Holiday season???

Well it is days away from christmas and school holidays have begun though it feels like holidays are a far off idea for the hopeful. The end of year has been busy and trying to do uni readings and assignments has been a struggle.

EER500 (educational research) has been tough as i find that doing research is not what interests me or excites me. Trying to sit and critically look at someone's research question and improve it was a struggle as i felt i do not have the level of expertise or knowledge about their chosen subject to feel confident in my opinions or suggestions.

ETL503 has also been a struggle as the assignment was far from clear and often left me questioning if what i was dong was correct. It was also made harder at not having access to all of the OPAC's that NSW department teachers have making me feel some what disadvantaged. The OPAC's i also found were very limited in what they had but this may have been related to my topic.

I have been trying to catch up on readings from ETL 503 and found the idea of censorship interesting as it raised alot of questions as to how you can successfully avoid it. From the school internet filter to my own invisible beliefs to choosing materials without worrying about what influential parties such as parents and other school community members think. These ideas i find challenging and am still unsure of how we avoid censorship. Isn't there always some form of censorship imposed whether it is stated or not??

The initial readings about budgeting have made me realise that budgeting is beyond just the books or electronic sources it is about upkeep of the library, maintaining programs for students and teachers such as readers workshops etc and even about looking at curriculum areas across the school as to what is needed. This is a huge task and i am not envious of librarians when all of that is to be considered. It would be challenging to be able to do a 'good' budget whilst completing all of the other tasks that a librarian is to do. More reading to be done some maybe as i continue the task will not seem so overwhelming and time consuming.

small steps

I have been rather busy with school and trying to do 2 subjects. I find the initial readings for both interesting.

In ETL503 the issue of resource selection seems overwhelming and mind boggling as I am not in a library. The issues relating to electronic resources seem wide though i feel that with a good policy and a specific audience of learners in mind the task would seem already more defined. Searching for information relating to the first assignment is challenging as i am trying to use my future situation of classroom teacher as where to start.

I have been talking to the school librarian regarding the collection policy and have discovered that due to her huge work load she has been unable to create a current and relevant one to the primary school. We are currently using the senior school policy roughly. This leaves room for improvement and possibly for the chance to combine our knowledge new and old. We will wait to see if we have time to look together at the old policy.

In EER500 the idea of finding an area i wish to research seems overwhelming though i think i have it more specified to boys education, guided inquiry and teaching strategies. This can be hard to find information about so i am still refining what i am interested in. Though i am making it relevant to my current school and situation.

The changing face of libraries

I have just started ETL 503 Resourcing the curriculum and have already found some of the readings intriguing. Johnson and Lee's articles are discussing the changing face of libraries.

Johnson shared some interesting ideas of where libraries are heading such as having spaces and equipment to allow the students to create their own visual and audio materials as well as spaces to present them in. This is an exciting idea and you could see children actively being involved in the library. This would rub many teachers the wrong way because if this is going on in the library there is no way that it can a quiet and silent area. But even as i reflect on this at school camp the boys were making videos for youtube and if we could curb that enthusiasm and direct it to educational and information purposes.

Some other ways that i think would be interesting but also make me cringe a little are games for recreation and information, and allowing students to bring their own device such as ipods. This seems like opening a door that could be hard to control with students able to access whatever they want and when they want. It also makes it harder to control what the students are doing. But on the other hand if we allow it will it take away a portion of the forbidden fruit aspects of playing games and surfing the web.

ETL 401 Assignment 2 Task C

A critical synthesis of your reflection on how your view of the role of the teacher librarian may have changed during the subject. This should include examples captured from your personal blog and from participation in the ETL401 forum (about 750 words).

My views of the role of teacher librarians have grown and developed as I have progressed through ETL 401 and ETL 501. My first blog post reflects where my initial view on the role of the teacher librarian laid. “It (the role of the teacher librarian) has changed a lot from when I was at school and they used to read a book and help us borrow“ (Martire, 2011b). This view reflects the stereotype of the teacher librarian that many share due to previous experiences with librarians (Brock, 2010, House of Representatives, 2010, Lance, 2010, Todd, 2001). This stereotypical view was also reflected in my blog post ‘ Child’s and Parent’s views on Teacher Librarians’ as I shared the discussions I had with some of my students and friends (who are parents) as to what the role of the teacher librarian is. These views support the view that the teacher librarian can be invisible due to the role they have in empowering others and contributing to what is perceived as other teacher’s work (Brock, 2010, Hay & Todd, 2010, Hartzell, 2002, Oberg, 2006). This observation led me to feel that the role of advocacy is more important than I initially thought and ‘we need to educate parents and students (when possible) about teacher librarian’s roles(Martire, 2011b).

As the readings led us to look further into the roles that a teacher librarian undertakes I was daunted by the number and variety of roles that were identified by Herring (2007), Lamb & Johnson (2008) and Purcell (2010). Lamb & Johnson’s (2010) discussion for evidence-based decision making made me consider how the role of ‘researcher’ is possible to be fitted in with the array of other roles. I came to the conclusion that ‘we need to prioritise the roles according to the school we are working in and the needs of the learning community’ (Martire, 2011b). The priority of roles is essential to ensure that we suit the school environment that we are working in though it is hard for me to make a final decision about prioritising these roles as I am not currently in a teacher librarian role and my understanding of what each role requires is still developing and evolving. The question of can we really take on a leadership role and balance all of the expectations of the role in the school still remains to be answered though I am sure that this will evolve with my studies and experience.

My current school situation has also influenced my view on the role of the teacher librarian. I ‘have been working with her (teacher librarian) in a variety of ways that link to my position. I am seeing more reasons as to why teacher librarians are a logical fit for leadership positions due to the amount of knowledge relating to the school curriculum’ (Martire, 2011b). Though from my interactions with her there is far from a balance in her role between leadership and other roles. There is also an ICT teacher employed at our school and this initially caused me some confusion, as I was uncertain about the difference between the roles. It raised the questions of:

·     If the ICT takes over the ICT roles what does this leave the TL? Shouldn't this be an ideal situation?

·     Do ICT teachers teach critical literacy skills or just introduce new technologies (which is my belief)?

Martire, 2011b.

It wasn’t until I inspected the job descriptions of these 2 roles that these questions were answered. Our ICT teacher is about teaching and introducing new technologies with information skills being left to the classroom teachers and teacher librarian.

The role of the principal and how it influences the role of the teacher librarian has also been highlighted through both the readings in the course and my experience. The stark difference between the principals is reflected in the teacher librarians in the schools with one being untrained and only there for book borrowing and the other being a highly active and crucial member of the school team. The issue of collaboration is continues to be discussed. When asked if the teacher librarian should be 100% of the time in the classrooms I discussed that while it sounds ideal the reality of a situation like that is quite the opposite. In the forum, I reflected that there should be a balance between collaborative planning, teaching and the other roles of the teacher librarian (Martire, 2011a.)

My views on the role of the teacher librarian will continue to develop and change throughout my course, first-hand experiences and other influences. They have taken a big leap from my initial beliefs and continue to evolve.

References

Brock, K. (2010). Submission to the Federal Parliamentary inquiry into school

libraries and teacher librarians in Australian schools. Retrieved 18^th

September 2011 from

www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ee/schoollibraries/subs/sub347.pdf

Eisenberg, M. (2011). What is the Big6? Retrieved 17^th September 2011 from

http://www.big6.com/about/

Hartzell, G. (2002). What’s it take? Teacher librarian, 30 (1), 81.

Hay, L. & Todd, R. (2010). School libraries 21C: the conversation begins. SCAN, 29

(1), 30 – 42.

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.

– 132.

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment.

(2011). School libraries and teacher librarians in 21^st century Australia.

Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Lamb, A. and Johnson, L. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: a dynamic

collaborator, teacher and technologist. Teacher Librarian, 36 (2), 74 – 78.

Lance, K. (2010). The mind of a researcher. Teacher librarian, 37 (4), 81 – 82.

Martire, A. (2011a, September 13). Re: Unrealistic 2 [Online forum comment].

Retrieved 20^th September 2011 from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=frameset&forum_id=ETL401_201160_W_D_Sub5_forum&message_id=5375682

Martire, A. (2011b). Road to becoming a Teacher Librarian [Blog]. Retrieved 22^nd

September 2011 from http://martirealissa.blogspot.com/

Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators.

Teacher Librarian, 33 (3), 13 – 18.

Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books, right? A look at the roles of a

School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection 29 (3), 30 – 33.

Todd, R. (2001). A sustainable future for teacher-librarians: Inquiry learning, actions

and evidence. Orana, 37 (3), 10 – 20.

Obstacles to being a Teacher Librarian

Writing the second assignment for ETL 401 has made me have a closer look at the challenges and obstacles that teacher librarians face. They are all closely related and impact on one another. For example the status of TL's joins to collaboration with teachers, principal support and role identification. Working on one of these areas impacts on them all eg collaborating with a teacher raises the TL's status, demonstrates a role of the TL and will assist to gain principal support.

Collaborating, advocating for our profession to others and communicating about our work with others are all way to assist others to recognise the valuable resource that is at hand with an enthusiastic and innovative TL in their school.

Information Literacy or ICT skills?

For school i had just to read a document called 'The role of ICT in the PYP' as we are a PYP school. This homework came at time when i am forming my understanding of Information Literacy and what it is. This document helped to clarify the difference in these 2 terms for me as it often is switching between describing Information Literacy and elements of the process and ICT skills. They have identified 6 ICT skills though the first 5 are similiar to steps in many Information Literacy models whereas the last relating to digital citizenship. Is digital citizenship really an ICT skill or is it something else? This question i am unsure of the answer at this time.

I looked at the school scope and sequence for further clarification as to how the school has interpreted this document and found 12 groupings realting to

• Word processing
• databases
• spreadsheets
• hardware / software management
• simulatuion / modelling
• graphics
• electronic communication
• multimedia presentation
• digital photography
• animation
• graphic organisers
• digital videos

This makes the difference between the ICT teacher and Teacher Librarian at school much clearer as i was questioning this earlier in my studies.

Information literacy is a process that is ongoing and is about transforming information rather than translating it.
ICT skills about learning how to use different digitaltechnology.

Where does digital citizenship fit in? Maybe that answer will come as i keep on working.

Information Literacy: The continutaion

As i have continued to read through out the large amount of information relating to ETL 401 and start to focus towards the up and coming assignments for both of my subjects my idea of information literacy continues to develop. The discussions relating to ALA (1989) definition of Information Literacy have been enlightning and highlg relevant. It has aged well and stood up to the test of time this definition for a number of reasons. This definition is a broad definition that can be applied to all learners from all walks of life from people who have no access to computers and technology to the workplace to everyday citizens. It is a life long process that we all go through constantly. Information literacy is not limited to computer skills or to being able to access information online. It is about finding, assessing, utilising information and being able to create new understanding from it as well as being able to apply it to a new concept.

The use of terms such as 'information technology literacy' and 'digital technology' are different to information literacy though i feel that they are aspects of information literacy. Information literacy is not about teaching students to use specific tools but about being able to use the process in a variety of enviroments. I feel that it is a process with students needing to work through the skills in different situations and reflect on their own learning and teachers forcing them follow a linear path of research.

Reading about learning as a process and constructivist views of it were enlightneing. John Dewey words and writing really gave me a lightbulb moment  when he says that the principal of education is to prepare people for change and that transference is the ultimate object of education. This relates directly to Information Literacy and the reasons why it is of such high importance in Education due to the way that society is constantly changing. I coud see his phases reflected in a number of information literacy models.

It has been a day where many things seem to have become much clearer.

Web 2.0 tools and possible uses

The readings on Web 2.0 have been enlightening as I have come from a school where ICT was almost non-existent and challenging to get it incorporated into the classroom. The use of Web 2.0 is an amazing resource to make learning for children relevant and engaging. Throughout the readings a variety of purposes have leapt out to me that could be used if I become a classroom teacher again. For example:
•    children creating ongoing blogs
•    using wikis to present their learning journey’s on as well as completing group assignments.
•    joining in blogs for classrooms and the library
•    communicating with other schools and joining in group research projects
and many more that involve podcasting

I found the idea of using Delicious to bookmark websites for students uses and teachers very appealing as this would allow teachers and students to be able to share worthwhile sites with all without sending out global email. This does raise the questions of who will maintain the bookmarks such as checking that they are still relevant and active. This would fall to the Teacher Librarian or maybe if lucky the ICT teacher. This would be a worthwhile resource for all though getting it started could be challenging. Maybe others have used this already in their schools.

What is Information Literacy?

This seems to be a question with no correct answer. I have just started reading the first of many readings regarding Information Literacy and what it is and have read some of what people are writing on the forum. It has been said that Information Literacy is varying and different in different schools and contexts. It has been suggested that we should use definition that suit us and the context we are in.

From my first initial readings some things that have stuck with me is that information literacy is lifelong goal (Candy, 1993) for everyone including teachers and adults. Kuhlthau (1995) suggest that it is an umbrella term that has many parts that contribute to holistic development of individual to function in society. ALA also identify it as the ability to access, evaluate and use information from a variety of resources, reconise when information is needed and know how to learn.
It is also suggested that it involves:
*the attainment of skills and techniques
*the mastery of processes
*is a learning tool
*learning a specific and evolving behaviour
*critical thinking behaviour
*empowering learning (Owen, 1996)

Reed Tweed & Bailey's (1994) definition of 'New literacy' was interesting as it seems to relate to electronic information it does not mean that it is collaborative, multicultural and image driven as they suggest.

Abilock's (2002) website offered a detailed and outlined section of the steps in inquiry process of problem solving for information need. They outline the student outcomes, skills and how teachers are to guide this as well as how to tell they are achieving these skills. Perhaps this website appeals to me because there is a solid and explained definition.

Can information literacy have 1 set definition or is it forever evolving as it is suggested by many that have written about this topic? Perhaps further reading will help to clarify my own ideas.

Child's and parent's view on Teacher Librarians

Whilst at work today some of the Year 2 boys offered to help me with my university assignment about roles of the teacher librarian. They listed the following points as what a Teacher Librarian does:

• they read a lot
• help you find a book
• look after the books
• reads to children
• looks after children

In a discussion with a friend (who is a parent),regarding what a Teacher Librarian is. He had the traditional view of what a Teacher Librarian does and that it only involved books. After explaining to him how the role of the TL has changed relating different forms of literacies such as digital and how we need to teach children to critically look at the websites to see how reliable their information is, as well as TL's having to be confident and familiar with new technologies and the resources that are useful to students and teachers he seemed to have a much better understanding of why Teacher Librarians are necessary in every school. He was surprise to find out that we collaborate and plan (ideally) with all of the staff and teachers especially.

These perspectives highlighted to me that the main roles of the Teacher Librarian are often hidden from students as parents and are happening behind the scenes. They are the people behind the teachers on the front line providing them with the informations, resources and guidance that they need. This insight from the students highlights more to me that we need to educate the parents and students (when possible) about what the Teacher Librarian does to help the students and the teachers. I have read this often in the reading but I find that these 2 discussions brought it to the forefront of how to improve the perceptions of Teacher Librarians and why it needs to be done.

Which way should we collaborate with teachers?

After reading alot regarding Teacher Librarians roles in Schools i have a little further clarification about my confusion between ICT teachers and Teacher Librarians. Most people agree on this topic that TL's are to teach information literacy skills to the students. Though there are a few questions relating to this:

• Is there a difference between information literacy and 21st century skills?
• Do we only teach students these skills?
• Do ICT teachers teach critical literacy skills or just introduce new technologies (which is my belief)?

There was debate in my readings relating to the teacher role of TL's. I found it interesting that the TL's role in encouraging and supporting literacy programs was not mentioned much at all. Though the biggest discussion was between whether the TL should collaborate with teacher's to:

• teach according to the curriculum
• teach information skills (and 21st century skills?)
• to teach curriculum with use of technology and infromation skills.

The first 2 are basically the same but the 2nd was discussed as being a negative collaboration due to the number of classes that the TL sees and the skills to be taught. We were also reminded  by Twomey that infromation skills are not separate to the curriculum and are not separate outcomes to cover.

Perhaps the ways that TL's collaborate depend on their school and their needs.

Teacher librarian???

After a conversation with the TL at my current school i am looking at the readings i have been doing relating to their role in a different manner. My school has an ICT teacher as well and this seems to take alot of the ICT aspects of our role though she teaches new technology but not critical 21st century literacy skills.

Where does this lead the role of the TL in my school? She is managing 2 libraries on separate campuses and is also a stage leader. She is taking on the leadership role as is suggested but when talking to her about how things are going she has said that teaching is not happening as most classes get one lesson a week with her now and use this to borrow library books.  The stage leader position has her collaborating with those years though not with any others. This situation has lead me to ask some questions relating to the role of TL such as:

• if the ICT takes over the ICT roles what does this leave the TL? Shouldn't this be an ideal situation?
• Can we really take on a leadership role and balance all of the expectations of the role and the school?
• Does my school really understand what they role of the TL can be and the benefits to our whole school community?

There is a budget for another TL next year (maybe me) and the 2 libraries will be combined into one. It will be interesting to see how this effects the TL and their ability to be a TL to the students. It will be interesting to see if i am able to answer these questions in the coming months.

Exciting times ahead with PBL

I found the PBL readings (Boss & Krauss) very interesting and relevant to me as working in an IB school means that this is the approach that you are aiming for whilst also trying to hit the nail on the head in regards to curriculum and school expectations. I feel that more reading in this area will give me more tools in my toolbox. I have to admit that at times i find PBL hard to do as teaching maths can not always be this way to ensure that students are acquainted with mathematical strategies and other knowledge. There certainly is a place for it but time is my current restraint especially ensuring that curriculum needs are met. This has got me thinking excitedly about possibly returning to a classroom teacher role next year to explore PBL further and develop both my skills and confidence.

The PBL article by Boss & Krauss also got me to thinking that i should have a del.icio.us account to save my bookmarks for university and general life as i will then be able to access them from other computers. This can be put on the list of things to do along with all of the other things.

Do TL's have a future?

There has been talk about the where teacher librarians are going and if there is a future for them which i must say has crossed my mind. Many schools do not have a TL and when they do teachers do not see the value of the resource that is at hand.

We need to highlight and advocate constantly to others what our role is and why we are so important to students and staff alike. This means that all TL's need to step up and as a learning TL I need to educate and advocate as well.

Online resources are changing the look of librarians but I feel that there is still a need for print materials and though reference materials do not need to a no touch zone. Students still need to learn how to guide themselves through books as well as the plethora of online resources that they able to access.

We are constantly using online resources for teacher guidance and students. After reading about evaluating online resources I realise that I do evaluate though I focused more on the Educational and Technical Criteria that Herring (2010) refers to and do not consider reliability as an issue. This is an important step and even though I may not find the perfect resource but these criteria will guide me to find the best fit for the criteria I have.

Evidence based Practice

I have to say after reading about EBP I am very uncertain. Some parts of the readings made sense to me but then the more detail i read the more the confusion spread. I understand the basic ideas but i feel i need to more readings relating to implementing EBP's and should probably look at Australian research as the term 'curriculum standards' i am unsure what is meant.

I can understand why it needs to be used but i find it hard at the moment to be able to fit this role of 'researcher' into all of the other roles i have learnt about. We need to prioritise the roles according to the school we are working in and the needs of the learning community.

When i am in a TL role i am sure that it will make more sense and i will be able to see the priority of the roles that i need to take.

Role of Principals

I found the readings relating to Principals and the ways that Teacher Librarians are viewed eye opening. I, myself, did not see the Principal as influential but after starting in a new school this year I was looking at the role of the Principal different. At my previous school the Principal was hardly seen, always on trips and did not even have an educational background. My current school the Principal is an active member of the team and is always there for open discussions and support.

The differences between these two Principals is/was reflected in all aspects of the school, particularly the collaboration between staff and the library. The library at my previous school had an untrained librarian who was there half a day every day but the lessons were children borrowing and that was it. It was teacher initiated for the lesson to be anything different. Compare this to my current library and Teacher librarian and it is completely opposite. The TL is a constant at grade, team, committee and subject meetings. She is always able to guide you to where useful resources are and she is seen as a crucial part of the school community.

These readings certainly helped me to identify factors that have made me enjoy my new school environment and reflect on what it is that I can do to work towards to be a great TL!

Role of TL

There are aspects of the role of TL's that are agreed by Purcell, Herring and Lamb and Johnson such as:

• collaborating with teachers and school admin to form policies and procedures, develop learning activities relating to the curriculum
• integrating ICT and digital resources into the school library, evaluating resources, establishing a library that meets the needs of students, teachers and the school community relating to their interests and curriculum.

to name a few.

Lamb and Johnson do not discuss teaching as a role or highlight the importance of teaching information literacy skills as well as the organisational side of the school library as well as promoting the school library through book week, competitions, guest speakers and other events.

In all these readings i find it interesting that teaching students the way to critically look at written text, such as what the contents, index etc are and how we can use them, are not mentioned as students still need to learn these skills.

Herring highlighted the fact that the role is multifaceted and that it is ever changing according to the technology and pedagogies that are being used in the current environment.

My own understanding of the role as Teacher Librarian is evolving through the readings as I have only just started working in a school that has a trained Teacher Librarian in it and have been working with her in a variety of ways that link to my position. I am seeing more reasons as to why Teacher Librarians are a logical fit for Leadership positions due to the amount of knowledge relating to the school curriculum.

I wonder if i will be able to fulfil the expectations of being an excellent Teacher Librarian? I am only at the start of the journey and that is the ultimate goal.

Purcell Reading

I have started to read about what is the role of the Teacher Librarian is. It seems a daunting task when it is put in writing but i suppose if you were to identify all the roles of a classroom teacher it would be just as daunting. I agree that the roles are diverse and that technology and information literacy skills are a high priority though i also agree that promoting our profession is of high importance to dispel the stereotype of what a teacher librarian is and to highlight the fact that trained professionals need to be in the role to make it worthwhile to the whole school community.

Collaborating is of crucial importance but i feel that the issue of lack of classroom teacher involvement and collaboration has yet to be addressed for me. There are teachers that are resistant to change at times and who feel that their students are their concern. They may also feel that library time is a rest for them and that it is used to look for books not learn how to research, interpret, analyse and critically view resources. Maybe this will be discussed in further readings.

Lets get started

So i have already had problems setting up a blog but i am hoping that it will work this time. I am unsure about using a blog as i have never used anything like it before and i am a little daunted at the thought of maintaining it throughout my Masters. I am sure with practice i will look back and think how silly i was.

I have started my first subjects and my eyes are opened more to what the role of the librarian is and how it is changing. It has changed alot from when i was at school and they used to read a book and help us borrow. It involves technology, collaboration and a wide set of skills.

I chose to do my Masters as i always liked the library and saw that there were often jobs advertised for teacher librarian. I feel that it is a specialised area that often goes unnoticed as schools are not forced to have trained staff. This is surprising in the surrent climate we are in.