ETL401 Part C - Critical Synthesis of my Journey

PART C – Critical Synthesis of my Journey

Since embarking on my Masters of Education (Teacher Librarianship) course I have experienced one of the greatest learning journeys of my life. After nine years teaching at an all-boys secondary school I took the plunge to follow my ambition to become a teacher librarian (TL), despite the apparent demise of the role in Victorian schools. My blog entry (15/3/09, Why Do I Want To Be a TL?) reflects my concerns over the lack of information literacy skill instruction the students at school receive. At the Sydney residential school I was overwhelmed by a YouTube video that Lyn Hay presented titled Information R/evolution. My blog entry (25/2/09, Reflections from the Residential School) recalls how bombarded I felt while watching this video. This experience confirmed my desire to be a TL because I want to provide students with the skills to find relevant and useful information from the overwhelming amounts of differing qualities of information in cyberspace (and from other sources) and provide strategies to help them synthesise it into new knowledge.


My blog entry (15/3/09, Initial Thoughts on the TL Role at the Start of MEdTL) was based on pre-conceived notions of encouraging students to enjoy reading, information skills instruction, ordering books and undertaking general library duties. I clearly did not understand the enormous scope of the TL’s role, let alone consider the notion of the information literate school community (ILSC), the issues surrounding the lack of school and principal support, collaboration or the continuing challenges that face the profession. A later blog entry (6/4/09, Role of the Teacher Librarian) demonstrates that the TL’s role is more diverse than I had envisaged. I noted that TLs need to be:

(i) confident information technology users;

(ii) informed information specialists;

(iii) leaders within their schools, and

(iv) conduct staff professional development and work collaboratively with teachers.

Learning for the Future (2001) sums up the TL’s role as a curriculum leader, information specialist and information services manager. While the scope of the TL’s role is daunting, Herring’s reassurance is that it is “… clear that no teacher librarian could fulfil all of these roles at the same time … [and they need to] effectively prioritise roles according to the current needs of students, staff and parents” (2007: p. 31).


My experiences of the TL’s role is one of isolation and is confined to the library Year 7 and 8 reading programme. This was the basis of my blog entry (26/2/09, Initial Thoughts on the TL’s Role) where I noted the absence of collaborative planning and teaching in my school. My concerns escalated when reading Haycock (2003: p. 34) who stated that “collaboration is the key to getting the most out of the school library.” Having the benefit of these observations I now consider that collaboration is at the heart of teacher librarianship and it is essential that TLs and teachers collaboratively plan, teach and evaluate programs. More importantly, students benefit from the superior learning and teaching program where teachers and TLs work to achieve the same goals. To make inroads into collaborative practice in a school where collaboration does not exist, I consider that the most effective method is to start with willing teachers first. Ehmann (2009) in the Topic 5 sub-forum also believes this strategy is worth pursuing so that those willing teachers share the benefits of their collaborative efforts and the positive effect of collaboration on student learning becomes evident. “Teachers are willing to collaborate if they see value for time spent in terms of what is in it for my classes” (Swords, 2009).


At the start of this subject I had not fully appreciated the importance of Principal support for the TL’s role in creating an ILSC. In a blog entry (6/4/09, TL Role and My Principal) I commented on how saddened I was by the lack of the Principal’s support to the TL’s role in my school. Haycock (1999) stresses the need for the Principal to create a collaborative culture by establishing minimum standards for collaboration between teachers and TLs and encouraging integrated work units with information skills instruction. The TL needs to be a leader and promote their value and skills to the Principal and teachers by offering professional development and joining curriculum committees. This will better inform others of the TL role and encourage greater collaboration. As Hay (2005) has noted it has become the TLs role to promote their worth using evidence-based practice.

It is apparent that I have underestimated the TL's role as an information technology expert. Spence (2005), Herring (2004), subscribing to OZTL_NET and the requirement to maintain a blog has provided enriching learning experiences. In particular these have emphasised the need for me as a TL to embrace technology and incorporate Web 2.0 technologies. A recent blog entry (20/6/09, I Am Starting To Like Blogging) encapsulates my clearer understanding of the significance of Web 2.0 technologies in teacher librarianship. The blogging experience for ETL401 has given me the confidence to introduce a blog into the Year 7 and 8 reading programme for Semester 2. Students and staff will be encouraged to write their reading reflections on the blog.


This subject has proven to me that TLs are life-long learners too. Having regard to the topics covered this semester I now have a greater understanding of the enormity of the TL role. Through this course I am becoming more confident that I am on the right path to making a difference to student learning in the 21st Century.

833 words


References

Australian School Library Association (ASLA) & Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). (2001). Learning for the future: Developing information services in schools. (2nd ed.). Carlton, Vic.: Curriculum Corporation.


Ehmann, J. (2009, April 26). Challenge of isolation as the norm. Message posted to Topic 5 – Collaborative practice sub-forum, archived at
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_Sub8_forum&task=frameset


Hay, L. (2005). Student learning through Australian school libraries. Part 1: A statistical analysis of student perceptions? [Electronic version] Synergy, 3(2), 17-30.


Haycock, K. (2003). The crisis in Canada’s school libraries. The case for reform and re-investment. Toronto, ON: Association of Canadian Publishers. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401_200940_W_D/page/f2973aa0-ab66-4dc2-8016-10fdb97da353


Haycock, K. (1999). Fostering collaboration, leadership and information literacy: Common behaviors of uncommon principals and faculties. NASSP Bulletin, 83(605), 82-87. Retrieved June 1, 2009, from http://bul.sagepub.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/cgi/reprint/83/605/82


Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.


Morris, G. (2009). A new journey begins …, http://glenda01.blogspot.com/ (various entries).


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

Swords, H. (2009, May 5). Collaboration. Message posted to Topic 5 – Collaborative practice sub-forum, archived at
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_Sub8_forum&task=frameset


Wesch, M. (2007). Information R/evolution. Video retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM