Understanding the ILSC - Henri 2005

Having read Henri (2005), my understanding is that the core business of a TL is to lead their school in developing the context or culture for learning for all: principals, teachers and students. He refers to Senge's (1996) argument that "leadership cannot force meaningful change but it can create the ingredients for a dynamic learning culture". TLs are fortunate in that they are usually one of the few professionals in the school who interact with every student and teacher on a weekly basis. By getting in at the grass roots level, TLs can try to influence their school community into wanting to create an environment where everyone is a learner. Henri tells us that school leaders must model what matters and they must "create an environment in which people are open to new ideas, responsive to change, and eager to develop new skills and capabilities" Senge (1996). Because the TL is in a central position, they can open the door to a variety of learning possibilities and can help to make "something personally understandable from a range of information sources" (Henri 2005). They can foster the notion that learning need not take place just in classrooms, but should take place in and around the school community.

Role of TL - ASLA Standards

Upon reading the ASLA standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians, I realise that although I've been doing (what I think) is a great job of managing my school library, there are many roles that I have been underperforming, or not performing at all. This is not due to lack of care or interest, but more due to lack of awareness that these are roles that are vital to the TL's function and also perhaps because I teach 20 classes on fixed schedule each week, manage two libraries on two different sites, one resource room and one reading books room AND I try to make contact with all 850 pupils every week. (These past 3 weeks, since I began ETL401, have been a very steep learning curve for me).
One area that I feel that I should address immediately when school resumes is my lack of collaboration with class teachers. Occasionally I have attended planning meetings, but looking back now I feel that my purpose or intention was misdirected as I was only involved from a resourcing point of view, not really focusing on the teaching and learning taking place. I realise now that I need to get involved in the nitty gritty of their planning and look for meaningful ways that I can support them and the learning outcomes and experiences we want for the children.

What a relief!

Aaaahh - that's me breathing a sigh of relief. I've just finished reading a very enlightening paragraph in Skrzeczynski's "Breaking the barriers: sculpturing an information literate school community" (1999).
After reading all the roles and responsibilities of excellent TLs over this past week, I was beginning to think that I would need to be cloned in order to fulfill all of these expectations. How can one TL possibly juggle their time well enough to be involved in so many important areas of the school? I sort of felt like I was drowning under this weight of responsibility, thinking that I would have to be involved in the teaching of every one of the 850 kids in my school every week. I already work 50+ hours a week - how can I possibly take on any more work?
Skrzexczynski explains that TLs don't have to be "engaged in the face-to-face teaching of students", it's the expertise they bring to the "planning, organising and management" of the curriculum that is important.
I'll sleep well tonight knowing that yes, I will still be involved in face-to-face teaching, but not expected to teach every lesson. My worth will be guaged by the contributions I make during the planning process, not in the actual execution of every lesson.
Now I realise that I won't have to move a camp bed into my library and take up permanent residence there.

Time management, negotiation & leadership

"Only dead fish swim with the stream" made me smile. I have never been known to be one who 'goes with the flow' just for the sake of it and I'm pleased about that -not sure I'd ever want to be compared to a dead trout.

At first reading of Sanders (2004), I thought that the idea of conflict being a useful part of the change process as it can "isolate the weaknesses in the proposals in time to correct them" was a new idea to me. However, after some thought I saw how conflict often worked in the meetings I've attended over the years where there have been differences of opinion and lively, productive, passionate discussion has taken place, usually ending in something being changed, often for the better. In quoting Wertheim et al (1992), Sanders tells us that "conflict management is a skill that can be learned" and that there are four major ways in which we respond to conflict: fighting, pacifying, avoiding discussing and compromising. In a school setting I must admit that usually my first response to conflict is to try to compromise, as it is in my nature to try to keep the peace and I generally run a mile before I involve myself in heated conflict. (It's a different story when I'm dealing with my teenage kids, though).
The idea of using "I" statements rather than "You" statements and describing the offending behaviour rather than the offender are not new ideas. These have been highlighted numerous times in the psychology courses and inservice training I've attended over the years.

Covey (1990) tells us that "Leadership is ... an art; it's based on a philosophy. You have to ask the ultimate questions of life when you're dealing with personal leadership issues." While leadership decides what "first things" are, it is management that puts them first, day-by-day, moment-by-moment. I feel that as a manager I'm good at 'getting the job done'. One former colleague once commented that the reason I was so busy and on so many committees is because people believe that a job will get done if you give it to a busy person - and that was usually me! I like the idea of activities fitting into one of four quadrants in the Time Management Matrix. I realise now that I need to take time out to think about and reflect on my Quadrant 2 activities to be able to give them more priority.

One way I can make myself more productive is to delegate the ordering of resources to other teachers. Until now I have worked solo on ordering, but in the new school year I intend to tap on the shoulders of teachers who are passionate about children's literature and ask them to assist. I'm also thinking about getting a signature stamp made so that invoices can be stamped by one of the library clerks, instead of each and every one of them (and there are many) manually signed by me. Not sure if this is legal or even acceptable in my school, but it will save me a lot of valuable time that could be spent better elsewhere and is certainly worth a try.

What sort of TL do I want to be?

Thought this would be a good time to think about my role as a TL and to review it at the end of this subject. Here we go ...

In order to become an exemplary TL, I need to:
- collaborate with teachers to provide meaningful lessons for children that help to build their skills to become productive, life-long learners.
- ensure that children have the means and opportunities to develop their information literacy skills.
- be a leader in curriculum development and in using information technology.
- do more teaching and less clerical work.
- provide my school community with a wider range of learning resources.
- be adaptable and ready to trial new developments in learning.

I believe that my school library "should be seen as a centre of learning first and a centre of resources second (Herring, 2007) and goals like this can't be achieved overnight. I realise I'll have a busy year ahead of me and will need the support of my colleagues, especially my principal. His approval for, and belief in, the changes I want to make to our library program will be necessary if I want keep all the staff "on side". And there need to be more hours in the day!!

Ghosts of libraries past (with apologies to Dickens)

After reading a couple of other posts made about childhood memories of libraries, I thought I'd reminisce to see if any libraries had left their mark on me. Having attended about eight Primary schools (my mother had itchy feet - still does even though she's 73!) in three different states, I had to really think hard to figure out which library went with which school.

Anyway, one of the ones that stands out was in Adelaide. The school was very progressive (for 1977) and in Years 6 & 7 much of our work was conducted by contract, so if our work was completed early, we were given passes to go to the library to use the listening post. How I lived for the times I could sit and listen to stories about Helen Keller, Louis Braille and other notable people. I remember there being a great range of books to borrow so my thirst for reading was easily quenched.

At times we performed research tasks, but I can't remember whether the librarian assisted us or not. Thinking about this library brings back pleasant memories for me, so I can only assume that it was a safe, welcoming place to kick back.

In contrast, the library in my Secondary school in Townsville most definitely did not have a "welcome" mat at its front door. Staffed by a couple of 90 year old nuns and a very stern male librarian, we knew in no uncertain terms that upon entering the library silence was the order of the day, every day to be precise. Giggling and gossiping teenage girls were most certainly not the type of clientele they were looking for. I remember visiting the library only when I needed information for homework tasks, getting in and out as quickly as I could. The eagle-eyed staff and the physical environment of the library did not encourage us to linger any longer than necessary.

Delving back through my memories has been a good experience for me. It has made me realise that even though the resources available in the library from 1977 would be vastly different (dinosaur-like in comparison) to a library in 2010, that the staff in that library were obviously offering a facility which children were excited and eager to visit. Somehow they created an environment which encouraged children to want to visit time and time again. This is the type of library I have tried to create in my school, where children are not forced to remain silent, a place where they can read, play board games, undertake research, complete homework, draw pictures - a place where they know they are welcome. My vision is for the library to be a learning hub, a trellis to support and nurture our seedlings' learning until it takes root and blossoms independently (fits nicely given the fact that the word "garden" makes up part of my school's name).

School libraries moving into the 21st Century

Although there is plenty of evidence to show that TLs have an enormous effect on the quality of education provided to children, it is evidenced in Haycock's 2003 report that the Canadian government continues to slice away at funding for school libraries. Library services in Canadian schools are dwindling away, so much so that in 59% of schools in Ontario parents raised money for library books. The picture Haycock paints is one of desperation. I finished reading this article feeling disbelief that the government of a progressive nation like Canada could neglect its children's educational needs.
Herring's reading very clearly laid out the roles expected of a TL. The multi-faceted role of the TL visualised in Figure 2.1 took a while for me to absorb at first. It is daunting to think that one teacher could wear so many hats. I felt relieved when I then went on to read Herring state that "It is clear that no teacher librarian could fulfil all of these roles at the same time ...". He says that in order for TLs to meet the needs of their school community, they need manage their time effectively. This is definitely something I need to address in my current position, as I spend far too much time performing clerical tasks and not enough being involved in the important roles, the ones which clearly make a difference on the learning taking place.
Haycock's recommendations to avert the crisis in Canada's school libraries are sound ideas (in my opinion) and if I had to pick one to begin working on now it would be no. 11. I can see that when school begins again in August that I will need to work hard to raise my profile. Although the library itself is a centre of activity in my school and the children and teachers love coming in, I realise that I have many more skills to offer to teachers to improve the learning going on and one of these skills is not my ability to check invoices!
I intend to strive towards Hay's message of school libraries being places where "students, teachers, teacher librarians, resources and technology come together to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for all".

History of school libraries in Australia

Libraries in Australia have evolved over decades and are no longer rooms where books are kept. They are a central part of each school communy and provide a range of information services. I see a number of issues affecting school library services highlighted in Hazell's paper, the main ones being:
1. the need to produce information literate students;
2. the role of teacher librarians not being given the recognition they deserve; and
3. financial constraints affecting decision making.

I think it's ridiculous that in 2010 these same concerns are still affecting schools worldwide. Even after all this time, TLs continue to advocate for the need to develop the skills in children which will enable them to safely and competently navigate their way through the abundance of information available to them, but often hit brick walls when trying to plan collaboratively for this with classroom teachers as they see this as something the TL should teach in isolation in the library. From posts made in forums by my fellow students, it appears that many schools continue to use TLs for providing non-contact cover for classroom teachers. This, to me, is a blatant waste of a TLs expertise. Government schools continue to work to tight budgets and often library services are the first to be pared down as school budgets dwindle.

Why, after so many years and so much research, are school libraries still being affected in this negative manner?

The worm begins wriggling ...

The worm has well and truly been pushed out of her comfort zone. For many months I have contemplated starting a blog, but have always found a good reason not to bother (had to cook dinner, chase my kids to do their homework, go to the gym, read a book, feed the cats, etc. etc.). Until now.
Having made the decision to pursue my Master of Ed. in Teacher Librarianship at CSU, I have now been pushed into a corner and have had to venture into this new world of online musings. I quite like the idea of having a place to store my thoughts on the readings for my first subject ETL401, but just hope I have a sufficient amount of intelligent, insightful comments to make.
The worm squirms.