March 2020 – Musings of a Modern TL

Month: March 2020

Responsibility for Resource Collection

Having worked as a teacher in various roles across primary and secondary schools, and now a teacher librarian in a secondary school context, I would argue that the expertise and the role of a teacher librarian compared to other teachers is very different. Yet in saying this, one of the most important purposes for collecting resources is not as different as one might think.

Certainly the expertise in the field of information and knowledge of the wealth of resources that are out there, as well as the central role played as the information specialist in the library and wider learning community, belong to the teacher librarian alone. Regular classroom teachers tend to have expertise in their Faculty area, evident through the subjects and content that they produce and deliver, just as we do with our library lessons and content. However, as mentioned in Learning for the future (2001), “contribution to student learning outcomes is the ultimate resource selection criteria.” As teacher librarians we choose our resources based on a number of different criteria and established guidelines but ultimately the resource MUST meet the learning needs of the student and therefore contribute to their learning outcomes. I believe classroom teachers also base their own resource collection for their classes on this principle, I.e. the best resource is the one that best contributes to student learning outcomes. At the heart of resource collection all teachers, librarian or not, share this common goal.

All teachers should have a say in the resources collected for the school community for two reasons: they are part of the community themselves, and they have an expertise of their own field and subjects which collectively span all relevant KLA’s and content areas. A teacher librarian may have knowledge or expertise in a number of areas, e.g. HSIE-trained teacher librarians like myself, but certainly none have an extensive knowledge of every KLA, every curriculum and every teaching and learning program delivered across a school. It makes a lot of sense that teachers should have a say over what resources should be selected for the collection, as well as how they can be used effectively. Especially considering this is explicitly stated as one of the AITSL Professional Standards for Teachers (3.4).

Students should also have a say, it is their learning outcomes that are directly affected by these resources after all! They are also great judges of the effectiveness of a resource – if a whole class is provided a resource and no student can understand or use the resource effectively, then there is a good chance it was not the best resource for that purpose. I have experienced this myself as a casual teacher multiple times, tactically ignoring the “it’s too hard sir!” From a few students in the room, then spreading to all corners of the room and I quickly realised something was wrong with the worksheet or interactive video activity and agreed that yes, actually it was too hard for students of that age group/ability level and they identified that immediately.

As the collection managers, the decision ultimately resides with us as teacher librarians, and I believe that should be the case. We can take advice and collaborate with staff and students for the above reasons, however our expertise in the field of information allows us the best perspective after this advice to evaluate resources for their contribution to student learning outcomes.

References

Australian School Library Association / Australian Library and Information Services Association. (2001). Learning for the future. (2nd ed). Carlton South, Vic.: Curriculum Corporation.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2014). Australian professional standards for teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards.

Department of Education and Children’s Services, Government of South Australia. (2004). Choosing and using teaching and learning materials: guidelines for preschools and schools. Hindmarsh, South Australia : DECS Publishing.

The Start of a Long, Arduous Journey to Become a Teacher Librarian

When I graduated from Macquarie University in 2017 with a BADipEd in secondary history teaching I hadn’t even heard the term teacher librarian, let alone developed an understanding of the role. Working in the library was never something I had really considered, instead I spent the first few years of my teaching career jumping between temporary positions in various primary and secondary schools.

My first few experiences with the library in a working context were delivering primary library lessons as a casual teacher and taking classes to the library for ‘information studies’ lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed these lessons in the library space, it seemed almost like another world when compared with the regular classroom environment. However, my few experiences in secondary school libraries were far different; I encountered several teacher librarians with little motivation and school cultures that tended to avoid the library at all costs. This included my current school. I was offered the position of ‘acting TL’ in Term 2 of 2019 after working casually there for a few months, as the resident teacher librarian had received a transfer. Initially I was apprehensive, but now more than ever I am so glad that I made the leap and accepted the position. I immediately fell in love with the role and the environment I was in, although it was a very steep learning curve (and still is!) and far different to any other role I had taken on previously.

After an initial discussion about my role and duties, it became clear that there was a lot to being a teacher librarian. To understand my place in the school better I first consulted the NSW DET Policy Library and looked in detail at the ‘Handbook for School Libraries’. From these documents I gathered that the role of a TL was predominantly to be the information specialist, someone who is responsible for providing resources and services for the school teaching and learning community, identifying the information needs of the community, encouraging reading and viewing and of course managing library systems and policies. ASLA’s definition of a teacher librarian similarly helped me to build my understanding, that being a teacher librarian has three main roles as curriculum leaders, information specialists and information service managers. I used these definitions as my starting point, building on the roles described and learning along the way.

Just in the first week of this course, my understanding of the role of the TL in schools has developed dramatically. Amongst my additional readings about the challenges facing libraries in a digital age, Horava (2010) states: “the challenge lies in how to balance libraries’ finite resources of money, time, and energy… No single approach will suffice because each will be important for addressing the library community’s diverse information needs and educational goals.” I think this sums up our roles as teacher librarians perfectly. There are no two learning environments the same, just as there is no one overarching approach to being a teacher librarian. The role itself is adaptive and requires us to look deeper at the needs of our specific teaching and learning community and the best ways that we can meet those needs, whether that be providing information services, collaborating with teachers on learning programs or providing specialist assistance to students and staff alike.

References

Horava, T. (2010). Challenges and Possibilities for Collection Management in a Digital Age. Library Resources & Technical Services, 54(3), 142-152. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.54n3.142

NSW Department of Education. (2020). Library Policy – Schools | Policy library. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://policies.education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/library-policy-schools.

What is a Teacher Librarian?. Asla.org.au. (2020). Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://www.asla.org.au/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.