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.