My journey along this teacher librarian (TL) path has been one of intense learning, incredible personal growth and overcoming of seemingly impossible challenges.
I happily took on a three-week or so, casual appointment as a teacher librarian (TL) last year and spent the first day with the transferring TL who stated to me “You’re in for a steep learning curve!” When I commented to my TL friend from a nearby school how easy it was, she answered with “Rose, it’s a pandora’s box!” Well it didn’t take me long to figure out that she was right. In my blog entry (6/3 Pandora’s Box) I commented on this aspect and the fact that later I realised that I had only just opened the box and I could begin to see that it was the tip of the ice- berg. The first mission in my course was to set up a blog. I remember writing on the forum what fun it had been and had no idea at the time, of the importance of reflecting on your learning and recording your thoughts in a journal. McGregor (1999), states that metacognition, or, thinking about your thinking, allows students (and TLs!) to evaluate their own thinking and to use appropriate thinking strategies in their learning. It is useful to look back on your journey and reflect on where you started and how far you have come, and how your understanding of the role of the TL has developed.
My philosophy of the TL role has evolved as I have become aware of the multi- faceted role and dual nature of the TL involving being a teacher and a librarian.
I have learnt that the role of the TL is a very important one if the library is going to be at the hub of the learning community. By critically analysing the Twelve standards of Professional Excellence for TLs (ASLA/ALIA, 2004), and synthesising how that can be applied my role, I have become even more keenly aware of the knowledge, skills and attributes needed, and how these standards can be applied to the TL role.
Initially, I believed that the library was its own entity and worked in isolation to the rest of the school. In an earlier blog entry (23/2, Professional Discussion) I spoke with a TL from a nearby school and we discussed the fact that the first thing to setting up an ILSC is to get the principal and the executive on board. After reading some of the literature, Henri & Hay (1995), and forum entries, Caitlin White’s Thoughts On Topic 2 (18/03/09), I realised that the TL must work closely with the principal to gain their support and to inform them of the short and long term goals of the TL. Through reading various suggested and prescribed literature, such as Watts (1999), on the role of the TL, it is clear to me that the TL should have a vision for the future as technology has changed our role and a massive job is ahead advocating for support for the library.
In my blog entry (Today’s Walk, 27/4), my friend and mentor, Lyn, described to me how she had created a collaborative learning community by getting the principal on board and by working on one teacher at a time, to instil in them the benefits of collaborative teaching and resource based learning. The word spread fast and she soon had teachers lined up to book their classes in for some flexibly scheduled time with her in the library.
A short time later in a blog entry (Aaahhh Haaaa Moment, 3/3), I reflected on a comment that a staff member had said. She remarked to me that collaborative teaching and flexible scheduling was what was supposed to happen, wasn’t it? I agreed with her and my topic 4 forum entry Hawke, R. (Collaborating and How Do We learn, 21/3), thoughts, gave me some ideas on this topic. As I reflected on McGregor’s (1999), theories of learning and ideas on collaboration, I gained some ideas on where to start. By joining and leading curriculum committees, meeting with teachers and informing at staff meetings reasons for collaborative planning, developing and assessing units of work and reasons for linking the acquisition of information skills to the curriculum and to what they are studying in the classroom, a collaborative teaching environment can be developed.
In my Blog entry, An Expert (10/3), I noted that I was beginning to be seen as an expert by other teachers in sourcing information especially with internet- related activities. My confidence and ability has grown tremendously and this has been helped by finding associated course readings online and having to find and print online resources in the first ETL 503 assignment.
In conclusion, the experiences and readings that I have encountered along the way in this course have all contributed to my changing view of the role of the TL. I now see my role as being highly important, multi-faceted and complex, involving a diversity of interactions, activities and responsibilities in a variety of teaching and learning contexts.
Bibliography
ALIA & ASLA (2004), Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians, Australian Library and Information Association and Australian School Library Association, \accessed: 17 April, 2009. Available at: http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm
Hawke, R. (2009, March 21), Collaborating and How Do We Learn? Topic 4, Sub Forum entry, Information Literacy. ETL 401. Available at: http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=forums
Hawke, R. (2009). Roses Teacher Librarian Blog available at: http://rosehawke.blogspot.com
Henri, J. & Hay, L. (1995). The principal’s role in developing and supporting an information literate school community. Paper presented at the Australian School Library Association 14th Biennial Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia, 1-5 October.
McGregor, J.H. (1999), How do we learn?, in ‘Learning in libraries in an information age: principles and practice’ Stripling, B.K. (ed.) Englewood, Colorado, Libraries Unlimited, p25-53.
White, C. (2009, March 18) Thoughts on Topic Two, accessed: 20/03/09.: Topic Two Forum. The role of the teacher librarian. Available at:
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_forum
Watts, J. (1999). The teacher librarian past: A literature review,
pp. 29-42 In The Information literate school community: best practice, J.Henri. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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