My reasons for wanting to become a teacher librarian were (shamefully) based around the fact that I love reading and literature, and thought that it would be nice to teach about books and read to children all day. Also, it seemed a much easier job than that of the classroom teacher. This view was reinforced by my principal when she asked if I was doing this course because I wanted an easier job.
No reports to write, no parent teacher interviews to conduct. In fact, little to no contact with parents at all – another big motivation to leave the classroom.
My perception of the role of the TL was based around my personal experiences. For years I have waved goodbye to by Infants classes as they went to library lessons that consisted of literature activities and library skills. I was aware that there was more to the role, such as seeking out and purchasing exciting, appropriate and up-to-date resources for all to share. No collaboration at all.
The only drawback I could see to the TL role was that just one subject area was taught. I wondered if I would end up getting bored.
I am now painfully aware of how wrong I was.
It was the start of Topic 1 when I was first introduced to the term ‘information literacy’. Prior to that, I had never even heard of it. I began to realise that the role of the TL was diverse, and it dawned on me that they teach more than one subject area. My one misgiving about the role had been dissipated. A reading by Skrzeczynski (1999) has become a favourite of mine, as is recounted in my blog (Hashim, 2010). It has almost given me a blueprint of what the TL’s day can pan out like. It also reassured me that yes; information literacy can be taught with the Infants grades.
Information skills models were also foreign to me, although I have always tried to incorporate higher thinking skills into my classroom practice. I started to realise that, when I did finally become a TL, I going to play a major role in developing an ILSC. In fact I was surprised when I read that school libraries should have more non-fiction than fiction materials (Herring, 2007). Until then I had never realised that this was just the case in our school library (Hashim, 2010).
Along with this building excitement was incredible deflation. With schools placing such an emphasis on NAPLAN testing, what impact was this going to have on the role of the TL? My first notion that other students held the same opinion was through my own forum posting on (Hashim, 2010). I was relieved to get so much feedback from other students (Van Der Wyngaard; 2010, Bowyer, 2010; Veugen, 2010; Williams, 2010).
What about collaboration? There has been none of that at our school for over six years. I now realise how frustrated our TL must be – a little like being a qualified teacher but working as a teacher’s aide.
The forums have been a fantastic learning tool for me. I have been an avid reader them. Some students (Cooney, 2010; Carr, 2010; Langdon, 2010) have amazing insights and I continually seek out their postings. As was the case when attending uni tutorials, I have been more in the background than a vocal participant.
Another big revelation has been the role of assessment in the TL’s practice. Oberg (2002) made some valid points that I would never have considered and made me start to realise how TLs can impact on student achievement. I had never actually considered assessment or evaluation as a part of the TL’s job description.
My blog has been an interesting experience. I feel that I could have used it much better. Too many assignment mumblings and not enough content related to the course. I have included some interesting articles, but am realising that I should have done more of that for reference in future subjects.
The ‘light bulb’ moment has only just happened. When reading Eisenberg (2001) I realised that, like the littlies being talked about in the article, I am great at ‘doing’. I actually do a lot of planning in my daily life, but when it comes to academic matters I just ‘do’. From now on I will use an information skills model when doing assignments. This will make me a better TL because I will have firsthand experience.
The role of the TL is very diverse and incredibly challenging, although in vastly different ways to the classroom teacher. I have only just scratched the surface of the role of the teacher librarian, but am getting my shovel and looking forward to digging deeper.
References
Bowyer, K. (2010, March 3rd), ‘Re: RBL and testing’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum.
Carr, S. (2010 March 20th), ‘Re: TL faze out’, Message posted to ETL401 Messages
Carr, S. (2010 April 4th), ‘Light bulb moment’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 4 sub-forum
Carr, S. (2010 May 18th), ‘Re: [Assignment 2 - Rebecca White] Now I'm really confused!!’ Message posted to ETL401 Assignment 2 sub-forum
Cooney, P (2010, March 7th), ‘Evidence-Based Research’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 2 sub-forum
Cooney, P (2010, March 14th), ‘RBL and Curriculum Development’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 3 sub-forum
Cooney, P (2010, April 17th), ‘A brief comparison of seven of the models’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 4 sub-forum
Cooney, P (2010, May 16th), ‘Re: Help’, Message posted to ETL401 Assignment 2 sub-forum
Eisenberg, M. (2001), ‘Introducing the Super3: Working with the Very Youngest’, accessed May 4th, 2010
http://www.big6.com/2001/12/31/introducing-the-super3-working-with-the-very-youngest/
Hashim, M. (2010, March 3rd), ‘RBL and testing’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum.
Hashim, M (2010, March 11th), ‘Fiction vs Non-Fiction’, message posted to http://soon2btchrlib.blogspot.com/
Hashim, M. (2010, March 23rd), ‘Skrzeczynski – a great article’, message posted to http://soon2btchrlib.blogspot.com/
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
Langdon, S. (2010 March 6th), ‘RBL - a worthwhile balancing act’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum
Langdon, S. (2010 March 18th), ‘RB teaching and learning and the integration student’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum
Langdon, S. (2010 March 25th), ‘RBL is worth the effort’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 3 sub-forum
Oberg, D. (2002), ‘Looking for evidence: Do school libraries improve student achievement?, School Libraries in Canada, 22(2), 10 – 14
Skrzeczynski, C. (1999), Ch 16 Breaking the barriers: sculpturing an information literate school community, pp. 241-258 In The Information literate school community: best practice, J. Henri. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Van Der Wyngaard, C. (2010 March 12th), ‘Re: RBL and testing’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum
Veugen, R. (2010 March 22nd), ‘Re: RBL and testing’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum
Williams, K. (2010 March 3rd), ‘Re: RBL and testing’, Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum.
No comments:
Post a Comment