“…Some insight into the new world teacher librarian” (Maloy, 2022, July 4) – that is what I was hoping to achieve by undertaking the teacher librarian course and thankfully my expectations have been exceeded!  In my current teaching practice, the teacher librarian does not work collaboratively with the staff and is not appreciated by the school community.  My initial understanding of the role of the teacher librarian was to search for relevant and engaging literature, build students’ literacy skills and manage the library resources (Maloy, 2022, July 31).  Throughout this course, I have rekindled my faith in the role of the teacher librarian and am motivated to incite enthusiasm for the school library once again.

 

At the beginning of this course, my understanding of Information Literacy was limited.  While I still believe that Information Literacy is vastly undervalued, I can clearly see its importance as a vital skill for students.  In my experience, the teacher librarian supervises the students in their quest for information.  It is important for learning to be student-centred; however, the teacher librarian must be the facilitator of this learning and give students the support to be able to acquire the necessary skills to search for, locate and synthesise information, ensuring relevancy and accuracy.  Since learning of the Information Fluency Framework in the NSW Department of Education, I believe (along with my peers – Smith, M. et. al. 2022) it will be a game-changer in setting standards for the teaching of information literacy.

 

Along with Information Literacy, my knowledge of inquiry learning models was basic due to what I can only blame on a lack of time that I could dedicate to further research.  Throughout this course, I have been enlightened by the vast amount of research in this area.  My experience was primarily limited to the 5E model which I have used through the Primary Connections Science units of work, and the NSW Department of Education Information Process (Maloy, 2022, September 14).  While I found the 5E model beneficial for scientific investigation, I found it more difficult to apply to other key learning areas.  I use the NSW Department of Education Information Process model regularly but without explicitly teaching it to my students.  Upon reflection, I now understand the necessity for explicitly teaching inquiry learning models and the benefits that these skills can have for 21st century learners.

 

During this course, I have conducted further investigation into the FOSIL model and the Guided Inquiry Design Framework and can appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of each model.  In my future teaching practice, I would like to incorporate the FOSIL model, particularly in a STEM lesson, as that the Connect, Wonder and Investigate phases lend themselves well to a STEM-based activity.  I believe that the FOSIL model would also be beneficial to teach to younger students as the wording is simplistic and easy to understand.  If I were to implement a school-wide model, I would choose the Guided Inquiry Design Framework as I believe that the skills in each phase could be built upon each year.  The Open and Immerse phases of the Guided Inquiry Design model provide an opportunity for students to get excited about their learning and to connect with their prior knowledge in an engaging manner (Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2012, p. 51).  I would like to continue to research inquiry learning models, implement these in my teaching practice and provide professional development opportunities for my colleagues (including the current teacher librarian) to encourage the use of inquiry learning models throughout the school.

 

My most significant learning has been in the area of the role of the teacher librarian.  From my learning, I now believe the teacher librarian can be pivotal for student learning and wellbeing.  The teacher librarian should work collaboratively with classroom teachers to develop curriculum opportunities by integrating an inquiry learning model to enhance the development of students’ information and digital literacy skills (Maloy, 2022, August 18).  To further supplement the unit of work, the teacher librarian should rely on their knowledge and management skills to curate a collection of resources to complement the unit of work being taught and support students in accessing such resources.  Ultimately, the school library should be a safe space for learning and student wellbeing – a positive place for engaging with learning.

 

Reference List

          Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K. & Caspari, A. K. (2012). Guided inquiry design: A framework for inquiry in your school. ABC-CLIO.