Critical Synthesis - ETL401

Task C A critical synthesis of your reflection on how your view of the role of the teacher librarian may have changed during the subject. This should include examples captured from your personal blog and from participation in the ETL401 forum (about 750 words).

I have gained tremendous insights into the role of the teacher librarian (TL) since starting this course in March 2011. My background has been teaching Outdoor Education and PE for the last fifteen years, but my love for children’s literature and teaching has led me to this course. My initial views of the role of a TL were to read children a story and help them borrow their books - see blog entry The journey has begun. As a relieving TL for a term in 1998 that is all I covered. I realise now how naive I was.

Starting the course I felt quite nervous and overwhelmed with the extent and diversity of information to get through, and discovered many other students had similar feelings, see forum ETL401 post, 'Overwhelmed' by Kathy Douglas (March 16th, 2011). After some initial reading on the role of TL, a major concern was my lack of detailed ICT knowledge. After speaking with Ashley Freeman (Course Director at CSU) at the student orientation in Melbourne I was reassured that if I had the internet and a willingness to learn I would get there. Olivia Bisgnai-Piepers forum post in the role of TL (3 May, 2011) alerted me to the concept that a TL needs to keep abreast of emerging technology but also that it is crucial to choose the right technology for the particular student needs, see blog An essential role of the TL.

The Herring (2007), Lamb and Johnson (2008) and Purcell (2010) articles revealed the multifaceted roles of the TL, see blog  The extensive role of the TL. Purcell's (2010) article identifies several roles of a TL  -a leader, instructional partner, information specialist, teacher and programme administrator. This multitude of roles made me question if any person existed with all of these attributes. My knowledge of these roles has begun to unfold, on my journey to a better understanding of the work of the TL.

Within my fourth blog entry, titled The Role of the TL continues, I inserted a Youtube video by Eisenberg, (via a forum post by Williams (10 March, 2011) titled, “You Gotta Check This Out!”).  Eisenberg’s presentation highlighted a major mission of the TL is to ensure that our students are effective users and producers of ideas of information and are information literate!

What is information literacy (IL) and how do we teach students to become information literate? One issue surrounding information literacy is that there is no clear and agreed definition -see blog  Information Literacy - A definition in progress. Through this course I am developing my own definition, but I am sure this process will continue to evolve. Reading other perspectives on the Topic 4 forum, such as Irene Lu post titled “My view about Info Lit” (14 April, 2011), assisted me in strengthening my own thoughts on information literacy. IL is more that just skills and must include critical thinking and attitudes for lifelong learning. The IL models are a valuable resource, see blog IL processes and ISP, as they not only provide school students with a vital scaffold for critical and lifelong learning but also provided me with a process that I can use for my own information seeking process.

There are many people studying this course who are currently working as a TL or a teacher in a school. I have found their contributions in the forums extremely insightful in creating a picture, both positive and negative, of what is happening in schools. Collaborative schools are essential for success Fullan (1999). An excellent example of positive collaboration was posted by Rebecca Taylor, Topic 5,  'My lucky experience' (10 May, 2011) and how “it is NOT hard to be part of a well oiled, efficient team who have the needs of learner at their hearts”. The forums provide a type of networking and peer learning, which can be extended by joining professional TL networks and working collaboratively once in the school.

On reflection, I find a common thread through all the roles of the TL is developing relationships – with teachers, administrators, principals, students and parents – the whole school community. In Topic 2, The Role of the TL, the Vivan Harris post titled 'Relationship is a key role of TL' (27 March, 2011) was informative and I followed this up with my blog TL developing relationships. Surely creating a shared vision, policy making, curriculum planing and transfer, collaboration and evaluation would be a lot smoother and more effective if strong relationships are established. I am amazed at how much I have learnt over the few months of this course and I am excited to what the future learning of teacher librarianship holds.

References
Fullan, M. (1999). Deep meaning of inside collaboration. In Change forces : the sequel (pp.31-41). London : Falmer Press

Herring, J. (2007). “Teacher librarians and the school library” in Ferguson, S Ed, Libraries in the 21st century: charting new directions in information services. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), pp. 30-33.

Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: a dynamic collaborator, teacher, and technologist. [Article]. Teacher Librarian, 36(2), pp. 74-78.

Web 2.0 Tools!

An interactive book, how amazing!

 

TL developing relationships

"Developing relationships must be a constant goal of that school librarian" Howard (2009, p.44). When the teacher librarian portrays or more importantly shows a genuine interest in the school community he/she will develop stronger relationships that will assist in the implementation of the library program.

The nature of a TL’s work is empowering others, and building relationships with other educators, which can be limited by their physical isolation in the library and by scheduling. To overcome this, TLs can organise regular workshops for school staff at staff meeting or PD days to help them develop their information literacy processes and continually improve how IL can be developed across the curriculum. Provide useful handouts with tips for using the best sources of information; how to evaluate information in a variety of formats, including the Web; and how to guide students learning. Provide an orientation session for new school staff to inform them of IL across the curriculum and the school IL policy. TLs need to work with the principal and school executive to establish a shared vision and an information literate school policy. A close alignment between the principals vision and the teacher-librarian's vision is of benefit to all parties involved Oberg (2006).

TLs need to be  trained in effective collaboration and work on relationships with the teachers in their school. It is important for the TL to be a good leader and work with the leadership team of the school to develop a shared vision, effective communication across the school towards building a mutual trust amongst the whole school community Oberg (2007).

References
Oberg.D.,(2006) Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian; Feb 2006; 33 (3) pg 13-18


Haycock.K (2007) Collaboration: Critical Success Factors for Student Learning.School libraries Worldwide; Jan 2007; 13 (1) pg25-35

Howard. J., (2009) Advocacy through Relationships. School Library Monthly/Volume XXVI, Number 2/October 2009

An essential role of the TL

After reading a forum post in Topic 2, by Olivia Bisgnai-Piepers dated 3 May 2011, it has inspired me to investigate this concept and view point. For this concept  of the ‘teacher librarian 2.0’ (Kirkland, 2007) is definitely new to me.  It is important for teacher librarians to continually keep updated on the ever emerging technology. However the vital component is using their judgement on how and when, and which technological tool to choose for the learning situation. But the tool should not been seen as and easy approach to answering the task at hand. TLs need to use their judgement on what is the most effective technological tool and teaching strategy to use to bring out the best learning outcomes for the class as a whole and for the individual students too.

By students using these tools it can make for a motivating and enriching experience, but guidance is required. Students need to be directed and taught how to best use these tools and how to decipher the huge amount of information around them. The point is that student can assess these technological tools 24/7 and they can implement their own reflection and critical thinking.

References

Kirkland, A. B. (2007). Becoming teacher-librarian 2.0. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library & Information Practice & Research, 2(1), 1-4.

Naslund, J.-A., & Giustini, D. (2008). Towards school library 2.0: An introduction to social software tools for teacher librarians. School Libraries Worldwide, 14(2), 55-67.

Information Literacy processes and ISP

After investigating the Information Search Process (ISP), which has been founded in over two decades of research (Kuhlthau, 2004). It has definately  provided me with an insight into a information literacy model. The model of the ISP describes thoughts, actions and feelings in six stages of inquiry: initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation. I have found Kuhlthau's writings (2004, 2007) very interesting to read and her foundations are well supported by a number of theorists such as Dewey, Bruner and Vgotsky.

As I work on my second assignment for ELT401, I feel like the ISP process applies to me. I am going through all the six stages. I can really relate to the feelings component at the beginning of an assignment where one feels confused and  overwhelmed. I am hoping that with time and persistance I can increase my confidence and knowledge to complete this assignment.
References

Kuhlthau, C. C. Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari. A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st centuryKuhlthau, C. C. (2004) Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services, 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Collaboration is very important

I think collaboration is the key to providing a terrific school learning environment and student success. Louis and Kruse (1995) provide explicit evidence that schools that collaborate had much better student performance than those who did not.It is important that teachers and schools have a clear purpose for all student learning and to engage in collaborative planning to achieve this purpose. I have found that quite often teachers work with their own group of children in their classroom working hard to cover the curriculum and they are isolated from the rest of the school, most of the time not intentionally. The school and all the teacher involved need to get together to plan strategically. We need to work together to place students needs at the forefront and to share our skills and processes.Effective collaborative cultures value diversity because that is how we can get different perspectives. Hopefully a school culture is developed where we should not be worried about offending others, but approach it in an idea sharing and team building activity Fullan (1999, p.37). I really value working with other teachers, sharing knowledge and team teaching, it is extremely effective for both student and teacher learning. There definitely has to be more time set aside for collaboration!

References
Fullan, M. (1999). Chapter 3: The deep meaning of inside collaboration. In Change forces: The sequel, (pp.31-41). London, Falmer Press.

We are bombared with huge amounts of information.

As I keep reading about the role of the TL and to try and find my own definition of information literacy, I realise that so much time is taken just wading through the masses amounts of information. I think now  more than ever we have the biggest amount of information and we need to firstly work out a process of how we as potential TLs decipher through this information and secondly how we guide our students through this process. We want to create info-smart learners!

I found Herring's article (2006) very interesting. For students are bombarded with a mammoth amount of information. A major goal of IL would be to create a “smart learner, one: who thinks about the learning process as well as the content of what is being learned; who uses various skills in thinking, planning, reading, analysing, synthesising and communicating when learning; who recognises the value of learning resources whether they are in print, electronic or human format; and who adopts and adapts new technologies to suit her/his learning style Herring (p.21 2006). A main point here is that the learning process has to best suit the students learning style. Herring goes on to discuss that a key problem is that we do not ask our students about how they function as learners. If we gained feedback from students about the skills they use or don't use this would definitely assist in highlighting the needs of our students in information literacy. A simple questionnaire or a reflective journal could be excellent methods to achieve this aim.

References

Herring, J. (2006) The info-smart learner's toolkit : information literacy, intranets, and learning and teaching websites. Access; v.20 n.3 p.21-25;