PART C ~ THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Where are the books? This was the question I asked myself very early on in this process. Before I started this course I had a mental model of myself settled into the school library, surrounded by books, happy to be the stereotypical librarian, bun and everything! The children’s book section would be my forte, there would be nothing I didn’t know…after all, I would be the ‘master’ in it. My first blog entry(17/2 The beginning of a journey) backed this up in that my greatest role model for TLs so far was my primary school TL and she was all about the books! It didn’t take long for my mental model to start changing.

“I waver between thinking I'm entering a dying profession to feeling daunted by the mammoth task ahead of us as we reinvigorate/reinvent the TL profession and place of libraries in the school community.” (Claire Treloar, ETL 401 – Topic 1, 14/4). As I moved through the topics and took on more and more information, this quote became more applicable to me. Reading about what a TL can do and should do made me doubt my ability to do it. Have I chosen the right path? Can I do this? Can I meet the standards for professional excellence? And the big one…will there be a job for me at the end of this?

The role of the teacher librarian. What is it? I have already touched on my mental model; not at all the reality. According to the literature that I have been exposed to so far, the teacher librarian should be a leader, a mentor, a media specialist, an expert in all areas of the curriculum; the list could go on. According to ASLA, teacher librarians “support and implement the vision of their school communities through advocating and building effective library and information services and programs that contribute to the development of lifelong learners” (ASLA, 2004). To me, that is what I want to be. I want to have the kind of impact that is implied from this statement. Teaching, to me, has always been about the effect we have on our students. It reminds me of the bumper sticker “if you can read this, thank a teacher!” Too often our profession is denigrated in the media and who hasn’t had to defend the amount of holidays we apparently enjoy? But, without us, where would the world be? My point to this is that I have started to see the role of a TL as the ‘teacher’s teacher’. The TL has access to all to these amazing skills and resources that can make the life of a teacher better, not just in their own practice, but for the students that they teach. Through collaboration, the units of work that are planned can be real and meaningful for the students, as well as teaching them skills that they will need, not only as they move through their education, but also for life. In an earlier blog entry, (16/4 Topic 3 - Teacher Librarians (TL) and curriculum development) I explored this after the question was posed ‘how are students disadvantaged in schools that exclude the teacher librarian from curriculum development?’ I believe that if a school is fortunate enough to have a TL on staff, then they should use him/her to their fullest capacity. Through this topic I was also introduced to the writings of Sue Spence. What she has achieved is phenomenal and really helped me to develop a more realistic view of what a TL can do and is capable of, as opposed to my original mental model!

A lot of evidence that has been presented regarding the impact that TLs can have on student achievement; both in Australia and overseas. However, so much of this literature is not read by those who should be exposed to it; the principals of our schools. If they are unaware of what a TL is capable of, then the school will miss out. Watts (1999 p. 29) made this clear in her article entitled “The teacher librarian past: A literature review” She stated that “there is no shortage of experienced, informed, and enlightened writers charting the evolution and future prospects of the Australian teacher librarian…the basic flaw is in its limited audience.” Since I have been made aware of this flaw, I have been discussing my learning with my colleagues and principal. In our school the TL role has been non existent in the past and I am determined to reverse that. I believe that our students can only benefit from this.





REFERENCES FOR PART C

Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) (2004) Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved on 23 April 2009 from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/TLstandards.pdf


Schaap, T.L. (2009), A Journey Of Discovery. http://tltania.blogspot.com/ (various entries)


Spence, S. (2005). The Teacher librarian toolkit for an information literate school community. In J. Henri and M. Asselin (Eds.), The information literate school community 2: Issues of leadership (pp 135 – 145) Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.


Treloar, C. (2009, April 14). Re: Daunted. ETL401 forum posting-Topic 1 –School libraries in Australia subforum. Message posted to http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=frameset&forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_Sub4_forum&message_id=3774704


Watts, J. (1999).The teacher librarian past: a literature review. In J Henri, The Information literate school community: best practice (pp 29 - 42) Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

What an impact!

A very quick post becasue I am in the middle of finishing off assignment 2, but I had to share. In the process of having a quick study break, I was checking my emails and there was a message from a site I subscribe to, 'Essential Baby'. Quite often I delete these missives without opening them ( I am past the stage of 'What to feed your 6 month old'!), but today I did as the topic was about creating a smooth transition to school. As my daughter will take this mammoth leap next year I thought it was worth a read.

As I scrolled down the page, there was a link to an article about libraries...yes, the same one that Roy was quoted in. This article seems to have made a big impact! Although, to be honest, libraries have always been my first port of call for books etc, whether there is an economic downturn or not. Libraries provide a window into other lands, other worlds, other lives...how? Through the collection of books that line their shelves. My children already love visiting the library and we try to visit as often as possible. Children need to be immersed in literature and see the significant adults in their lives doing the same thing if they are going to love reading...oh, wait, that is a whole other bandwagon! Must get on and finish this assignment!

Just wanted to show how far that article had travelled!! See the link below if you haven't had a chance to read it yet.
http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/parenting/kids/book-now-libraries-are-top-shelf-in-family-attractions-20090601-bs5j.html

Collaborative practice...BRING IT ON!

Reading through topic 5 about collaborative practice, I am finding it difficult to understand why teachers would NOT want to collaborate. Throughout my teaching, I have always sought to collaborate with other teachers. Not only is it better for your students, as they get the benefit of 'two heads are better than one', it is also good for your professional practice to see what others are doing.

However, both schools I have worked in have not had qualified TL's on staff. I guess the collaboration I have experienced is between other classroom teachers as opposed to CPT. The first school I taught at had a teacher in the library, but not a TL. She would plan her lessons for library lessons, but other than that, there was no collaboration. My school now is too small for a TL (or a teacher in the library!), but in terms of collaboration, we often have whole staff planning days, going through what each class is doing and preparing whole school inquiry based units of work. Although there is no TL in attendance, I believe that this collaboration is of great benefit both to our students and to us as professionals. Maybe as I continue through this course, I will have the expertise to provide more to these sessions, particualrly in the area of working towards an ILSC. I am already getting excited about introducing one of the information skills models that I have been looking at. I can see that these would be of a HUGE benefit to our students.

Look out term 3 planning day...my head is bursting with ideas!! Collaboration can only BE positive...surely...

I dream of Quadrant II (topic 6)

So, I am currently going back through my readings, catching up on ones I have not done, refreshing the brain cells on those that I have read in regards to writing assignment 2. Way too much for my head to handle (I think to myself) but press on I must!

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I attended a conference with James Nottingham as the speaker. During his presentations, he touched on the work of Stephen Covey. "Oh, I've read him" I thought to myself smugly as I glanced around at blank faces of my colleagues. "I am so up with it!" Well, yes, I had read it, but in the context of...."Oh, I have so much reading to do, I'll just quickly skim this one, this one and this one and at least I can say I have read them." Therefore, I hadn't so much read Covey's work as recognised the name and had a very vague idea of his work.

So, this morning in my quest for a deeper understanding so that I can actually assemble something that hopefully meets the criteria of assignment 2, I re-read Covey. Ummm, possibly helpful some time ago...not just in the context of this course but in my life! I think that I spend the majority of time anywhere but in Quadrant II. I am a born procrastintor and always tell myself that 'I work better under pressure'. Therefore, I wait and wait until... BAM... I have an assignment due, reports to write, units to plan etc etc and they need to be in next week or tomorrow or today and I do it. I need crises to get things done. I live in Quadrant I. Everything else falls by the wayside (family, friends) until I meet these deadlines. Then, I can take time out for these things again, pushing all else onto the backburner until....BAM....the cycle starts again. It is how I have always worked and this has worked for me in the past. BUT (and this is a BIG but), when I was completing my BA/BT and when I began work as a teacher, the only person I had to think about was me. I was young and single and it was all about me!! Now, as I battle through this course with the same mindset that has always worked before, I have forgotten to take some very important people into consideration...namely my husband and 2 daughters. I can't just push them aside while I get on with completing something that I have had weeks to do, but choose to leave till the last moment. A hungry family waits for no man (or essay!). Nor does a 4 year old who desperately wants to show Mummy something that she has done at kinder. Or, indeed, a 21 month old who has taken to turning the computer off at just the wrong moment if Mummy is spending too much time on it and not enough with her. Time management has never been my strong point, but I think that after reading Covey, I must make a real effort to work within the confines of Quadrant II. Maybe then, I will have a better balance, both personally and professionally. I know my kids would appreciate it!!

Lost in 'The Pit' and floating away on a sea of readings...

Oh boy...this blog has seriously fallen by the wayside of late. Trying to get through readings, writing, submitting and then panicking about assignment 1 and now double the panic re: assignment 2 and this is coming last on a long list of 'to-do's'.

Personally I am feeling a little lost and confused. Everything seems to be piling up and trying to find time to fit it all in is beginning to stress me a little. Actually, that would be a lot! Reading through the forums on ETL 401, I can see that others feel the same, but that is the problem with DE. No 'face to face'. I constantly feel like I am on my little boat in the giant sea of unread readings, blogs, forum posts etc, etc, with no one to turn to and I am drowning. A good friend of mine is completing a masters that involves going to lectures etc and she thinks that this is what helps her to keep going and keep up the motivation. I think that I am the sort of person who needs to feel accountable to someone....turning up to lectures with the readings etc done would make me feel accountable...doing it on my own makes it very easy to push it aside and go and do something else! Then, I get to this point and I start to panic. What to do???

I was very fortunate last week to attend a conference with James Nottingham as the guest speaker. I highly recommend his work...check out his blog at http://sustainedsuccess.blogspot.com/ . He spoke about mind sets and having either a fixed or growth mindset. Listening to him speak, I thought...yes, definitely a fixed mindset here. Don't want to take risks and just want things to be easy. I have been quite happy in my fixed mindset for the past 30 odd years. Then, some crazy part of me last year decided to try something a little harder, something to 'make me wobble', something to work on my growth mindset. What was this I hear you ask?? Enrolling to do this course! And James...boy have I been wobbling! I am feeling confused, unsure and downright scared. I am deep into the 'learning pit'. I am only hoping that I can find my way out before the the end of this subject...or maybe it will take until I complete the degree! I hope not...I don't like being in 'the pit'! Perhaps I should use the Big6 or PLUS or maybe Kuhlthau's ISP to help me get out of the pit. Or maybe I should just do some more readings....

Topic 3 – Teacher Librarians (TL) and curriculum development

Some questions I have pondered from Topic 3....

What is an appropriate role for the TL in curriculum development?
So far in my learning I have discovered the vital role that a TL can/should be playing in a school in terms of providing the necessary support and assistance in creating a resource based learning environment. Therefore, based on this, I feel that a TL should definitely be playing a role within curriculum development. In their role of ‘media specialist’, their expertise and their knowledge of resources available should be the starting point when beginning to plan new units of work.

What benefits can a school obtain from the active involvement of the TL in curriculum development?
The school can benefit greatly from active involvement from the TL. In terms of a resource based learning model, Campbell et al (2002) outlines the success of a unit that had been planned by both the class teacher and the TL, as opposed to the very much teacher directed unit that was also discussed. As a teacher, I know which unit sounds preferable to plan and teach – the one with the more active student involvement where the students are engaged and learning about something they are really interested in.
Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) supports inquiry based learning. Inquiry learning and planning can only be enhanced with input from a qualified TL. A TL can bring skills that may not otherwise be available.

Should a principal expect teachers would plan units of work with the TL?
Yes, I think that a principal should expect and encourage collaboration within his/her staff. Relating to VELS and inquiry learning again, when planning a scope and sequence for this, the TL should definitely be involved. Apart from any other factors, the TL needs to be ‘in the loop’ in order to ensure that there are appropriate resources available. Also, the inquiry model aims to support students in becoming autonomous learners, which, in my understanding, is what resource based learning is about. Therefore, who better to collaborate with than the TL?

How are students disadvantaged in schools that exclude the teacher librarian from curriculum development?
Students can be disadvantaged in many ways. If the TL is not involved in collaboration, then the TL may not be ‘seen’ by the school community. The library itself will be seen by students as ‘the place where the books are stored’ (a view that the students at my school hold I am sure), rather than the exciting learning hub that it can be. The teachers themselves could miss out on a wealth of knowledge which no doubt would be beneficial to the students they are teaching. Readings I have completed so far have shown evidence of increased student achievement when the TL is actively involved in curriculum development.
It just seems to me to be common sense that if a school is lucky enough to have a fully qualified TL on staff that they should utilise this ‘human resource’ to his/her fullest potential!


Campbell, L., Flageolle, P., Griffith, S., & Wojcik, C. (2002). Resource-based learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. (Wiki-based version of the original publication by Association for Educational Communications and Technology).

Topic 2 - The role of the teacher librarian

This topic was a real eye opener for me. To be honest, before I started this course, I had a fairly narrow view of a TL’s role. In my career I have worked in 2 schools, neither of which have had a qualified TL on staff (as I mentioned in my last post). As far as I can tell, both people who were in charge of these libraries have seen their role purely as a collection management one. In the case of the first school I worked in, the staff member in question was a qualified teacher and so was also in charge of teaching some primary library lessons. The school I currently teach in is staffed by someone without qualifications in either teaching or librarianship, so it is all about collection management. In my reading, a quote from Dianne Oberg (2006) caught my eye; ‘teacher librarians need to hold both teacher and librarianship qualifications to be effective.’ This summed it up for me in terms of my professional experience so far.

The readings I have done, particularly in this topic, have shown me what a TL can do and how it can benefit the school. Hartzell (2002) says that ‘one great barrier to full library utilization is a lack of faculty awareness of what the library and librarian have to offer. Exposure to and experience working with effective school librarians is a first step in correcting that deficiency.’ This rings true for me as I have not worked with a TL and through my readings I am building up a picture of how an effective TL could enhance my teaching and my students learning. It has also shown me how much more emphasis I need to place on teaching my students IL skills. This is something I intend to tackle this term.

One of the questions posed to us in this module was ‘How do principals ‘stack up’ against this’ (articles relating to principal support of the library.) As I read and pondered this, I first thought that I had nothing to compare it with as neither school had an effective library, so they couldn’t be compared to other principals who do support the library and its programs. Neither staff member in charge of the libraries show/showed any leadership and neither were interested in setting up a library program that would enhance and encourage collaborative planning and learning. However, as I kept reading, Hartzell (2002) gave me something to turn my thinking on its head. He said that schools should ‘hire high-quality, forward-looking, energetic, innovative librarians’. Does this then mean that these 2 principals have failed in the role to promote an ILSC because they did not hire such people? Or, does it mean that neither principal have been exposed to a qualified TL and so are unaware of the benefits that they can bring to a school. Through my readings, I have discovered that many of these articles that promote the roles of TL’s are not published in journals that might be read by the administrators of a school. Therefore, how are they to find out what a TL can do and how they can enhance their school if they have not been exposed to a TL and the knowledge that he/she possesses?

As I continue through this course, I will do my best to show my current principal what a trained TL can do. Perhaps I can help to set our little school on the path to becoming an Information Literate School Community!

Hartzell, G. (2002). Why should principals support school libraries? ERIC Digest, November(EDO-IR-2002-06).
Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18