A reflection on the development of knowledge, skills and understanding

At the commencement of this course I had very little understanding of the role of the teacher librarian. Initially my preconceived ideas were the teacher librarian had a modest amount of teaching experience, if any at all (McMullen, 2010a). Their role I assumed was to manage the library by loaning books, sorting the collection and doing all the duties you would expect of a librarian. It had not occurred to me at this stage that a librarian in a school would also hold a formal teaching degree. And that this pedagogical knowledge would be needed on a daily basis to inform the teacher librarian of the needs of the learning community. Walter (2008, p. 2) contends that this opinion persists largely in the wider academic community possibly due to the lack of a teacher librarian’s teaching ‘responsibility’ within a classroom. However, I have come to understand that although the role of the teacher librarian does not place them within a classroom teacher librarians are still responsible for learning that occurs within the school. Further, the physical building of the library acts as a classroom in which the teacher librarian is responsible for student learning by providing a variety of services including the supply of resources.

Throughout the course there has been a range of perceptions presented on the role of the teacher librarian. Henri (2005a) simplifies the role of the teacher librarian into six functional categories: leadership, teaching, curriculum involvement, management, the promotion of literature, and provision of services. The Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians (Australian Library and Information Association & Australian Schools Library Association [ALIA & ASLA], 2005) accentuates Henri’s dissection of the TL’s role in emphasizing the knowledge, practices and commitment expected of excellent teacher librarians. However, it must be acknowledged that although there is a ‘generic’ statement on the knowledge, practices and commitment (ASLA & ALIA, 2005) of a teacher librarian there will always be variation to the role in individual schools. Further, through face-to-face discussions with my peers and perusing the Interact forums I have come to understand the role of the teacher librarian will vary between primary and secondary schools.

In my teaching experiences in two different schools I have met two teacher librarians who had completed their training within a few years of each other. These two teacher librarians showed completely different attitudes towards their role in the school community (McMullen, 2010b, 2010c, 2010d). Teacher librarian A was an outgoing individual who took on a technology coordinator’s role within the school to keep in contact with staff and executives. Further, he became the Union Representative such that if teachers needed advice they would have to venture into the library to see him. In contrast to this individual is Teacher librarian B. This teacher librarian appears to offer little support to students and teachers and remarked to myself that he would be of little use as a mentor as he completed his studies over three decades ago (McMullen, 2010d). These observations have developed my thinking and appreciation of the role that I wish to play in the school learning environment.

Over the past few months a range of literature has been read that has developed my understanding of the position of the teacher librarian in a school. I have come to understand that the role of the teacher librarian is a leader and innovator in many fields. The teacher librarian impacts on the professional development of teachers (Thompson, 2002, pp. 234-235) and other staff members as well as on the development of learning initiatives in the school. As the ‘keeper of information’ it is the responsibility of the teacher librarian to ensure the information literacy is a key focus within the school (Herring, 2007, p. 32). And in the creation of ‘information literate school communities’ teachers are prepared for change as technological and pedagogical developments are occurring at a rapid pace (Henri, 2005b, p. 18). The creation of this ‘information literate school community’ through information literacy and resource-based learning tasks seems to be at the centre of current pedagogical initiatives.

Throughout this course I may have not developed skills in the management of a library and the daily duties of a librarian but I have developed a range of technological skills that will help me in my future role. These skills include the use of blogs, websites, and pathfinders to enhance student learning. The development of these skills has enabled me to understand the importance of different learning strategies to increase student use of print and electronic media. It has further demonstrated the role of the teacher librarian as a collaborator with teachers to allow for the teacher librarian to resource the curriculum and provide learning opportunities for students and teachers (Martineau, 2010).

In this entry I have tried to synthesise the skills, knowledge and understanding that I have developed in this course. While this entry is not extensive it provides a view of my development towards becoming an accredited teacher librarian. I have developed from a teacher who had little understanding of the impact a well utilised librarian can have on my professional development and student learning, to a novice teacher librarian beginning to fully realise what she’s got herself into.

(Topic 2 Forum post copied to blog for convenience)

In regards to most of the forum discussion questions I don't feel that I can contribute much as I'm not in a TL position, nor permanently fixed in a school.

However I think it is important for a TL to make their priorities clear before they become burdened with additional jobs to undertake as they are not 'visible' to be seen teaching. For the priorities to be made palatable to the school community I think a statement of purpose of the TL in the school should be made available to all in print form to ensure that the role is clearly understood.

(Topic 1 Forum post copied to blog for convenience)

As a newly graduated teacher I have to declare a lack of teaching experience and no library experience at all. However, here's my take on resource-based learning.

As a Design and Technology (Food and Textiles) teacher [ok we'll call it Home Economics for simplicity] I find that in a way I have been mentally prepared for RBL. A key component of our teaching is being able to multitask the different designs/recipes/techniques, etc. that students choose to and/or must undertake. Part of this has to do with Quality Teaching and student's having input into their learning as well as nurturing their creativity.
I
think that this correlates well with RBL in that students have some direction into where their learning takes them. This for the teacher and TL means that they must be able to multitask overseeing the different topics/paths that students choose to take. On saying this there are often restrictions/limits on the scope of choices students have in Textiles and Food Technology assignments and it appears to be the same for RBL. (After all who wants to create a marking criteria that covers 30 totally different assignments – although possible it is time consuming).

As a Home Ec teacher I am looking forward to incorporating RBL into my teaching skills repertoire. Much of what I have taught has been through RBT – structuring the content to be learnt and delivering it through a teacher-centred approach. At times this was done to maintain my sanity when giving students a base design/recipe to work off, ensuring curriculum content and skills were covered, and making sure OH&S was maintained. RBL will provide me with a method of teaching that I am sure will benefit all my students. It will be great for theory assignments as students can take responsibility for their own learning. It might also provide me with a bit of a break as students utilise other resources than the teacher. Hopefully this will mean that I can focus on information literacy and the process of completing an assignment while content can take a little bit of a backseat until it is time for marking.

As well as this RBL will benefit students and the teacher as there is theoretically the possibility of covering more content than often we have time for. Depending on how time is structured at your school and divided between the different disciplines you may only have two to four lessons a week face to face with students. In Food Technology we lose at least two lessons a week to practicals – a demonstration lesson and a practical lesson. In Textiles it is sometimes more than this that is spent on practical lessons. This means that we have only two lessons a week (hopefully more) to cover content. By utilising RBL teachers can set assignments through which content can be covered outside of face-to-face lessons (and yes book classes into the library in class time to ensure access to a wide range of resources other than the internet – however you would/may only need a few every so often to check on student’s progress).

I think at this point I will stop as it has become quite a long post although hopefully relevant. However I would like to add that the advent of new technologies has changed the nature of RBL as I find that students limit themselves in the resources that they use. Although there are online databases, online magazines and journals, and so on students generally limit themselves to a Google search on any subject. With the advent of technology and the expanding nature of resources it appears that we are becoming more confined by our own choices in the resources that we use.

Chapter 7

Ok so it really has been a while and looking at the screen I really am feeling guilty thinking 'why didn't I do this earlier?' Now with only a few days until the assessments are due we've hit the panic button to get things done. Isn't it amazing how things always creep up on you?

So over the past 5 weeks I've been a relief teacher in a school filling in for a teacher on long-service leave. And over that period of time I've had to prepare lessons and learn many new software programs in a bid to teach students something worthwhile. It hasn't been easy as it's my first block of work since graduating from Uni last year.

However, in that time I have on occasion been able to witness the actions of the teacher librarian. This particular librarian lives in his own little domain within the library. On occasion he will venture forth to a staffroom to speak with staff regarding Board of Studies issues. I have learnt that part of his role is liaising with the Board of Studies and being the 'know-all' for Board of Studies requirements. Now I don't mean to be critical, well actually yes I do, but what I'm trying to say is that this teacher librarian appears to do very little after all is said and done. As far as I'm aware he is not on any committees within the school and was not very helpful when I asked questions of him. Apparently if you gained you degree 30 years ago with a Diploma of Education you have very little to offer the novice librarian or so he thought. What he has in fact given me is the motivation to be a better teacher librarian, to learn more about the different roles that I can take in the school to make my library a busy and exciting place to be.

That's it for now
Courtney

Chapter 6

Ok so I know I haven't blogged in a while but I do have my good excuses. I've been teaching five days a week at a school filling in for a teacher on long-service leave. I've also been learning many new computer programs in my bid to help students with their assessment tasks and theory requirements. It has been a busy time.

Although I haven't been focussing on the role of the TL I have had a ring-side seat to some of the interactions that occur between a TL and teachers.
I have come to realise through my many casual days that although there are many jobs a TL has to undertake as part of their role there will be other roles that they will undertake depending on the school's needs. For example a TL may need to be excellent with computers and take on a technology co-ordinator role within the school. Or the TL may become the school Board of Studies expert ensuring compliance of teachers and students to curriculum requirements.

That's all for now

A vexing question...

As I sit here sick with the flu and writing for the assignments due in less than a week a question occurs to my lucid mind...

Do teacher-librarians get sick (colds and flu) less than their classroom counterparts do?

The most obvious answer to my mind is yes because they are not located in faculties where illness gets passed around and they may have less contact with students and teachers (lets face it - not every school is encouraging RBL and they don't have face-to-face lessons every period and move from room to room).

This will bother me all night.
Courtney

Chapter 5

So I went to the school and did a day of volunteer work in the library again. It was a relatively quiet day so I didn't get to do much apart from look up books on SCIS. Apparently not all books end up on there especially academic remainders. I also got to edit information in OASIS on two books although apparently this isn't really the domain of the TL. However it is a starting point for when it comes time to put websites into OASIS.

I also got to meet a bookseller who travels to schools and it was interesting standing in the freezing winds as we looked through the books in the boot of her car.

Apart from this nothing much else happened which was quite boring in a way. At any rate it's giving me some more time to spend on the copious amounts of study I need to do.

(Can anyone else not study in the evening?)

Chapter 4

Ok so I know I meant to come home Friday and blog about my wonderful, inspiring, fun and exciting day volunteering in a local school library. But truth be told I was just too exhausted! But better late then never. Here goes -

I was so excited to finally get into a school library to see what a TL does within the course of their day (and also pick up information to write about in assignments). I learnt about accessioning, cataloguing, how to put information into OASIS, how to loan and return items, about SCIS, about a program to share televisions programs between schools and much more. The TL and his sidekick are going to train me from the basic up .

Throughout the course of the day I helped pick out books for a Year 8 English class studying fantasy and science fiction. I returned books to shelves and learnt that I really do need to revisit my ABCs.

But perhaps the best part of the day was the conversation I had with the TL about how times have changed in the school library with the increasing use of digital media, the impact of the little laptops, the impact of computer classrooms and the positioning of the library within the school.
He has essentially taken on more of an IT role within the school as a result and the TSO (technology support officer) is located in the library as well.

I learnt so much in one day and it made me believe that all the stress, late nights, lost sleep and panic attacks as assignments get done will be worth it in the end.

That's all for now
Courtney

Chapter 3

So I was meant to go to a local school earlier this week to do a day's volunteer work in the library. This changed when I was called in to do 3 days of work at a school so I've rescheduled for Friday. In the meantime I haven't had much chance to do study but I am trying to cram it in tonight as I'm starting to get stressed about the assignments. I originally planned to spend all of Thursday of studying however I have been asked to work (Yay money) and i'm refusing to give up my unpaid day in the library on Friday for the sake of the assignments. (At least I will meet people at this other school and hopefullly pick up some casual work there).

What I have learnt so far this week:
*The standards produced by ASLA are great. It's nice to be acknowledged as needing a separate set of standards to show that we are trained both as teachers and librarians.
*I like Haycock's definition of Information literacy. It's nice and simple yet covers what it needs to. I know that there are many different definitions however some of these can be hard to understand from the language used and when explaining to someone else it's nice to be able to put it concisely.
*Haycock's article also showed me that the role of the principal is critical to the development of the school (priorities, culture and resources). [I agree with this on so many levels]. The principal is the key factor to the development and success of a school library program as well as ensuring that the TL is used effectively as a resource.
*Oberg's 'developing the respect' article describes how TLs must be seen as leaders in the school. Often they are forgotten about or not even thought about as teachers. The article also outlines how a principal's support can impact on the library and the many roles a principal plays in supporting the library.

That's all for now

Chapter 2

So I am feeling a little overwhelmed this week with all the work to do. I really need to catch up on my readings for both courses and actually take in what is being said in each.

At this stage I haven't really advanced my understanding of the role of the TL. Although it is making me question the role each TL plays in individual schools. For example, I taught casually at a school this week. During the lunch-break I thought I would use the time to 'network' with the TL. This took all of two minutes and consisted of 'hi' and not much else. It seemed as though this TL really couldn't care less about networking. I did find out as part of the conversation that he graduated as a TL sometime in the 80's so I am unsure as to whether his training affects his attidudes (and he has had little professional development since) or whether he has been moulded to the stereotypical image of what a TL does.

After reading bits and pieces of the readings for Module 2 I am starting to understand the vital role a principal plays in the development of a school library program. When I do find employment as a TL in the future I will be making sure that as my supervisor the principal has regular meetings with me to ensure that the library and I are effectively contributing to student learning. As much as I thought the role was about the stereotype of the TL upon learning more I want to change people's perceptions and make a visible contribution to the school. I don't want to become invisible or bored. I will make sure that I regularly attend school meetings whether they be staff meetings, P&C meetings, literacy meetings, etc. Perhaps I might even start a school library meeting with a member of each faculty to attend (even if I have to bribe them with cake!).

Today I contacted a local school with the intention of asking to undertake some volunteer work in the library. I spoke to the TL who is keen for the idea. Although much more of a talker than before said TL, again I was presented with the similar information - graduated in '84 and is not up-to-date on the latest research affecting TLs. I will meet with him next week at the school and spend the day watching and learning. (I currently have no experience in a school library and some experience would look good on my CV). Hopefully I will have more of a view on the role and responsibilities of the TL next week as well as skills in using the technology and programs in the library.

On this note I think I will stop as my brain is fuzzy with information. However one thing I have learnt today is not to use the nice bottle of Verdelho your mother is currently drinking to cook with because it may get you into trouble.

Goodnight all.

Chapter 1

Ok so while I have a little time left on my hands I think it would be astute of me to post what I think the Teacher-Librarian role is about as a starting point for my learning journey.

Initially before I started this course I didn't really know anything about the teacher-librarian's role in the school. I didn't even realise they were a teacher (duh!). My preconceptions were that the librarian was there to manage the library - to loan books to students, follow up on their return, care for the books, buy new books, etc.. It never really occurred to me that there were many other aspects to the position.

As I started the readings for this course (ETL401) my eyes began to open wide. Oh no - you mean I have to do so much more than look after books! But on further reading it all began to make sense.

The school library is one of the most important rooms in the school. It is where students can study and learn at their own pace without teachers pushing them through the curriculum content. It is a place where answers to questions and problems are sought and constructed. It is a room full of past, present and soon-not-to-be-future resources that are at the fingertips of students. And this room is under the care of the teacher-librarian.

The role of the teacher-librarian is first and foremost to educate students. (Hence TEACHER-librarian and not librarian-teacher). As the library is the centre of information it is information skills that must be taught by the teacher-librarian. As students seek answers the teacher-librarian is there to guide students down the research path to ensure students use effective technologies and resources to solve their questions.

I think at this point my favourite definition of information literacy comes from Doyle (1994, p. 40 - in Teacher librarians and the school library[Herring, 2007, p. 33]) as he explains it as "the ability to access, evaluate, and use information from a variety of sources, to recognize when information is needed, and to know how to learn'.

So I think at this point it becomes clear that I have little understanding of the role of the Teacher-Librarian. So from here I am going to stop rambling and go back to the readings to take notes about the role of the teacher-librarian. I'll keep you updated.

Ciao

Foreword

Hi and welcome to my blog that will (hopefully) chronicle the development of my understanding of the role of the Teacher Librarian.

But before I get into that I might as well tell you a little about me.

I'm 22 (nearly 23 - oh no!) and I live at home with my parents, younger sister and a menagerie of animals in the idyllic little village of Vacy in NSW. I don't know whether you would call it a village but it is certainly small enough to classify as one. It is roughly 1 hour north-west (? - I have a terrible sense of direction) of Newcastle and is situated between Dungog, Paterson and Gresford.

I graduated from Newcastle University this year (2010) and have, as yet, been unsuccessful in finding employment. My degree is Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Design and Technology and I specialise in Textiles and Food Technology. (Although I am not a very good cook - but practicing when I can).

At this moment in time I am calling the newest addition to our family, London (kitten under six months), down out of the tree before she falls while waiting for my pie filling to cool (Chicken and Leek for dinner tonight) and taking the time to set up this blog.

So stick around as I have some cooking adventures and learn what being a Teacher-Librarian is all about.