ETL504 - Salesmanship and the teacher librarian

The final task for module 1 was to consider this primary school scenario and apply the 7 steps of problem solving.

Primary - Relief from face-to-face teaching for classroom teachers is often covered by the teacher librarian. This means that it is difficult to plan any collaborative teaching opportunities with the teachers. You are also concerned that the student learning in the library may not be contextually relevant to the learning in the classroom. How could you approach this problem?

My solution that I posted on the forums, involved the teacher librarian being proactive and initiating the change - approaching class teachers who were demonstrating a willingness to work as a team, or could be open to the suggestion. Planning together, with the teacher librarian showing the class teacher what they can do to help lessen the class teachers load in teaching information literacy skills, and how this can be done integrated into a curriculum unit being taught by the classroom teacher. That collaborating with the teacher librarian is not more workload, it is workload shared. That sharing this learning journey with other teachers can lead to more collaboration with more teachers. 

As I read other posts on the forum, and as I reflect back on other units I have done, there is often a sense of frustration with the perceived role of the teacher librarian and the role of the school library. Frustration with the library being used for RFF and limited connection to the classroom. Frustration with the perceptions of the library space no longer being valid in a 21st century learning space, of diminished hours, or reduced staff, of libraries being cut completely. 

Working through this Primary school scenario, was a great opportunity for me to reflect back on my relationships with great teacher librarians, and the collaborative teaching opportunities that arose when working with them. opportunities that saw one teacher librarian and I actively involved in projects for online learning, with integration of information literacy skills across the curriculum. I have lived it, and so I know that it is not only possible but also powerful. So why isn't it happening in so many schools?

I understand the frustration from the point of view of the teacher librarian, but I also understand that many teachers do not really have a firm idea of exactly what the teacher librarian can offer them. This Masters in Ed (teacher librarianship) has been eye opening for me in learning the breadth and depth of what the teacher librarian role can encapsulate. The learning journey has been huge, steep, deep and varied. How can I as a soon-to-be qualified Teacher Librarian who has been on this journey, expect classroom teachers, with their enormous and all consuming workload, to have even the slightest inkling of what I can offer them, if I am not actively promoting myself, my role and what I can do for them. 

Having a well resourced school library is not enough. It is not a case of build it and they will come. 'They' are too busy keeping their heads above water, desperately trying to teach their curriculum, assess, report, build relationships, teach diverse students, differentiate, integrate technology. It is our role as teacher librarian to take that leadership step - initiate the contact. Sell our goods. Show the teachers what we can offer them. Teach them that we have the skills to help relieve their work load. That we are more than just shelvers of books. That we can find them online and print resources. We can build them pathfinders. We can teach their classes information literacy skills in authentic ways, that can be built upon across the curriculum. We need to sell what we can offer the school not once, not twice, but all the time, in every possible way. We need to sell expectation of being involved in curriculum planning. We need to sell the expectation that we should be involved in the ICT development throughout the school. We need to sell our curriculum knowledge and expertise. We need to sell all of our skills and knowledge, find teachers willing to work with us and then advertise the results. We need to build a client base that begins to seek us out for what we can offer them. They may not know we have it when we start working with them - but we can show them, teach them, lead them towards an understanding of the pivotal role the teacher librarian and the school library have on student learning outcomes across the school. 

This is a crucial aspect of the teacher librarian and their role as a leader within their school community. Work with them. Then they will begin to value everything you have to offer.

ETL 504 - Module 1 : Leadership Theory

As I begin my 6^th unit in my Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship), I do so with some anxiety. As we approach the end of March, I will have been out of the classroom, and out of the school environment for 2 years. This is the most significant break from my teaching career, and although I have been continuously studying since July 2013, I am beginning to feel a disconnection between my studies and my personal experiences.

A significant aspect of this has been the opportunity provided by this time off away from my career. As we are on an overseas posting, I have not been in a position to work, and so have been forced to take a much needed break and to really reflect back on my last teaching position, which was difficult and traumatic and had me seriously questioning what I wanted to do with my career. I think this has been an important opportunity and one that has helped me to see both the positive and negative aspects of who I was as a teacher at the time I left I my job, and what it is that I want from my career when we return to Australia.

What I have wanted, and still want from my studies, is to not focus my experiences on my last teaching position, but on my career as a whole. So this is the mindset with which I began the reading of Chapter 2 by Marzano, Waters and McNulty (2005), and these are some of the ‘statistics’ of my personal experience that I bring with me when I read the modules.

• ·        I have worked in 10 different schools over the past 20 years. I am only counting those where I have held either full-time or part-time positions for at least one term (and in most cases these positions were between 1-4 years), and where I was involved in staff meetings, planning, assessing, reporting.
• ·      I have worked for 12 different Principals and 11 assistant Principals in those 10 schools, and therefore have seen a variety of leadership / management styles. I have worked for some truly great Principals, and others who were not so great.
• ·      I have worked with great teams of teachers, and I have worked in not so great teams.
• ·      I have held a leadership position on the school executive and I have been regarded as a leader by many of the colleagues that I have worked with.

So when I consider the theories discussed in Chapter 2, I am thinking especially those effective Principals and assistant Principals that I worked with, and what the abilities and skills qualities were that they demonstrated as successful leaders. 

I believe that effective leadership in schools comes down to understanding the personal needs of that particular school. Every school has its own journey. Where a school has had effective leadership, I believe they have experienced leaders who:

• ·      Are a visible presence throughout the school – in a positive and supporting way
• ·      Create a shared vision for the short and long term goals of the school
• ·      Have a clear voice that demonstrates a sense of purpose and direction
• ·      Have a strong understanding of curriculum, resourcing, budgeting
• ·      Support the day to day instructional needs of the school
• ·      Have an ability to adapt to change and steer the community of the school through necessary changes
• ·      See the teachers and staff within the school as their greatest resource and asset
• ·      Believe in building leadership, confidence, skills and growth in their staff and students

Schools who have had a difficult journey with leadership, may also need a leader who can build both trust and confidence in accepting change, rebuild morale and effectively steer the school towards needed improvements.

Having held a leadership position, I see my own leadership style as aspiring to be democratic, including other teachers in decision making processes, while also being able to make necessary decisions. So I was pleased that the leadership styles quiz on the Buzzle (2015) website agreed with that. My result from the quiz stated

“Your style of leadership is democratic, a.k.a. participative. It is considered as one of the most effective leadership styles in ideal situations. As the name suggests, democratic leaders consider the suggestions and opinions of group members and involve group members in the decision-making process. But they make sure that the final decision is taken by them while being in sync with the majority. This kind of leadership motivates the followers and encourages the group members to participate in the process. It ultimately improves the creativity and productivity of the members. It is one of the ideal leadership styles in an education system”.

So in reflecting on that result, and my past experiences, these are my current thoughts about myself as a leader.

I aim to be a proactive leader who demonstrates initiative and keeps an eye on my team members.

• ·      I don’t want to be a leader who just accepts the status quo and only deals with problems if they arise – the leader who believes that a problem only exists if it darkens your doorstep. Teaching can be an isolating profession – a good leader often notices if there are difficulties before a teacher asks for help.

I aim to be an empowering leader who recognises and rewards accomplishments and strives to build up my team, not cut them down.

• ·      I don’t want to be a leader that belittles my team in front of others when something goes wrong.

I aim to be a forward thinking leader who meets the challenges of the 21^st century and has the ability to stimulate change in a school

• ·      I don’t want to be a leader who says ‘we don’t do it that way", who is afraid of change, who can’t think outside the box

I aim to be a leader who understands that my team are the greatest resource in our school

• ·      I don’t want to be a leader who does not support other teachers, does not provide learning opportunities, does not encourage growth and achievement

I aim to be a leader who continues to learn

• ·      I don’t want to be a leader who believes that I already know it all.

I have a lot to think about, about myself and where I want to go in my career. One thing  I do know, is that I am good at what I do, that I have been acknowledged in my career as having leadership skills and that I owe it to myself to capitalize on my skills and my achievements when I go back to work.

I look forward to moving ahead with this unit, and building my knowledge and understanding of leadership in education.

References

Buzzle. (2015). Leadership styles quiz in Buzzle. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/leadership-styles-quiz.html

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). Some theories and theorists on leadership. School leadership that works: From research to results (pp. 13-27). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved May 29, 2014 from www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/Read.aspx

ETL 501: Assignment 2: Part 2: Critical Reflection

I created a pathfinder for Year 5, based on the Science understanding – ‘The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star’ (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2013). It is worthwhile considering the curricular context of the pathfinder, the information literacy skills it aims to develop, an analysis of my learning through the development process and how it relates to my potential role as a teacher librarian.

The focus of the pathfinder was specifically on information about the solar system. The information on the home page was included to provide a context for student learning, which alongside with the sharing of outcomes is essential to meaningful learning (Pardoe, 2009, p. 35). The provision of resources in this pathfinder is aimed at enabling students, regardless of reading or cognitive level, to locate, identify and classify facts about planets. These resources can then be used by students to apply, analyse and evaluate the information they have selected. This incorporation of higher order thinking skills into the use of the pathfinder provides for curriculum differentiation and scaffolding (Conklin, 2010, p. 80). The focus is not on there being a ‘correct’ planet to choose but on what information they locate, select and evaluate to support their judgment.

This is the first time that I have created a pathfinder utilising readability tools and website evaluation criteria. The use of these tools was eye opening. One of the best aesthetically designed and age appropriate websites, Planets for Kids (2014), was eliminated after my reliability criteria ascertained it was published by a 9 year old and his father, with no reference as to where they source their information. The search process was time consuming, with most websites unsuitable due to visual organisation and/or reading level. Through my frustration, I realised how significantly knowledge of scientific vocabulary contributes to student understanding (ACARA, 2013b). That by making a glossary an integral part of the search process, many of the previously inaccessible pages became accessible to students at a Year 5 reading level.

My learning of effective search strategies (Ferdinand, 2014, July 28 & August 17) enabled me to target more appropriate resources using boolean strategies and search filters, especially for locating images with non-commercial usage rights. Admittedly, I am still most comfortable with Google (2012) as my preferred search option, rather than employing the effective search habit of utilising more than one search engine (Boswell, n.d.) and must consciously address this if I am to further develop my web search expertise.

Access to the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) (Education Services Australia, 2013) from ETL 503 was vital for me to source potential resources in Australian school libraries. While I find both the search and filtering options of SCIS limited in their capacity, inclusion of reviews from Horn Book (2014) and School Library Journal (SLJ, 2014) were helpful in determining the appropriateness of materials for upper primary students. Google book preview links from SCIS also enabled me to see sample text for the assessment of reading levels.

A role of the teacher librarian is to support teachers explicitly teach information literacy skills within the context of a teaching and learning program (Australian School Library Association (ASLA), 2009). Through providing websites and print resources that have already been scrutinized for suitability, this should theoretically, allow both teachers and students to focus on development of skills to navigate, read and view subject specific texts and how to use the features of both print and online non-fiction texts. However, the one difficulty I encountered was not having a particular group of students or teachers to develop this pathfinder for, therefore having to ‘create’ a purpose (Combes, B. 2014). Without knowledge of current skills, understandings and prior knowledge to build on, it is difficult to evaluate whether this pathfinder is adequately tailored to meet the authentic learning needs and abilities of the students (ASLA, 2014).

This semester has contributed to strengthening my understanding of why Kaplan (2007) describes the teacher librarian as information specialist, media specialist, teacher and instructional partner. Learning how to build integrated library media programs like this pathfinder, ulitising effective search strategies and applying website criteria has taught me skills for effectively resourcing curriculum programs. Not only is it a useful tool for the development of information literacy skills, but I also see how it can be an effective pathway towards fostering collaborative partnerships for the benefit of student learning outcomes (Department of Education W.A., 2014).    

I am aware that I currently lack sufficient knowledge for creating a pathfinder that competently meets the needs for disability access (Conway, 2013). This critical learning about equitable access to technology is one that I must follow up and learn more about if I am to resource programs effectively (ASLA, 2014b).

Finding ways to support teachers in developing information literacy skills is one of our core roles as teacher librarians. Creating this pathfinder was a very practical and informative process about how to integrate information resources, technology and student learning across the curriculum.

Reference list

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2013). The Australian curriculum v7.2: Science Foundation to Year 10. In The Australian Curriculum v7.2. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/science/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level5

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2013b). The Australian curriculum v7.2: Science: General capabilities. In The Australian Curriculum v7.2. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/science/general-capabilities

Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2009). Statement on information literacy skills. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/information-literacy.aspx

Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2014). Resource based learning curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/resource-based-learning-curriculum.aspx

Boswell, W. (nd). Seven habits of highly effective websearchers. In About.com. Retrieved from http://websearch.about.com/od/searchingtheweb/a/sevenhabits.htm

Combes, B. (2014). Websites – educational criteria [ETL501 Module 3.2] Retrieved October 16, 2014 from Charles Sturt University website http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL501_201460_W_D/page/ed66640c-a2e3-4af9-00ec-4c9a7ccf147a

Conklin, W. (2010). Applying Differentiation Strategies: Teacher’s Handbook for Grades 3-5. (Ebook). Retrieved from Ebook Library http://reader.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/(S(ipvafkgfgp5mnlpl14ha0zpe))/Reader.aspx?p=828267&o=476&u=aoHf2ZhPStVrnmuSzkXAuA%3d%3d&t=1413562423&h=CCD1AD18AFE705F818003842DC4B285891C9251B&s=27296826&ut=1443&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n&cms=-1&sd=2#

Conway, V. (2013). Experts in website accessibility. Retrieved September 26, 2014, from Charles Sturt University website http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL501_201460_W_D/page/72b2cbc2-e7f7-482d-00d6-079c117c89ce

Department of Education WA. (2014). School library support: Role of library and staff. Retrieved from http://det.wa.edu.au/curriculumsupport/schoollibrarysupport/detcms/navigation/supporting-learning/role-of-library-and-staff/?oid=Category-id-11911810

Education Services Australia (2103). Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS). Retrieved from http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/home.html

Ferdinand, J. (2014, July 28). Rainforest task using boolean strategies (ETL 501). Retrieved from http://thetalesofatravellinglibrarian.blogspot.ca/2014/07/rainforest-task-using-boolean-strategies.html

Ferdinand, J. (2014, August 17). How Google-savvy are you? (ETL 501). Retrieved from http://thetalesofatravellinglibrarian.blogspot.ca/2014/08/how-google-savvy-are-you.html

Google. (2013). Google Canada. Retrieved from https://www.google.ca

Kaplan, A. G. (2007). Is Your School Librarian ‘Highly Qualified’?. Phi Delta Kappan. 89(4), 300-303

Pardoe, D. (2009). Towards successful learning (ebook). Retrieved from Ebook Library.

Planetsforkids.org. (2014). Planets for kids – free astronomy network for kids. Retrieved from http://www.planetsforkids.org/page-about_us.html

SLJ. (2014). School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com

The Horn Book. (2014). The horn book – publications about books for children and young adults. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com

A school library blog (ETL 501)

I think a school library blog, easily accessed from your school's website page is a wonderful idea because:

• it promotes the pivotal and essential role of the school library. 
• educates the whole school community about the function and role of the school library beyond 'borrowing books'. 
• provides an easy way for library communication to be delivered to students, staff and parents. 

One of the challenges that I think could be faced:

• time to maintain the blog. 
• a blog like this would only be useful if it was actively used on a weekly / daily basis, to ensure that staff, students and parents see it as a useful source of information, continually updated and relevant to the school community.

Looking through a number of websites of school's from my teaching district back home, I was surprised to note that on many of the school websites, the library is rarely mentioned. There seems to be no active promotion of the role of the library within the school. I think this emphasises a few things:

• lack of recognition from school executive as to the role and function of the school library beyond it's 'convenience' for supplying RFF. 
• the need for qualified school librarians in school libraries (I know that there is a high percentage of non-qualified librarians working in my teaching district school libraries). 
• the need for the teacher librarian to actively promote the role and function of the school library through links from the school's webpage to a school library blog. 

How Google-savvy are you? (ETL 501)

I thought I was net-savvy and competent at searching for information. As I work my way through my Masters in Teacher Librarianship, I am learning that my Internet capabilities are not quite what I thought them to be. It now appears, after having explored tutorials and you-tube videos, that I was not quite as search savvy as I thought, and that there is actually a whole lot more to search engines such as Google than I ever imagined.

Like many people, I automatically go to Google when wanting to search for something on the net. I know there are many different search engines available, but I have to admit, that I find Google reliable, comfortable and easy to use. Occasionally, I will search for results past the first page.  More often than not though, I will refine my search results simply through rephrasing my search terms. I have frequently employed just basic search tools to locate my information.

The Google tutorials located at Google search education (http://www.google.com.au/insidesearch/searcheducation/training.html) contain a number of tutorials that can enhance your knowledge, skills and understanding in using the numerous search functions that Google has to offer. While I was familiar with the use of the advanced search option, I was quite ignorant of the search operators can be employed on the basic search page. Functions such as locating exact phrases, specific links, sites, filetypes and number ranges all contribute to making your search more refined and targeted. Instead of a results list in the millions, you can refine your search results down to hundreds, locating the websites and information that directly meet your search needs. Being familiar with these operators and actively employing them in your search, makes you a much more efficient and critically literate search engine user. A full list of Google search operators can be found here https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/136861, a worthwhile link to keep handy, as well as this one https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433 that explains how punctuation and symbols are used in a Google search.

Google also provides a range of search filter tools on the basic search page as well as for criteria based search pages such as Google maps and Google images. These search tools enable you to specify key information such as date range, reading level and specific country. You can filter images through size, colour and usage rights; videos for duration, quality and source.

There are now a range of Google products available that can be used to enhance your online search experience from specialized search operators such as Google scholar for academic search, to home and office capabilities with operators such as Google Drive (create, share, keep all your stuff in one place). Taking the time to work through some of the Google search education tutorials can build your skills very quickly, helping to guide through the range of Functions and tools these Google products provide.

Taking the time also, to explore other search engines and their capabilities (there is a great list of alternative search engines here http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html)
can be useful to, especially in pinpointing a search engine that works best for  your colleagues / your students and their information search needs. 

One thing is for sure – there is a wealth of information out there waiting for us to find it. Understanding the tricks of the trade – the tools that are in place to help us be efficient navigators of the internet - is key knowledge that all net users, librarians or otherwise, should be employing with every search that we do.