Thursday, September 30, 2010

ETL 401 Assignment 2 Part C: The Reflection

Critical Synthesis

My initial views of the role of the teacher-librarian (TL) consisted of the following elements.


1. Reading to students
2. Lending books out and chasing them up when not returned on time
3. Working with the library support person in getting books on shelves
4. Finding books for class sets for teachers
5. Supervising students out of class time and at lunch
6. Setting the library up for meetings and events
7. Maybe helping student with their PowerPoints
8. Maybe helping staff with their lessons when in the library
9. Maybe contributing to school committee meetings
10. Maybe attending library network meetings

The biggest change in my views would be that my ideas are more organised and focused.

I have discovered that the teacher-librarian role is meaningful through these items,

1. The posting by Douglas-Dowling (2010, July 24) in which she details the strengths and weakness of Resource based learning (RBL) and my blog entry (Herbert, 2010, July 28) in which I now understand through reading of Haycock (1991) that RBL facilitates learning (and isn't necessarily a method of learning). I also took this point up on the CSU forum when I posted in Topic 3 subforum (Herbert, 2010, September 21) concerning younger students and Professor Ross Todd's guided inquiry (Todd, 2010). This makes sense to me now as I understand that the role of the teacher-librarian is fundamental to facilitate learning of students.

2. The duality (well actually 'triality') of the teacher-librarian role has simplified in my mind the various hats the teacher-librarian role encompasses that of teacher, librarian and teacher-librarian. In my blog posting of (Herbert, 2010, August 9) I copied the diagram by Herring (2007) as it shows all the hats/jobs that a teacher-librarian can be expected to perform. When I apply my triality I see that the roles listed by Herring make perfect sense in terms of teaching, librarianship and teacher-librarianship. The teacher-librarian role is not as nebulous as I thought but a consistent, organised role with meaning.

3. I have learnt about the information literate school community (ILSC) and can see my role in its creation. In particular, I have learned about the leadership role that I should take within the school as the information expert. This had not occurred to me before that teacher-librarians have this opportunity because of the unique position they have in schools. In my blog posting Herbert (2010, August 30) I quoted the reading by Henri (2005) as instrumental in the understanding I now have of the role of teacher librarian in bringing about an ILSC. I pointed out in the blog entry that support from the Principal is required. I also see now that a common purpose is also needed. I also posted Herbert (2010, September 21) in reply to Bruce (2010, September 16) on the CSU forums about my concerns on teaching only low level information skills. From these posts I can see now that it is important to teach students higher level information skills so they can adapt to changing versions of software (for example).

4. I have learnt the importance of the collaboration role between teachers and the teacher-librarian. In particular, the relationship between creating meaningful tasks and the assessment of student outcomes. This allows for the library to become central in improving student outcomes. I now understand the importance of this direct connection. Reading over my blog entry (Herbert, 2010, September 15) concerning information process models (IPM) I now see how working with teachers and incorporating IPM's into curriculum is an important aspect to the role of teacher-librarian.

5. In my blog posting (Herbert, 2010, August 17) I complained that Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA, 2004) teacher-librarian standards of excellence required decoding as to how they might inform the teacher-librarian. After completing ETL401 Assignment 2 Part B (Fitzgerald, 2010) I find the decoding a lot less difficult. My learning has enabled me to understand the standards of excellence and I find little difficulty in coming up with applications that are informed by the standards.

These are my views on the role of the teacher-librarian now after completing ETL401.

Three roles - Teacher, Librarian, Teacher-librarian

Teaching Role
1. Team teaching, collaborative planning; working with teachers.
2. Whole school literacy initiatives, accelerated learning programs, information skills model.
3. Leadership

Librarian Role
1. Collection development policy
2. Reading for leisure
3. Library management

Teacher-Librarian Role
1. Lead on the ILSC
2. Model life long learning

References

Australian Library and Information Association / Australian School Library Association. (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm

Bruce (2010, September 16). Info Literacy Policy [Online forum comment]. Retrieved http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201060_W_D_S ub4_forum

Douglas-Dowling, M. (2010, July 24). I've seen this work [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.a/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201060_W_D_Sub2_forum

Fitzgerald, L. (2010). Teacher Librarianship [ETL401 201060 Subject Outline]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401_201060_W_D

Haycock (1991), "Resource-based learning: a shift in the roles of teacher, learner', NASSP Bulletin, vol. 75(535), pp. 15-22.

Henri, J. (2005). Chapter 2: Understanding the information literate school community. In Henri, J. & Asselin, M. (Eds). The information literate school community 2: Issues of leadership.pp 135-145. Wagga Wagga, Australia: Centre for information studies, Charles Sturt University.

Herbert, P. (2010, August 9). Role of the TL [Web log message]. Retrieved http://pherbie-etl504learningjournal.blogspot.com/2010/09/roles-of-tl.html

Herbert, P. (2010, August 17). ALIA standards [Web log message]. Retrieved http://pherbie-etl504learningjournal.blogspot.com/2010/08/alias-standards.html

Herbert, P. (2010, August 30). ILSC [Web log message]. Retrieved http://pherbie-etl504learningjournal.blogspot.com/2010/09/ilsc.html

Herbert, P. (2010, September 21). RBL and Younger Students [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201060_W _D_Sub3_forum

Herbert, P. (2010, September 21). Re: Info Literacy Policy [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201060_W_D_Sub4 _forum

Herbert, P. (2010, September 15). Big 6 Vs NSWDET [Web log message]. Retrieved http://pherbie-etl504learningjournal.blogspot.com/2010/09/big-6-vs-nswdet.html

Herring, J. E. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services. Wagga Wagga, N.S.W.: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Todd, R. (2010). Guided Inquiry. Retrieved from http://icwc.wikispaces.com/file/view/Guided+Inquiry.doc

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Big 6 Vs NSWDET

It sure looks like the NSWDET has ripped off the Big 6.

NSWDET: Defining, Locating, Selecting, Organising, Presenting and Assessing

Big 6: Information seeking, Location and access, Use of information, Synthesis, Evaluation

Looks like a straight mapping to me.

Although the NSWDET 'Presenting' process really suits nsw schools and their assessment procedures.

Monday, August 30, 2010

ILSC

The Information Learning School Community.

On reading a number of times.....

Henri, J. (2005). Chapter 2: Understanding the information literate school community. In Henri, J. & Asselin, M. (Eds). The information literate school community 2: Issues of leadership. Available CSU Library Reserve.

... it seems to me that the expectation on the role of the TL is enormous.

Certainly it doesn't seem possible without the support of the school principal.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

ALIAs Standards

I recently read, "Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). (2004).".

And I must say it seems a lot of DECODING is required to see how it can be applied (or how the TL can be informed).

I suspect it will become clear when doing Assignment 2 and the standards are evaluated in depth.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Roles of the TL



This amazing diagram is from Herring, J. E. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services. Wagga Wagga, N.S.W.: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

It has really made me think about the various hats the TL can, if they choose, wear in the 21st century.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

RBL

On reading Haycock (1991), "Resource-based learning: a shift in the roles of teacher, learner', NASSP Bulletin, vol. 75(535), pp. 15-22. I can see that the library can be viewed as an extension of the classroom. Moreover RBL facilitates learning it isn't a method of learning.

This particular makes sense if you value Guided Inquiry. (As it is NOT an odds with RBL).