The education system broadly, and schools at a more localised level, are organised and approach learning according to the four key elements of theory as presented by Bush (2015). The programs, the overall structure, and the learning that happens in a school are driven by the school’s keys to strategic directions, known as goals in Bush’s approach. These goals, determined by the executive team, are filtered down to the teachers and the students in a top-down approach through the hierarchical structure of positions in the school. These goals are influenced by the social, geographical and political context that the school operates within, and are simultaneously invisibly influenced by and determine the underlying culture of the organisation. Given the all-pervasive nature of these elements, it is clear that if the teacher librarian seeks to implement effective and supported school library programs, they need to reflect the goals of the school and be supported through all tiers of the organization’s structure if they are going to positively change and address the culture and context of the school.
This top-down structure of organisations is likewise reflected in Robinson’s (2010) presentation. However, he identifies cultural and societal forces as the key cornerstones of change – or lack thereof – in education. Reflecting on the physical structure of education, Robinson notes that things have not changed since it’s inception, with factory-like bell times still ushering students from one rigid, single subject class to another. And indeed, all those who have stepped foot in a secondary classroom recently have heard some rendition of the disengaged complaints of “How long until the bell?” and “When will I ever need to do this in real life?”. And they’re right,
to some degree. How can we expect the school and classroom structure to stay relevant when it has remained irritatingly stagnant in a world that has done nothing but evolve since the Industrial Revolution? Today’s students are learning in the same manner that our parents did, and yet if you mention watching Lady and the Tramp on a VCR, finding an old floppy disk in your office, or reminiscing about physically rewinding your cassette tapes to listen to your favorite songs again, you’ll be looked at like you’re speaking Dutch, and your students can’t access Google Translate to figure out what you’ve said because we’ve locked their phones away. What a way to be made to feel ancient.
So if society and culture are changing so much, the teacher librarian can, and should, approach student learning in a way that reflects these changes. Flexible and student responsive guided inquiry learning that leaves distinct subject disciplines at the door is one way that the teacher librarian can adapt learning opportunities to meet these key drivers of change in schools. Perhaps students still won’t leave knowing what a floppy disk is, but they’ll have approached their learning in a more flexible, collaborative manner that is more in tune with the skills today’s students will need beyond the classroom. And at the end of the day, isn’t preparing our students for life beyond school the goal of every educator?
Reference list
Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf
Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U