Month: July 2020

Madame Pince (reimagined)

Madame Pince (reimagined)

by clairetuminello89 ♥ 1 Comment

Growing up with both my parents as teachers, a love of learning and reading was fostered in me from a young age, ultimately inspiring the decision to become a teacher myself. However, as a young person I was not inspired by the libraries or Teacher Librarians (TLs) that I was exposed to. Perhaps that contributed to my preconceived ideas of libraries as terribly boring places run by glaring, prowling old women who were purposefully unhelpful (sorry!). These notions were further fed by my love of the Harry Potter series, where Madame Pince the librarian ticked all of the above boxes. Flash forward to my secondary schooling and once again, these ideas were reinforced by the TLs, who seemed more interested in our eating, drinking and talking habits (strictly not permitted!) than our quest for knowledge in the realms of the bookshelves. I strongly believe that sadly, these formative experiences shaped my interactions with TLs early in my career as a teacher.

My first role was at a school in regional Victoria, teaching Health, PE, Maths and VCE Psychology. Unfortunately, the only time I interacted with the TL was purely selfish. I wanted to loan some books to read for the holidays. They weren’t curriculum related, either. This, after all, was the role of a TL. The gatekeeper of the books. At no other point in my four years at this school did I believe that the TL could help me, or my students, engage in the curriculum. In fact, I thought that they would make my classes decidedly uninteresting and lead to disengagement. I was unfairly projecting my own negative experiences on my students and the TL in this school, and I will never know what wonders could have been achieved with a more open mind.

Returning to Melbourne, I was offered a role as a VCE Psychology and Maths teacher, and a leadership role as Year 10 Coordinator at my old high school. And boy, had things changed in that old library. Year 10 students had to complete a Personal Project, and the TL at the school was the coordinator of said project. As Year 10 Coordinator, I worked closely with the TL to support the students to get the most out of this opportunity. Through her wonderful leadership and partnership with students, staff and parents, the projects that our students created were nothing short of phenomenal. Furthermore, the Learning Commons was a busy space, littered with colourful opportunities for learning and collaboration. Conversation was encouraged and you could drink water (still a hard no on the food). Our obligatory partnership inspired me to seek the TL’s expertise in developing curriculum, including assessments and resources for mine and my students’ learning. My eyes were opened to the potential of the TL, and a little spark was ignited in me.

ALIA (2004) propose that the value of the teacher librarian lies in the combination of their skills and knowledge in both curriculum and pedagogy, and that of library and information management. My understanding of the role of the TL has changed dramatically over a short period of time. I now appreciate the TL as a collaborator who is able to expertly develop and resource the curriculum, whilst supporting stakeholders to navigate the complex and ever-changing information environment.

REFERENCES

ALIA. (2004). Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians. Retrieved July 21, 2020 from https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/policies-standards-and-guidelines/standards-professional-excellence-teacher-librarians

 

The Information Environment

The Information Environment

by clairetuminello89 ♥ 1 Comment

Information is an evolving concept requiring us to reflect upon it’s very nature. In and of itself, it is simply a flow of ‘bits’, however as a whole, as humans we are able to apply meaning to the information. The idea of information as ‘bits’ quite reminded me of a visit to MONA in 2018, where my favourite exhibition was called Bit.Fall, where a wall of water spells out the most popular words searched on Google that day. Even without context, I found myself trying to attach meaning to the words. Why were those particular words being searched so frequently today?

Interestingly, it came to my mind that thinking of information in this way is a uniquely human experience. I was particularly thinking about linguistic and/or verbal information as it exists in the physical and digital landscape, as that type of information is referred to a lot in the material presented. As intelligent beings, we are able to synthesize information and use it to further our evolution. However, most animals with a level of intelligence are seemingly able to process the information in their environments to adapt, communicate and survive. Therefore, our ability to manipulate, understand and use information relates directly to how humans and other animals are able to advance and adapt in the world.

However, we are at a point where this progression has resulted in advances in technology. Such is the advancement that we are now saturated with information. In fact, the four inherent properties of information cited in the module (inconsumable, untransferable, indivisible and accumulative) mean that the information environment is overloaded. It is particularly important for consumers of information to be able to critically evaluate the authenticity of the information. In the age of information saturation, fake news, constant access to an ever-expanding landscape of ‘bits’ and ‘wholes’, the role of TL has never been more important. Teaching ourselves and young people how to research effectively, communicate, learn and use that information may well be a fantastic tool to apply in human advancement as we navigate through the ever-changing digital environment.