When I reflect back to what my mindset was at the beginning of this Masters in Education (Teacher Librarianship) course and more specifically at the beginning of ETL401 – Teacher Librarianship, I am blown away by how far my thinking and beliefs regarding the role of a teacher librarian have changed.
I am almost embarrassed to say that I originally viewed the role of a teacher librarian as mainly administrative. Teacher librarians select and acquire books, cover them, check them in and out, chase overdues and, once a week, take on the role of teacher so that the everyday classroom teacher can have their release time.
This got me thinking, where did these original views of a teacher librarian come from? Reflecting back to my own primary (1987-1993) and secondary (1994-1999) education, I remember always having a passion and love for reading for pleasure and that my class would once a week go to the library to return and borrow books, but no where in my recollections is there a teacher librarian who stands out.
Now I cast my mind forward to my first teaching position. I was fortunate enough to have an amazing mentor assigned to help me through my first year of teaching. He also just happened to be the Library Coordinator and chief Teacher Librarian on staff. Perhaps this is where my original views began to grow. Whilst waiting for meetings with my mentor, I often watched the library staff (School Support Officers (SSOs), not teacher librarians) covering and cataloguing books. That was the job of a teacher librarian, wasn’t it? Little did I think about the hours my mentor and I spent together, collaboratively planning units of study and assignments, nor did I think about the times he came to ‘visit’ my class whilst we were working in the library. I now know that my mentor had two hats on during this time, mentor and teacher librarian.
In his Podcast relating to this assignment, James Herring (2010) hit the nail on the head when he spoke about other factors that influenced my initial knowledge and understanding regarding the role of the teacher librarian. Prior to commencing this course I hadn’t done any readings, hadn’t engaged in any professional dialogue with teacher librarians and certainly had not conversed with any other post-graduate students who were also about to embark on this journey.
So that was me then… Where am I now? During my studies this session, I have quickly come to realise that teacher librarians are more than just administrators. The role of teacher librarian is multifaceted. In my initial thinking of what a teacher librarian is expected to be and do, I completely forgot about the teaching aspect. There are two areas in particular where I feel I have gained knowledge and developed the most.
Firstly, collaboration should be occurring between classroom teachers and teacher librarians (Carter, 2010a). Teacher librarians should be working with classroom teachers to ensure information literacy skills are being integrated into everyday teaching.
Secondly, teacher librarians need a strong foundation of knowledge which they can impart on teachers and students relating to technology and how ICTs can best be used to enhance information skills and enhance overall learning (Campbell, 2002).
Throughout this session I have become vastly more enthused about the role of and possibilities for teacher librarians and have gained so many ideas, ideas that have come to me through my readings and discussions from the ETL401 chat room and forums, of what I believe contributes towards a successful library program that I have had to hold myself back on occasions. I’m not currently working in a library and although I have offered my suggestions to my principal and librarian I have gotten the impression that I have to tread very carefully if I want anything achieved. In echoing thoughts I wrote in a forum posting earlier in the year, I (and teacher librarians as a whole) can’t expect change to happen overnight. It takes time for successful collaboration/library programs to get going (Carter, 2010b), a thought echoed by others in the ETL401 Module 5 sub-forum (Ross, 2010; King, 2010). Where I’m left now is to continue to engage in professional dialogue with teacher librarians and other post-graduate students, continue professional reading and bide my time until I am given a position in a library where I can more effectively become a change agent and advocate for the role of teacher librarian.
In conclusion, I believe Sue Spence (2002) articulates well the current ideas I have regarding the role of teacher librarians and gives us all something to aspire towards.
“Teacher librarians ease the workload, not by re-shelving books but by using their expertise to collaborate with teachers; not by covering books but by providing valuable professional development in the use of ICT; not by checking books in and out but by joining committees to develop policies and practices that enhance student learning; not by chasing overdues but by working directly with students to develop their reading and information literacy skills”.
REFERENCES:
Campbell, L., Flageolle, P., Griffith, S., & Wojcik, C. (2002). Resource-based learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved March 24, 2010, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt
Carter, K. (2010a, February 27). Concerns in the 80s still relevant today. Message posted to http://kcartertl.blogspot.com
Carter, K. (2010b, April 15). Reflection on Page’s article. Message posted to ETL401 Module 5 sub-forum.
Herring, J. (2010, March 5). Assignment 2 podcast. Podcast retrieved from http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401_201030_W_D/page/e1bff53c-131c-489a-00ff-e2f517b1a5d2
King, A. (2010, April 26). Re: Reflection on Page’s article. Message posted to ETL401 Module 5 sub-forum.
Ross, B. (2010, May 7). Re: Reflection on Page’s article. Message posted to ETL401 Module 5 sub-forum.
Spence, S. (2002). Survey highlights major problems with library staffing. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from www.slasa.asn.au/Advocacy/docs/aeusurveyarticle.pdf
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)