ETL 504 The Teacher Librarian as Leader

So after an extended break I am back on track, studying again.  I am a little bit nervous but am also looking forward to it.  In this subject we are asked to critically reflect on our current views of leadership and the role of the teacher librarian  in schools.  Before I start module one I wanted to write a bit about how I currently view the leadership role.  It's probably easier if I write about what leadership is not because, honestly, most of my experience of leadership in schools has not been positive.  A leader should not become a leader for the attention and "glory".  They should not dictate what has to be done, or enforce change on others without discussion.  Leaders should show respect to all.  I think they need to be fairly amiable, and have the ability to get along with others. They need to be able to listen and take on criticism, using it for improvement.  I also think leaders, particularly in schools, have a responsibility to bring new ideas and experience to the school.  Leadership, in my opinion, can take on many different forms.  You can still be a leader without being right out there in the public eye.  A leader can and should motivate others and encourage change that leads to improvements in pedagogy and school procedures. 

How have my views on the role of the TL changed during this subject?

When I began this subject, I brought with me a set of beliefs, ideas and assumptions about the nature of the role of the teacher librarian. During my teaching career I had worked alongside teacher librarians and I had also worked temporarily as a TL for almost two terms. I thought I had a fairly realistic expectation as to what being involved being a TL but to quote Senge (2007), "the more you learn, the more acutely aware you become of your own ignorance."

On July 23rd, I wrote on my blog a list of things I thought were part of the role of the TL. I was correct in that they really were things a TL may have to do but after looking over them again I realised that these things were more 'jobs' or tasks than 'roles' or functions. Looking at it like that gave me a different (although shallow) perspective. I think I saw the TL's role as supporting teachers by collecting resources, as a information skills teacher and a library manager. Once I started the readings for Topic 2 and Assignment 1, I started making a lot of connections. When I was acting TL at our local high school, there were other aspects of the role of the TL that I 'touched on' but never realised that it actually was part of the TLs role. I was just trying to embed some Quality Teaching (QT) elements (DET 2003) into my program, make information skills lessons more interesting and useful for students and to be an obliging, helpful colleague. For example, it seemed obvious that students were not retaining and using the information skills 'learnt' from the numerous unrelated worksheets left by the previous TL, so I tried to build them into a lesson on a topic I knew they were studying in another subject. I could only see, like many others, the tip of the TL iceberg.

How have my views changed? From Assignment 1 I learnt that the role of the TL is multifaceted (Herring 2007) and have come to see the role of the TL like a spiders web (Mitchell, 2011 July 24), with threads weaving back and forth, linking different aspects. For example, leadership is one aspect of the role of the TL but it is also linked to curriculum involvement, information specialist and so on. One particular aspect is not totally separate from the others. You don't take off the collaborator hat so you can put on the teacher hat.

I have also come to realise that the role of the TL is constantly changing due to government policies, 21st century curriculum and the needs of learners, and because of that, TLs need to be flexible and creative. In my blog I expressed frustration at those librarians in a rut who are doing the same thing year in, year out and I understand what Dianne Chen (2009) is saying when she tells them to "Get out of my profession!" Being a TL is not just checking out books (Purcell 2010) or some cushy job (Mitchell, 2011, July 22) where you only have to teach a few lessons a week.

The role is a wide as it is deep. It takes a lot more than being a great reader or writer to make an excellent librarian (Osler Quotes as cited in Purcell 2010). A TL is a leader, an information specialist, a collaborative partner, a literature promoter, a library manager, a collection curator, IT specialist, an instructional partner and a curriculum innovator. And that list is conservative. I understand that there is a lot more to each of these roles than what I currently know.

I called my blog "The Information Portal", as I saw it as the entry point into the world of the TL. I wrote that the portal is both description and reflection but at the time, I didn't really understand what I was "reflecting" on or indeed what reflection involved. Most of the other blogs I had read on the internet were informative and entertaining, not reflective. So I don't feel that I really reflected on my views on the role of the TL to any great degree in my blog, but I know my views and beliefs were challenged and turned around. I told a teaching colleague a short while ago that even if I am never employed as a TL in a school, the way I think about teaching and learning has changed significantly, and that we should never underestimate the role of the teacher librarian.

References
Chen, D. (2009). Get out of my profession. School Library Journal. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/practicallyparadise/2009/10/19/get-out-of- my-profession/
Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries
in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Mitchell, K. (2011). The Information Portal. [Web Blog]. Retrieved from http://theinformationportal.blogspot.com/
NSW Dept of Education and Training. (2003). Quality Teaching in NSW Public Schools: Discussion Paper. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/docs/pdf/qt_EPSColor.pdf
Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarian's do is check out books, right? Library Media Connection. 9(3) Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=092fa675-9ae0-42a1- b3d0- 85b627de9cc6%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3Qtb Gl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ907292
Senge, P. (2007). Chapter 1: Give me a lever long enough... and single-handed I can move the world. In The Jossey-Bass reader on Educational Leadership. 2nd ed. p3-15. Retrieved from http://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/ereserve/pdf/senge-p.pdf

Aha! Moment

Yes I've had my own little aha! moment. The lightbulb is flickering due to our essential reading "Introduction to guided Inquiry - What is it, what's new, why now?" Everything we've looked at so far is connected in this article: the roles of the TL; collaboration; leadership, constructivist learning; information literacy; curriculum; the information process etc. Guided Inquiry connects all this together and in my view should be the main instructional framework for all schools.
What challenges do I foresee in the implementation of such an approach? The main one is probably getting everyone on board - teachers, parents, students, executive. I think it would work best as a whole school approach but if that was not happening you could still make a difference with just a few classes and some teacher support. You are also going to get students who lack motivation, no matter what you throw at them but I think it would be great with the majority of students.

Information Literacy: A Clarification

After some time away (due to a residential school for another subject) I am finally back into the swing of things, if just a little behind.
I have just read "Information Literacy: A Clarification" by Linda Langford and I must say that this article has really challenged me to consider and reach some sort of understanding of what information literacy is.

Throughout the article I was either saying YES or NO on various definitions/ideas, so I thought I might just list a few so you can get a basic idea on where I'm heading.

• There is a multiplicity of terms that could define "information literacy" - YESIt is defined differently by various schools of thought - YES


• It is a transfiguration - YES (if defined as "the metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting"


• An embellished view of the traditional understanding - NO, it incorporates new understanding as well


• A full transformation - Not exactly.


• A new literacy - NO


• A shift in educational thinking has occurred in that literacy is more than the ability to read and to right - YES


• Should be part of the natural discourse of teachers as they design and develop curriculum or discuss pedagogical issues - YES


• The label is fuzzy - NO I think it tells us exactly what it is "information" "literacy"


• Teachers are not clear what it means and how it relates to classroom practice - YES


• The process is unclear - YES


• There is a sense of urgency that essential learning areas include outcomes that ensure all learners become information literate - YES : In the school where I currently teach, literacy and numeracy outcomes must be imbedded in all programs. This is a step in the right direction but is not enough.


• Professionals in the information game must become literate in the field of information - YES! I know many teachers who do not know how to find information other than in a textbook.


• The needs of a society at any time determine how a society interprets a concept - YES


• Literacy is a dynamic concept - "mirrors the expanding information needs of society" - YES


• Kuhlthau (1995) To be literate was not only to recognise when information was required, but involved the ability to construct one's own knowledge through a process - YES


• To code and decode symbols...to translate symbols into meaningful messages - YES! I really like this simple definition. It doesn't explain how but it describes basically what we do with information.


• The concept of info literacy really depends on the information needs of the society of the time - YES


• Policy Directions (1990) defined info literacy as a functional literacy: the ability to read and use written information, to write appropriately in a range a contexts, and to recognise numbers and basic mathematical signs and symbols. YES this definition includes reading, writing, using (understanding) info in a range of contexts. This is how I see info literacy - as a functional literacy - necessary to function in society.


• Literacy is evolving - NO - I think the context in which we use literacy is evolving.


• There is a continuum of skills associated with literacy - YES


• Literacy itself is taking on different forms - transforming from a functional literacy through to a set of literacy - NO I dont agree. I think this is what is confusing people. Go back to the label - "INFORMATION" - this continually changes in how it is presented - "LITERACY" - making sense of this information - evolving rather than changing.


• Defining and redefining of concept could result in confusion and frustration - YES it is already!


• We are being bombarded by other concepts of literacy - YES


• Literacy is an act of semiosis - every act that records symbols of human communication outside the human body is a type of literacy and every act of communication evolves around the encoding and decoding of information - Not quite


• Literacy is fuelled by information and hence all literacy is information literacy - YES to a point


• Australian definition of literacy: to be able to function well in society which entails the ability to read, used numbers and to find information and use it appropriately. YES - this is simple and easy to understand.


• The concept of information literacy is relatively new - I think the LABEL is new, but the concept is not. I think info literacy is an evolution of the concept of literacy, the inclusion of information used to emphasise "meaning" and "understanding".


• Information literacy - a philosophy (COULD BE), a phenomenom (DEFINITELY NOT), a mere frolic with semantics. (NO WAY!)


• There is considerable support for viewing literacy as a continuously evolving concept allowing for a more liberal understanding and hence development of the initial ideal of the universal right to be able to read and write. YES


• How is information literacy defined? In terms of skills (YES), Behaviours/attitudes (YES), learning library/research skills (NO - more than that!), think critically (YES - this is a skill and an attitude), does it relate to an isolated subject (YES it is related to all subjects), an independent notion (NO), an umbrella phrase that has many parts that when meshed into a pedagogical framework, contributes to the holistic development of the individual, ...pathway to function well in society, empowered to learn independently/interdependently (Owen 1996, Kuhlthau 1995) - YES YES YES!


• A new literacy ? NO


• Still the basic literacy mirroring the expanding information needs of society (Brevik 1993) YES!


• Doyle - attributes of a person - NO


• An attainment of skills, that relies on a process. Takes on many approaches depending what part of the curriculum is in focus. YES


• Info literacy concerns itself with the mastery of processes, is a learning tool, and is also something to be learned - YES


• A lifelong goal - YES


• Knowing how to learn - YES


• Understanding of info literacy to be broadened to be inclusive, that is become the key competence for individual and societal development in Australia. YES YES YES


• We need a definition that can be interpreted universally in terms of processes and outcomes - YES


• Is it more appropriate to see this concern as a fundemental issue for all learning communities whereby each facilitator works towards the prime goal - literacy - YES but I would say the prime goal is Information Literacy.


• What needs to occur is a continuous development in educational circles to shape and deeply instil the pedagogy of info literacy as essential for the information society and hence, the learning society - YES


• It is removed from everyday classroom practice - NO not totally but teachers dont really see it as the key outcome


• Time to redefine literacy (and hence info literacy) - NO not redefine it but there is a need to give it extra PR to push it as the main aim for all programs - so it becomes an embedded practice, the natural or basic practice of teachers.

Information Literacy

Quite long but lots of great information.

The Role of Libraries and Librarians in Information Literacy

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Inquiry Learning and PBL

I've started reading about inquiry learning, PBL, constructivism, and 21st century learning and what does this mean for us at TLs.

A few points that stand out:

• student centred/student lead


• higher order thinking


• implementation of technology


• collaboration


• 24/7 anywhere,anytime learning


• adapt, adopt, modify


• cyclic inquiry model


• intuitive, deep, conceptual knowledge


• knowledge is created by dynamic interaction with the learning environment


• lifelong learners


• strategies can be interwoven


• student generated questions


• technology


• motivation

Why is this important to TLs?

• related to the information process/info literacy


• show leadership by modelling constructivism strategies


• collaborate with teachers to embed in teaching/learning strategies


• promoted by various pedagogical initiatives


• to help students develop lifelong learning skills in an info-rich environment.

I think as TLs we need to consistently think "outside the box" and consider constructivist strategies whenever we are planning units of work or activities or collaborating with teachers.

Awesome Vodcast!

Watch this excellent vodcast by Mike Eisenberg on the role and image of the TL. He advocates for a "makeover" of the school library program to ensure the TL keeps their job. He has created a to-do list to help transform our image and programs and to transform how we are perceived and what we actually deliver. First on the to-do list is to GET AN ATTITUDE, second is to embrace the BRAND, the MISSION and the FUNCTION. I won't say any more but I would love to hear what other people think about what he has to say.

What People Don't Get About Working in a Library - The Atlantic

What People Don't Get About Working in a Library - The Atlantic

Click on the link to read. It seems like the majority of people, not just school communities, are ignorant about what really goes on in the library. Some major marketing of the profession as a whole is needed for this to change.

Assignment One

I am still unsure as to what two aspects of the role of the TL I shall use in my first assignment. I have read a range a articles and still cannot decide. Do I choose aspects of the role that I personally feel are important, or do I choose aspects for which there is a lot a literature available? I was considering that TLs need to be both a qualified "teacher" and a "librarian" and what these roles may involve. The teaching aspect is essential and the role of teacher also overlaps with the role of "instructional partner". Perhaps I have been considering this because I have been teaching for some time and I feel that this has a lot to do with defining who I am. I found myself reading a lot about the role of leader and what that may entail, but I also feel the role of information specialist is important. I'm not sure where I will go to from here. I think I will re-read the Herring and Purcell articles (again!) and hope something jumps out at me. I really want to be able to start writing something concrete down.

Show Me the Evidence!

Show Me The Evidence! (Mary Jo Langhorne 2005)

• There are various studies that show school library programs have a positive impact on student achievement.


• Evidence can be locally generated in a variety of ways.


• Data can be used to enhance budget requests. Budget requests need to be carefully correlated with building instructional goals. It helps to prepare the budget professionally with a spreadsheet. Base it on analysis of the data and include school curriculum and instructional goals.


• Use the data that is at your disposal now, not when cuts are being made.


• A great resource: School Libraries Work! (Scholastic) http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf


• It is up to us to recognise this as a golden opportunity to solicit support, be visible and gain ground.

My Thoughts: I saw this article as a call to action. We are told what sort of evidence we have at our disposal and practical ways that we can use it and share it with stakeholders. I felt a sense of urgency through the article - the time to act is NOW!

Evidence Based Practice

The next part of our studies on the role of the TL looks at accountability, evidence and research. This is important for TL students to look at as it's the way all schools are going in the wake of the current economic climate. If the TL as a species wants to survive, then we have to prove how we make a difference in student learning.
In the next few posts I'm going to jot down some important ideas that I've gained from various articles on EBP.

The Evidence-Based Manifesto - Ross Todd (School Library Journal, April 08)

• Evidence-based school librarianship is an approach that involves examining research-based evidence, school-librarian observed evidence and user-reported evidence. The TL uses this evidence in order to make decisions about programs, resources and services that aid the achievement of a school's mission and goals.


• As the goals usually centre of student achievement and quality teaching and learning, EBP should focus on these as well


• School librarian ship derives its mandate from a diverse body of theoretical and empirical knowledge and active engagement with this knowledge is what enables the profession to continually transform and improve.


• All students can learn through engagement with school libraries.


• The value of a school library can be measured.


• Accountability is an essential component of sustainable development of the school library profession.


• Accountability is a commitment to growth through examining process and practice.


• It involves a move from a "tell me" framework to a "show me" framework.


• It's not about survival of TLs, it's about survival of our students.


• EBP recognises multiple sources, types of evidence and ways of gathering evidence - this develops stronger claims.


• EB school librarianship uses research derived evidence to shape and direct what we do.


• School libraries need to systematically collect evidence.


• There are 3 dimensions to EBP in school libraries: evidence for practice, evidence in practice, evidence of practice.


• TLs need EBP to show why school libraries matter today and how they help students learn.


• EBP validates that QL outcomes can be achieved though the school library and that the school librarian is an important instructional partner.


• EBP means a shift from information inputs to knowledge and skills outputs.


• "Standards For the 21st Century Learner" (AASL) provides a framework for the evidence that should be generated. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf


• There are challenges of EBP. We need to make it accessible and applicable so it can be integrated into practice.


• Locally generated evidence could be presented as a portfolio.


• EBP is no about scrambling to find additional time. It is about establishing priorities and making choices about the importance of school libraries and learning.
  

My personal thoughts on EBP:

EBP is essential for all TLs.It must be done looking at a variety of evidence types from a variety of sources. TLs must have a good understanding of the school's goals and mission and make sure their EBP follows along the same lines. Gathering evidence must be ongoing - not a one off. It must be about what is best for the students.

A Critical Thinking Approach

One of the blogs I've been following http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/ drew my attention to this article.

Maan, N. A. (2011) "A Critical Thinking Approach for Information Education" IFLA SET Bulletin, 12(2), 6-11.
This is in the whole online issue: http://www.ifla.org/files/set/Bulletin/_SET_Bulletin2011-2.pdf

In the article, information literacy is described as a "survival skill" in the information age. The article explains exactly what an information literate individual should be able to do. Information literacy has a life cycle of eleven stages according to the author who lists the stages. This is terrific information for a TL to have. It would enable a TL to benchmark where an individual is on the information literacy spectrum and allow a more individual approach. Where does critical thinking fit in all this?

"Media literacy uses the concept both as a metacognitive ability, which determines the individual’s degree of control of the process of information seeking, and as a set of skills which allow the description, analysis and evaluation of the message (Potter, 2011)."

Basically "critical thinking skills can be learnt in and applied to any domain" (Paul 1993). Four interdependant components of critical thinking are also described. I found the article really interesting as it explains in greater detail what information literacy is, how critical thinking fits into this, and what you can do to ensure your students develop these skills.

I felt this article helped me understand exactly what "information literacy" is and also how it fits into education as a whole.

The Role of the TL Continued...

Our first assignment for this subject asks us to critically compare two aspects of the views of (a) Herring and (b) Purcell on the role of the teacher librarian. Purcell's article is devoted almost entirely to the various roles the TL takes on, whereas this is only a small part of the Herring article. Purcell gives us snippets of what the different roles entail but doesn't really say why these roles are more important than others. I kind of feel we don't really find out what she thinks - we just get a brief overview. It's like, here - these are the roles and this is a little bit what they're about. Whereas I want to know a bit more why. I also don't feel she has cited enough references. Herring's chapter is presented differently. He's shown us what a few different organisations/people have said and then it's a case of you make up your own mind. Which is good in a way. Everyone's ideas about what the role of a TL is, is of course, very different. Now it's up to us to work out what aspects of the role we feel are important enough to address in our assignment. Personally, I think most aspects could be melded (is this the right word?) together under just a few titles. For example, a TL in the role of teacher, could also be described as a leader. Or, if you are a TL acting in the role of information specialist, then don't you also need to act as a leader and a teacher to fulfil your role? I'm still considering how to work around this in my assignment. Maybe this is where Purcell and Herring fall down - they don't consider how intricately woven the ties are between the different aspects of the roles.

The Herring Article

It sounds quite austere, doesn't it - "The Herring Article". For anyone not doing ETL 401, this chapter by James Herring (2007) "Teacher Librarians & The School Library" is from "Libraries In The 21st Century" edited by S. Ferguson. The information provided falls under the headings of:

• The learning and teaching context of school libraries;



• The school library mission;
  


• Standards for school libraries;



• The role of the teacher librarian;



• Information literacy in schools;



• The school library website and school intranet.
  

It's like a set of guidelines for the school teacher librarian. An extremely useful document. Every section I found interesting and packed with valuable information. I particularly liked the section on the school library website and school intranet. With the growing amount of resources available online this is one way the TL can select and group together suitable resources for students who could access them during school or outside school. As a parent and a teacher and a TL-to-be, I love the idea of teachers/faculties have their own webpages. Students would no longer to say they lost their homework/assignment sheet or didn't know when something was due, or couldn't find the info for it. Easy access - I love it!

Another youtube video but by golly, I like this one! It could be used by a TL to educate staff on the importance of information literacy and the importance of the TL role itself. It made me realise how important the role of TLs and the school community in educating students in information literacy and how broad an area this covers. I also felt a sense of urgency that we've let this go too long. Even though schools have begun teaching ICT skills and information literacy, they are still moving too slowly. There is so much more to be done, particularly in the area of enabling students to critically evaluate websites and the information they provide.

The Instructional Role of the Information Specialist

The Instructional Role of the Information Specialist

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Leadership

Leadership seems to come up in just about every article to do with the role of TLs and there are even whole articles devoted to the topic. In a nutshell, TLs show leadership to students, staff and parents. They provide leadership as a teacher, as an information specialist, as an instructional partner, and as a program administrator. Importantly, they need to show leadership in advocating information literacy as an essential part of students' education and in making it a whole school focus. In my opinion, this is the most important leadership that a TL must show. All TLs know how necessary information literacy is in today's society. Now we've just got to get everyone else to realise it too.

Role of the TL Part 2

So what else does a TL do? From a term and a half in the school library (and before starting to read about it) I would have added:

• ordering fiction/non-fiction books according to interest and need
• book repair
• crowd control (at recess/lunchtime)
• checking books in/out
• gathering resources on certain topics for teachers
• Year 7/8 information skills lessons
• managing Bookclub
• working with the library assistant (who came in one day/week and was a wealth of knowledge)
• setting up the laptop/projector for teachers/classes
• working with teachers to create units of work
• finding online resources for teachers/students
• managing the library budget

So I think I had a reasonably realistic view of what a TL did. Since beginning this subject however, I have already discovered that the above is only the tip of the iceburg. There is so much more to it that this. I see already that so much more can be done with the school library. There is only one problem. I am no longer working there (back to casual teaching!)

Just to get it off my chest, I was knocked back when I applied for the position because I did not "qualify" for retraining because I was only "three year trained". And high school experience does not count unless you are teaching in one faculty for an entire year. So I am retraining on my own, completing single subjects until I have enough for a degree as I am also enrolled in the Grad. Dip of Mathematics course. I love both library and maths and still cannot choose between the two, so I decided to do both. If possible, I intend on doing another two TL subjects over the Christmas hols, so we shall see how I go.

What does a TL do? PART 1

Well it depends who you ask, doesn't it. Ever watched "The Librarians"? on ABC TV?



I loved it but it doesn't really do much for the public's perception of a librarian.

Have you seen this before?

I'd love to get one, if only to prompt discussion into people's perceptions of librarians.

When I got a term's work as a TL at our local highschool, a lot of people (other teacher's included) told me how lucky I was to land such a cushy job. I only had nine lessons a fortnight.

I wasn't given an awful lot of guidance from the previous TL, so I pretty much made it up as I went along, backed up by 17 years teaching experience and google.

The school library layout had hardly changed in the previous ten years, so that was the first thing I did. I googled and looked at library design and read about that the library should be welcoming and the centre of the school and have lots of different spaces to cater for different people and so on. I made and laminated signs showing what resources were where. A projector had recently been installed so things had to be arranged around that as well. I only wish I had taken before photos.

So I suppose looking at this, a TL is an interior designer of sorts. I mean, you have to create a welcoming environment, don't you.