ETL504 Reflection

Over the course of this year I have begun to see the true importance of my role as a leader in the school and the effect this has on the wider school community. Working in quite a large school with close to 800 students sometimes becomes a struggle to make my position and role known across the school. Students often see me as a librarian and not a teacher although I always correct them as soon as it is mentioned. My main goal this year was to present myself as a figure within the school that is full of information and those skills that other teachers do not possess. This sets me apart from the rest and assures the school that my position is crucial. This will continue to be my focus for as long as I am a TL.

I have often considered myself a follower, never a leader, which has made for quite a big learning curve. Having only taught as a classroom teacher for a few years, I have also not had a great deal of experience in organisation and decision making. Therefore, I have definitely surprised myself in what I have achieved personally over the last two and a half terms. 

At present my leadership style lies somewhere around the servant style of leadership. I feel I am quite nurturing and understanding of others in my school and often put others before myself in my role. While this is a good trait to have I know I need to stand up for myself more and become more assertive in my role and the way in which I communicate with staff. Showing qualities and traits of a transformational leader would be ideal and is something to work towards. I may never show all the qualities of a transformational leader as I realise that some simply come down to personality traits. However over the remainder of this unit I am sure I will continue to build upon my leadership skills.

While I have the full support of my principal and fellow staff members, I often feel that I do not have a particular team or stage that I belong to. I am continuing to make that extra effort to be central to everything that is happening in our school and to show staff and students how important my role is and how it fits in with what they are doing. I know this is something I need to continue to be proactive about and aim to ensure the school is aware of this.

While I know I still have a long way to go in becoming the type of TL I would like to be, I often need to stop and consider how much I have already achieved this year. It is reassuring knowing other people are going through something similar and this is quite evident on the forums. The network we have built as retraining TLs is quite strong and is good to see the small successes each of us have made. It’s also reassuring knowing we all have issues and problems we need to deal with as well. I hope I can reflect back on this year in a few years time and see the impact I have made as a qualified TL.

ETL401- Critical Reflection

Over the course of this unit I have experienced many different emotions. I have felt anxious, perplexed, overwhelmed and most of all stressed. I can almost compare it to Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (2004), as the initiation stage brought with it anxiety and uncertainty which ensued throughout selection and exploration until I finally began to formulate my own ideas and opinions to collect and present. Although I still experience those bouts of anxiety now and again, I feel much more confident in my ability as a teacher librarian.

My personal view of the teacher librarian (L) prior to this course was quite naïve. I thought I had a good understanding of what the role entailed and believed that completing this course would simply ‘fill in the gaps’. Little did I know that I would be changing my whole perception of the TL. Although overwhelming and anxiety-ridden at times, this course has assisted me immensely in my role as the TL in my school. 

Since keeping an online learning journal (OLJ) and completing three compulsory blog tasks, I can see where my thinking has changed. Looking back on my very first compulsory blog task, constructivist learning and the Australian Curriculum, I can see how I missed the point completely. I was in no way confident in my own ability to construct a piece of writing that was critical of what I had read. I had no voice in my writing and relied on the words of others to get my point across. I feel this is one area I have definitely improved upon. As I begun to reflect upon what I had read, I learnt to become much more critical and form my own opinions and ideas which I feel is evident in the next two blog posts and assignment 1.

Through reading other personal reflections posted on my blog I can see that I have focused on how I was feeling in that moment and have tried to make sense of the experience as a whole. This is interesting to reflect upon now as I can see how my journey begun and can compare it to where I am now. Although I still have a lot to learn, I feel like I’m well on my way to becoming the type of TL my school deserves.

Although posting my responses on the CSU forums was at times inconsistent, I feel like it was reflective of where I was at that particular time. Sometimes I felt strongly about a particular topic and felt the need to share that with my peers while at other times I was much more comfortable with observing the ideas of other people and reflecting on these to shape my own ideas and opinions. Either way, the forums have been extremely helpful and an integral part of this whole process. As a distance education student it became the main form of communication between peers and lecturers. 

A particular module of this course that I found interesting was the importance of principal and administration support to the role of the TL. This is quite an ironic topic as not only did I begin to see how vital the support of the principal is, I began to see the many sides of the role of TL and the lengths a TL must go to make this known within their learning community. They must promote their role to staff, including the principal, and keep them informed of library events and programs to enforce the library as ‘the hub’ of the school (Oberg, 2006). Not only did it convey how important it is for the principal to understand what the TL does, it also put into perspective for me what the TL actually does. This became a massive turning point for me personally as my opinion of the role shifted from a somewhat vague understanding of what the TL does into a much more clear and defined role. Once again, very similar to the experiences felt by learners using Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (2004).

This assignment particularly has helped me to better understand the benefits of implementing an information literacy process into my own teaching programs and feel a lot more confident in doing so. Prior to this course I was aware of such processes and had both witnessed and been involved in the implementation of the NSW ISP (2007) but once again had a different perception of the overall experience. Although I still have a long way to go in this area, I feel confident that success will come with practice and lots of it!

References

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Information Search Process. Retrieved from

            http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/index.html

NSW Department of Education and Training (2007). The Information Process: Information

                skills in the school. Curriculum Support. Retrieved from

                www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au

Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian,
                33(3), 13-18.

Information literacy is more than a set of skills

Information literacy is more than a set of skills. It is process whereby students learn to become independent, lifelong learners. It enables learners to think deeply and critically and to take ownership over their own learning. It should be safe to assume that these skills are embedded into the classroom and adopted by teachers, yet it seems to be understood that it is the focus of the teacher librarian (TL) to teach students to adopt these essential skills (Langford, 1998). 

With so many information literacy policies and processes now prevalent, it would be easy for a teacher or TL to become confused by the literature and to question what it is they are teaching (Langford, 1998). However by knowing that the teaching of these skills encourage student-centred learning and in turn enhance student outcomes, excellent TLs will take the time to understand these processes and implement them. The benefits of these processes far outweigh the time and work required of the TL to implement such a process. 

Kulthau’s Information Search Process (ISP), originally developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, is one process that focuses more on the feelings associated with learning rather than the skills themselves. It focuses on the experience of the student, and the aspects that the student is presented with throughout the process. These include the feelings, thoughts and actions of the student ranging from feelings of anxiousness and uncertainty to confidence and clarity as the process is undertaken (Kulthau, 2004). Through my own personal experience of implementing the ISP it was obvious how important it was for students to undertake a learning task at their own pace and level and to become actively involved in the learning process. By implementing this, along with an inquiry based approach such as guided inquiry, students decide what it is they want to learn and how they are to do this with assistance from the teacher where necessary. Though for the most part, the students are in charge of what they are learning.

With the abundance of information and technologies that students are faced with every day it is necessary to provide students with the skills and abilities to sort through this information independently and decide for themselves what is necessary and important to their learning. Beyond this, it is not enough for them to just be aware of the skills set they need to be encouraged to apply these to ensure they are adequately prepared for lifelong learning. Without these skills and this preparation students will find themselves lost amongst the emergence of new technologies and the overload of information and will not understand how to effectively sift through this to find what it is they are looking for.

Kuhlthau, C.C. (2004). Learning as a process, in Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and

                information services, Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, pp.13-27.

Langford, L. (1998). Information literacy: a clarification. Retrieved from
                http://www.fno.org/sept98/clarify.html

Principal support of the role of the TL

Principal support is crucial to the role of the teacher librarian. All specialist teachers need support from their school and their administrators and without this will face many challenges in their role. According to Harvey (2009), a principal expects that their teacher librarian will take on many different roles within the school, all of which of course relate to the idea of an excellent teacher librarian. They are for the most part expected to be a teacher, a resource locator, a media specialist and a collaborator, amongst other roles. Yet in order for this to happen the principal must be pro-active in their support of this. They must understand the complexity of the role and promote this across the school. They must also provide opportunities for collaboration across staff to occur in order for this multi-faceted role to be successful. 

Many studies have found that the role of the teacher librarian is crucial to student achievement (Haycock, 2007, p. 25). The teacher librarian provides opportunities in their library programs to extend students across curriculum areas and to encourage student-centred learning whereby they take ownership over their own learning. In order for students to achieve this, teacher librarians must be collaborating with classroom teachers to ensure they are supporting the work in the classroom and providing appropriate learning experiences relevant to the needs of the students. The principal therefore needs to provide time and the opportunity for the teacher librarian and classroom teachers to collaborate effectively. 

It is often common for the role of the teacher librarian to be misunderstood. If a teacher librarian is not active in the promotion of their role then what they teach and contribute to student learning can often go unnoticed. Therefore the teacher librarian must also involve the principal in their planning and programming and encourage them to promote collaboration across the school. 

A principal can also support the teacher librarian in a variety of other ways including working as a supervisor to other teachers, as a manager to the library program or as a mentor to the teacher librarian (Oberg, 2006, p.14). Through these varied roles the principal is demonstrating their commitment to the students and teachers of the school as well as their own personal commitment towards the teacher librarian. They ensure that the teacher librarian is provided with ongoing professional development and that the school is provided with a teacher librarian with the expertise and skills needed to improve student learning outcomes.

Without the complete support of the principal a teacher librarian would have difficulty incorporating the many roles expected of them into one that is achievable. They would encounter all sorts of challenges in their teaching and programming and may not feel as though their role is valued. It is therefore vital the teacher librarian actively promotes their role in the school and seeks the support of the principal to make their place known. This is crucial to the future role of the teacher librarian to ensure they are not replaced by someone without the skills and expertise necessary to guide their school into 21^st century learning.

References

    Harvey, C. II (2009). Hands on Handout: What should an administrator expect a school library specialist to be? Library Media Connection. Retrieved from http://hoorayforbooks.pbworks.com/f/lms+evaluation+ideas.pdf

    Haycock, K. (2007). Collaboration: Critical success factors for student learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 25-35.

    Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18.

Guided inquiry

My own experience of implementing a guided inquiry approach has seen a mix of advantages, disadvantages and challenges. An advantage for applying such an approach is obviously the student experience. The process promotes independent learning, encourages a deeper level of thinking and puts the student at the front of their own learning as the teacher guides them through. Students therefore engage with the curriculum content and are challenged to extend themselves in their own research and interactions with others.

A disadvantage I have experienced is the amount of work required by the TL and other teachers involved. The approach obviously requires collaboration between teachers for it to be successful and therefore can become quite time consuming. I've also found that some students find it difficult to work in groups and therefore become distracted during set tasks.

These disadvantages definitely prove to be a challenge. However if a TL is serious about promoting lifelong learning and being that 'thriving hub' that has been mentioned a few times in this course, then these challenges must be accepted and push the TL to work that bit harder to ensure their students are being provided with such opportunities.

Blog post #1- Constructivist learning and the Australian curriculum

“Constructivist learning transforms the student from being a passive recipient to an active participant of the learning process” (O’Connell, 2013). This statement suggests that students are guided by the teacher yet they are responsible for their own learning process. Two examples of constructivist learning are inquiry learning and project-based learning.

My personal understanding of the role of the teacher librarian is that we need to provide opportunities that put students at the forefront of their learning. Inquiry learning is a learning process, often described as a cycle that allows students to formulate questions, investigate and create a solution or an appropriate response to a particular topic (Edutech wiki, 2012). The purpose is to ensure that students are actively engaged, that they examine more complex problems and in turn discover possible answers themselves (Wilson & Murdoch, 2004, p. 1).

Inquiry learning, within the Australian curriculum, is moving towards the use of digital technologies to enhance student learning outcomes. A teacher librarian should be focusing on such resources to accompany their programs to effectively engage students. A great deal of my own teaching incorporates such technologies including iPads, internet-based research, e-books and e-resources on a daily basis whereby students are in control of their learning and I in turn guide them through this process. Inquiry learning must be central to the student and allow them to be a part of the decision making process. This will give them ownership over their work and will impact overall on enjoyment and on-task behaviour (Wilson & Murdoch, 2004, p. 1).

While inquiry learning has many benefits it is also said to have its challenges. Murdoch & Wilson (2004, p. 1) believe that it requires a high level of organisation, flexibility and collaboration. Unless you are at a school where this type of learning is supported, it would be quite difficult, but definitely not impossible, to administer such programs.

Another constructivist learning approach is project-based learning (PBL). This type of learning focuses on the creation of a product or project aimed to develop student learning skills, as well as their knowledge, using digital devices to do so (Boss & Krauss, 2008, p.12). Using such digital technologies allows for learning to be new and exciting and to achieve learning outcomes in a different way that is relevant to the world of the student.

Personally, I have seen programs implemented that would relate to the PBL approach and the way in which students respond is tremendous. Students are actively engaged in the learning process because the learning is relevant to them. “From a student’s perspective, there’s no substitute for the real world when it comes to generating interest in learning” (Boss & Krauss, 2008, p. 6). I find this statement to be entirely relevant to my own teaching as I would much rather see my students engaged in a hands on task in the library than listening to me speak about something they could instead be doing themselves. 

As we begin to integrate the new curriculum into our teaching, we will soon see how important using such digital technologies is in achieving student learning outcomes and wish that they had been around much longer. Using constructivist approaches such as inquiry learning and project-based learning will definitely be worth integrating into our programs as teacher librarians to achieve such success.

Boss, S.  & Krauss, J. (2008). Excerpted from Reinventing Project-Based Learning. Your field guide to real world projects in the digital age. International Society for Technology in Education. 1-24. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/images/excerpts/REINVT-excerpt.pdf

Edutechwiki (2010). Inquiry based learning. A very useful introduction to inquiry based learning. Retrieved from http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Inquiry-based_learning

O’Connell, J.  (2013). Teacher Librarian and the Curriculum [ETL401 Module 3.1] Retrieved March, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401_201330_W_D

Wilson, J. & Murdoch, K. (2004). What is Inquiry Learning? Adapted from Wilson, J. & Wing Jan, L. (2003). Focus on Inquiry. A practical approach to curriculum planning. 2^ND ed. 1-9. Retrieved from http://resourcebank.sitc.co.uk/Resources/Priority2/2Noumea/NoPr_T006inquiryLearning.pdf