagues provide will allow us to view new content in different ways that can assist in our teaching.

Reference:

Gilman, T. (2007). The four habits of highly effective librarians. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved Nov. 2016.

I felt like there has been a lot to unpack or think about this week in this section of the module and course readings; particularly when focusing at the Information Literacy (IL) models and the continual change involving how literacy is taught in schools within the last decade.

There were five IL models that were discussed this week that convey different learning structures and encourage students to follow in order to obtain the most out of a research task. The models that I thought were the most useful this week were the Information Search Process (ISP)/Guided Inquiry Design Process (GIDP) and the Big 6 model. Both models provide that continual process of understanding where the student is up to in their learning process before that final evaluation or assessment phase. I thought the ISP certainly structured each learning skill in a fundamental way as Maniotes & Kuhlthau (2014) stated in their reading “through inquiry, students discover real questions about academic topics.” 

I believe that’s an important point that deserves more explanation as learners are continually building upon their prior knowledge in order to deliver the best presentation or assessment for their teachers. This consumption of new knowledge can also be known as a transfer which encourages each student to build upon what they’ve already learnt during a previous topic or subject. For me I contemplate so many of my thoughts a lot of the time and know that I need to work on specific areas in my own learning too. I need to take more time to identify and gather relevant information rather than continually exploring for a while then create a document filled with too many thoughts that hasn’t provided a relevant answer. I have found this during my teaching in primary school classrooms too as students want more information given to them rather than finding the information for themselves.

The way that literacy is being presented has also changed significantly over the last decade as the video ‘What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century?’ was an interesting eye opener this week as the teachers were talking about how literacy skills in 2009. The sorts of things that were mentioned kind of acted like a prediction for what students would be using in the future in order to develop their literacy skills. Each resource or skill that was mentioned seemed to touch back on the idea that students are constantly using screens as a way of learning whether that be through programs like PowerPoint (that is still being updated for improved use today) or the ways in which students are interacting with screens on a daily basis. Whereas now as teachers we look to use interactive websites for presentations and incorporate Smartboard slides into lessons as they have become such an integral part of teaching literacy in Australia. The video also explored the idea that with this continual use of screen time, students are limiting how much information that they’re taking in outside of school whether it be through visual text or symbols (perhaps on a sign in a supermarket or a promotional poster) as well as interacting with other people in conversations (oral and social literacy). This continual shift between the exposure to screens, which can be a great tool for learning, sometimes becomes more of a distraction and may result in an unhealthy balance of screen time. Teaching our students to not only utilise technology in the classroom but also during time in the school library can expand their literacy skills as well as develop all manner of different life long skills that can be used every day. 

References:

Maniotes, L.K, Kuhlthau, C. (2014) Making the shift. Knowledge Quest. 43(2) 8-17

When asked to display my personal definition of what literacy means, I couldn’t help but look back at this quote involving several ways to portray literacy as Abilock (2015) states that Information Literacy (IL) in particular “is a transformational process in which the learner needs to find, understand, evaluate, and use information in various forms to create for personal, social or global purposes.” I couldn’t help but think that this definition allows so much possibility to take place through enhancing literacy skills. This quote also got me thinking about all the traditional methods of displaying literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing) as well as emphasising the need for understanding to develop the learner’s individual literacy skills.

I also thought that the six frames for IL depict a unique learning framework that can apply to a whole range of learners. Bruce, Edwards, & Lupton (2006) present the following titles for frames that source information, curriculum focus, teaching and learning focus: 

1) – The Content Frame: this frame examines how much information has been understood after displaying new knowledge for the learner to take in. The process of assessing through various means is also a key part of this frame in order to determine how much someone has comprehended the information.

2) – The Competency Frame: focusing on a behaviour or performance driven skill set that will be learnt and then applied to an activity in a school setting or within a workplace setting. The most relevant example I found in this week’s reading was that a lot of jobs require you to learn new skills and show competence in order to succeed in a particular job setting (i.e. barista training for coffee makers working in cafes).

3) – The Learning to Learn Frame: the appropriate construction of information is vital in this frame as many students need to develop their own skill set whether that be in a primary, secondary or tertiary setting as well as using what they’ve learnt and apply that knowledge in a new setting (this can also be viewed as a means of assessment).

4) – The Personal Relevance Frame: this frame often allows the learner to self-assess particularly when working independently and focusing on problems solving skills. I found this frame to be a constant reminder that we are always working finding new and relevant ways to solve problems as well as direct our learning according to how we self-direct ourselves with our learning.

5) – The Social Impact Frame: the social change of this frame is vital in maintaining a constant drive towards learning if both the teacher or peers (like in a classroom setting) are working towards discovering new and important information. This often can be viewed in learning tasks where the students need to discuss and understand who is better at certain elements of a task (i.e. who is better at writing/typing or displaying information in a physical or digital setting).

6) – The Relational Frame: “learning is coming to see the world differently” (Bruce, Edwards, & Lupton, 2006). Those words certainly made me think that we are all constantly drawing our attention to new ways of thinking or understanding knowledge especially when you work towards enhancing the traditional methods of displaying literacy. I for one am always enhancing my literacy skill set whether that be a new way to access information digitally or gaining further insight into my prior knowledge on a subject area.

Reference:

Abilock, D. (2015). Information literacy. Building blocks of research: Overview of design process and outcomes. NoodleTools. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160409135915/http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html

Bruce, C. Edwards, S. & Lupton, M. (2006). Six Frames for Information literacy Education: a conceptual framework for interpreting the relationships between theory and practice. Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, 5(1), 1-18, DOI: 10.11120/ital.2006.05010002

The primary focus of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) is to inspire, empower and educate. There are seven key professional teaching standards that are being upheld in the Australian teaching sector. Different qualities are portrayed for these standards which identify as Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice & Professional Engagement. Each of these standards applies to an aspect of the learning environment which take places every day in school and monitors the achievement process of accreditation for Australian employed teachers.

The standards can also be further broken up in areas such as Graduate, Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead sections. I’m going to focus on the titles of the Proficient and Highly Accomplished Teacher particularly exploring Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it. When observing how each teacher displays knowledge in certain content areas is an important value throughout this standard, particularly as the teacher is always improving their personal practice over time. The main idea that I observed when looking at sub-strands of standard 2 is that Highly Accomplished teachers have the role of supporting their colleagues particularly when increasing student learning; for example encouraging staff to team teach and collaborate together as a stage as a way to understand what content is being used during units of work.

However the Proficient teacher still has the advantage to assist their students in so many ways in a professional manner. This can be particularly noticed when you start to think about one of the areas in Standard 2 that focuses on the relevance of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) programs in the classroom. This relevance is also able to be displayed by the Teacher Librarian (TL) as they have the added benefit of improving individual student achievement as well as developing understanding not only with ICT programs but also in literacy research tasks. Focus area 2.6 highlights that the role of the Highly Accomplished TL is to model ICT knowledge and skills which will benefit their colleagues within the school as well as improve their teaching practice. I think that role is an extremely important task to undertake so that a wide variety of activities can be implemented not only in the school library but also in the other classrooms across the school.

Reference:

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/teach-documents/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf

Collaborating with the school principal and executive staff is an important job that should be maintained throughout the whole school environment whether it be for classroom teachers (CT), SLSO staff or the teacher librarian (TL). However the TL has the very important job of corresponding the school mission with the learning mission or intentions that match the learning in the school library through a variety of aspects in this learning environment. These aspects focus on the physical structure, availability of resources (including hard-copy or digital access through ICT devices), professional learning and the overall access that students have to develop their literacy or research-based learning whether it be in primary or secondary school.

The TL should maintain a constant collaboration with the school principal in order to also ensure that the school library program (SLP) is edited to better suit the visions and ideas that have come from discussions towards the mission of the school (Kachel, 2017). One of these visions in the SLP is to construct varied learning areas in the physical learning environment. This physical need should be discussed with the principal as new equipment or resources can take a significant chunk out of the school’s library budget. Therefore the TL and principal should be continually working with each other to organise the setting and the funding that goes towards the library. However this creates an interesting question about each library budget and the TL as the employed individual. What would happen if the library budget was completely lost or cut? One would think that the librarian position would be put at risk and the library itself would be struggling to keep up with new resources that are available for the library to introduce (Kachel, 2017). However I like to think that even with limited amounts of new resources coming into the school library the TL and the CT can still produce quality literacy lessons as well as ensure that each student can access the library for all manner of research purposes.

Reference:

Kachel, D. (2017). The principal and the librarian: Positioning the school library program. Teacher Librarian, 45(1), 50-52. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=75a56264-6f25-4437-9e17-23cec66394d5%40pdc-v-sessmgr02

Defining our Information Society can be viewed through five aspects Technological, Economical, Occupational, Spatial and Cultural. Each of these aspects impacts how we view the various areas of information around the world varying from the latest world news story to the status update that is being uploaded to your friend’s Facebook page.

We all have this varying opinion of how we view and use technology. Following this week’s module reading it got me thinking about the change in history for many devices that we use on a regular basis.

For example our television and phones have changed vastly in shape and size over the past two decades alone. This update encourages the viewer to become more tech-savy as the continual way that we view information changes with the use of a new app or device.

This may create an issue for the consumer as the updates keep occurring the prices rise which limits the amount of consumers that can access them. I still recall that moment of realising that my phone is out of date once the functions such as battery life or processing speed are heavily reduced. Therefore we continue to process this data through our phones nonetheless with the addition of the ever so helpful Internet.

When I thought about the occupational side of our society, the question: ‘Who determines if they are an information worker?’ Does this question need to be answered specifically or can it become an open ended answer that focuses on all sorts of professions? The professions that were mentioned this week include engineers, managers and research scientists; which certainly seems like we’re placing even more pressure on those individuals who are in control of other workers.

I thought the spatial aspect of the information society was quite interesting this week as it built upon my prior knowledge of social networking platforms that are used for personal or professional purposes. As apps like Facebook or Instagram continue to build that connection particularly with people overseas as well as promote more time that these programs can be accessed.

Lastly when I think of cultural aspects of information I think of other countries or places groups of people have lived in growing up. However it didn’t occur to me that the influence of culture particularly in fiction (the Harry Potter series was a good example this week) could be a way to broadcast a specific genre of text; whether this is through physical or digital form.

Each aspect certainly raised my awareness of the constant connections that we make every day throughout our own personal world.

I think it’s absolutely fantastic that Classroom Teachers (CT) and Teacher Librarians (TL) have multiple ways to delivery their lessons to students. This incorporation of technology is nothing new as Smartboards have been used in schools for many years which assists in displaying interactive content that students can take part in completing. The use of PowerPoints and video clips are also a key part of my teaching particularly throughout literacy and numeracy lessons. I find all of these programs to be extremely useful in obtaining key information and displaying that information in an interesting way for students from Kindergarten to Year 6.

However the downside to using programs such as YouTube for educational songs and videos is that advertising is continually imputed before the information can be displayed. This creates a barrier that detracts from the educational use of these programs.

When I heard the term deep web this week I immediately thought about how we are accessing information through the use of password protected services. I think this concept image from Ralph Breaks the Internet is an interesting example of the term deep web that focuses on the downsides of going too far to look for information. It’s also interesting to think that the premise of the internet as a social media platform can easily be manipulated and formed to our liking (especially when you think of all the sites and links that are mentioned throughout the film).

Keeping with Ralph Breaks the Internet, I thought it was absolutely hilarious that the Knowsmore website is mentioned in the film and takes on the persona of someone that has all the answers. The avatar even looks like a stereotypical university academic standing in front of an assortment of books who is constantly wanting to guess the information that Ralph and Vanellope are trying to search for. This got me thinking that this avatar is similar to the drop down menu that occurs when you are typing in a search engine. We are constantly wanting to discover new information and so both students and teachers are constantly looking for the best method to extract information from reliable sources.

School libraries are awesome! There I said it. I honestly loved every visit as a primary aged student and I still marvel at all the creativity and organisation that goes into a school library. However the school library wouldn’t be near as impressive without the Teacher Librarian (TL) who has many roles within not only the library but the entire school. The Australian School Library Association (ASLA) states that the key roles of a TL are “learning and teaching, management, leadership as well as collaboration and community engagement.” (ASLA, 2016)

Learning and Teaching

The central part of a school library is the promotion of literature and reading. I continually promote reading whenever I’m teaching as I think it’s the best pastime and so if a teacher believes it to be true then students will have a model leader to base off. Classroom teachers and TL have access to several types of online programs that encourage reading stories but display this information as well as providing expression and emphasis on each sentence makes it all the more exciting for the students.

Management

Current school libraries are providing the opportunity for more Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to be integrated into literacy lessons. The TL is now able to incorporate ICT into more engaging lessons which encourages the student to become even more creative in their way of thinking. However I still think that physical copies of textbooks or novels are a fantastic way to enjoy literature even though we can now instantly access information using ICT programs. I also believe that every TL has a set system that they follow so that the library runs smoothly. I have observed different ways that the TL manages their library (including the assistance by wonderful student library monitors) but each method provides more opportunities to visually engage with literature.

Leadership

My first experience of true leadership in a school library was on my rural teaching placement at Mudgee Public School. I was absolutely astounded by the way the TL would deliver the content that was required during a staff development afternoon session. She provided each stage group with a series of resources that corresponded with a new unit of work that would be covered later in the term, listing off required and recommended texts that the teachers could look into. From this first experience I have gained a better understanding of the communication that takes place between classroom teachers, executive members of staff and the TL.

Community engagement

My absolute favourite time of the school year that gets the entire school community involved is Book Week. I love seeing the creative decorations from both the library and each classroom as well as all the costumes the students and parents come up with. I also think it’s fantastic when parents and caregivers are encouraging their child to read outside of school. Once you have that strong reading ability it’s yours for life and I appreciate the TL that I had at school as they encouraged every student to read.

Reference:

ASLA; Australian School Library Association. (July 2016). Statement on Teacher Librarians in Australia. Sydney, NSW. Retrieved 11/03/19 from: https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Policies/policy_tls_in_australia.pdf