Here are some notes on my thoughts around information societies.

An information society is a group of people (community) that earns money through the creation, distribution and consumption of information. This is made readily available through ICTs.

The teacher librarian (TL) should have an understanding of information societies and how they function as the TL is a curator and distributor of information. With information so readily available, the TL needs to teach discernment and critical evaluation of information. Anybody can claim to be an ‘expert’ on the internet, look no further then Belle Gibson and how she ‘cured’ her brain cancer through alternative medicine therapies.

We are living in an information society. Take my current working arrangement in Saudi Arabia. On Monday the 9th of March 2020, the Ministry of Education closed physical schools, and moved all learning online due to the COVID-19 outbreak. My job as a TL is to impart knowledge and information, and I am still required to do this, even though there is a physical distance between my students and myself. The flow of information is both synchronous and asynchronous, I send lesson outlines and activities to parents, who coach their children through the learning objectives. Throughout the week there is a window of time, where I am available synchronously for direct contact to ‘coach’ my students in their learning. My students and I can communicate in real-time or via email. While I am, I don’t need to even be in the same country anymore. Sander (2020) discussed in her article it is increasingly likely that you may be asked (or told) to work from home. Whilst the COVID-19 virus is not welcome, it is directly influencing society, revolutionising work, our workspaces and working hours. We are more connected than ever before, yet we often feel less connected to the people we are closest to physically (neighbours, the person beside you on the bus/train). What are the costs of our perpetual connectedness?

P.s. Is there a word for “never ending, but constantly evolving”? – I’d like to use it instead of perpetual as perpetual means never ending or changing, and that is not the nature of our connectedness..

References:

Percy, K. (2017, September 28). Belle Gibson, fake wellness blogger, fined $410,000 over false cancer claims. ABC news. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-28/disgraced-wellness-blogger-belle-gibson-fined/8995500/

Sander, L (2020, March 11). Coronavirus could spark a revolution in working from home. Are we ready? The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-could-spark-a-revolution-in-working-from-home-are-we-ready-133070/

Resource selection begins both with the teacher librarian (myself) and the classroom teacher. Throughout the year I am adding titles to an ongoing order list of non-fiction books. This list is updated regularly to reflect what has recently won awards, what other librarians recommend and what I am reading.

In my current school in Saudi Arabia, we are entering our last week of term 3. Recently I sent an email asking staff to reflect on the past units of study and requesting their input on resource selection for the upcoming academic year (September-May). I have asked this as orders take quite some time to fulfil, and even although we do get ‘last minute orders’, generally our orders take 6-12 weeks to fulfil, and rarely arrive in time for the ‘last minute planner’ teacher.

What are we teaching in terms of skills for the future?

According to Peacock, our focus throughout schooling in the information age should be on building lifelong skills and teaching concepts (2001, p. 26), rather than teaching content. The International Baccalaureate (IB) framework (2019, p. 29) addresses this need with the Approaches To Learning (ALT) skills; Five interrelated skills including, thinking, research, communication, social and self-management skills. These skills help students to become self-regulated learners, and effective thinkers.

What is the purpose of a library?

According to Kimmell (2014, p.46) An library should create effective users, consumers and (I think quite critically in the age of instant gratification) creators of information.
Why is this important?
Simple really, there is a vast wealth of misinformation and #fakenews on the internet. We need to develop critical thinkers who can evaluate all they read and rather than always consuming (social media, TV shows, movies & games) create meaningful information.

Other interesting (or not..) thoughts
Do we need physical libraries with paper books? Cannot the libraries of the future be cafes with loanable e-readers and devices?

References

IBO (2019). Learning and Teaching, Cardiff: International Baccalaureate Organisation

Judith Peacock (2001) Teaching Skills for Teaching Librarians: Postcards from the Edge of the Educational Paradigm, Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 32:1, 26-42, DOI: 10.1080/00048623.2001.10755141

Kimmel, S.C. (2014) Developing collections to empower learners, American Library Association, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658.

I’m not a huge fan of blogging. I had a blog once. Didn’t enjoy it. So I stopped. But that’s beside the point. This is more of a journal. A series of thoughts, hopefully in a coherent manner. Welcome inside my head.

I have worked as a teacher since graduating in 2013 from Griffith University with a Graduate Diploma in Education – Spanish & English. My first year was tough, so tough I almost didn’t return from my Vietnamese summer holiday. I worked in a low SES school in a rapidly growing area north of Brisbane. The school employed mainly first or second year teachers. The distinct lack of leadership and good educational practices led many first year teachers to give up. I was lucky, my desk was surrounded by experienced teachers, who knew positivity and camaraderie would help us get through even the toughest of times.
My career moved on several years later to a private school south of Brisbane. I enjoyed teaching there, however when I didn’t give a student a ‘deserved mark’, the mother started spreading rumours in the carpark. There was no support from my principal, the opposite in fact. Several intense meetings about what I was doing/not doing and what parents were reporting about my classes. The eventual outcome was my resignation. Teaching wasn’t for me. Maybe I’d sign up for the military..

My wife – also a teacher – and I discussed our future often after this. We’d always talked about making ‘the leap’ and teaching internationally. Thankfully she persuaded me to give it ‘one last shot’. We took up roles in a school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, myself as a language teacher, my wife as a wellbeing co-ordinator. When we arrived, I was offered the opportunity to step sideways into the library. I saw the value immediately and jumped at the opportunity.

As a child I saw the librarian as a central figure in ones educational journey – even as a student I saw this. I spent a great deal of time in libraries, both the school and public libraries around my home, reading with a voracious appetite. I learnt that libraries are a repository of knowledge and stories and that librarians are facilitators of everything within and beyond. They didn’t necessarily know everything, but knew where to direct you to find the information you were looking for.
As a teacher I saw the library/ian as the source of teaching technology support, the ‘go to’ for help when students were researching, and a support teacher to help energise my teaching.
As a librarian – albeit an inexperienced one – I see the librarian as a facilitator of learning opportunities and knowledge. Yes I scan books, and I often find myself sighing as I straighten books and rotate them so they are spine out. But I do not ‘shush’ students, or expect silence in my library. I expect respect both for students and for myself, and for my colleagues and students to collaborate and give every lesson their best.

In closing, I expected this to be far more difficult than it was. I found it a somewhat calming experience. I wish you all good luck in your studies, and would gladly welcome any comments you may have.