Scenario 3 - Education revolution - a place for the school library?

It doesn't matter about the time period we are talking about, education has always been crucial for enabling humans access to a variety of life opportunities. The director-general of UNESCO sees "basic education as the key to effective participation in society" and this is for ALL children, not just those living in more developed countries.
Whether we are talking about classroom teachers, specialist teachers or teacher librarians, each one needs to be trained to a high level and preferably offered opportunities for regular inservice to enable them to use resources effectively to offer a good level of education to their clients.
I wonder if those countries with high success in providing basic education for all students (Finland, HK, Canada and Korea) have lower rates of crime and convictions? Something worth investigating.
Hughes' description in 1969 of education, learners and teacher librarians could have easily been written in 2011. I love the fact that someone could make a statement about education that would still be relevant 40 years later.

Scenario 2 - Sink or swim: digital dilemma in higher education

I learned from Law's scenario that libraries in higher education are evolving to reflect the needs of society. They are transforming from places which store printed matter in a logical order to places which also provide patrons access to vast amounts of electronic information. The challenge for librarians is to collaborate to organise and manage these resources so that users are able to access them easily. I can see that there are similarities between the change taking place in higher education libraries and the changes taking place in primary school libraries. We are offering a lot more online databases, magazines and learning tools and also making available technology such as desktop computers, laptops, iPods and iPads. The primary school library of today looks quite different to the library of ten years ago. It's fun to wonder what my school library will look like in another ten years.

Donham, J. (2005). Leadership

Donham tells us that leaders "know and respect the limits of their circles of influence" and that they act from "an internal locus of control". I can see these concepts being evidenced when TLs and teachers collaborate. When both parties take a role in planning, they each have a voice and are able to make decisions about where their students' learning is directed. In this sense, the TL is able to guide/tempt the teacher to take on a new initiative and, therefore, act a leader of change.
Since beginning my masters in TL, my eyes have been opened to the vast range of skills and knowledge that I need to possess in order to perform my role competently. Donham quotes Collins (2000) in stating that TLs need to understand what they can and cannot be best at. I believe this is true for all teachers, but because the TL role is so diverse, it is vital that we acknowledge our strengths and understand that in some areas we may not be as competent as we'd like to be.
Collins (2000) also tells us that leaders need to pursue what they are deeply passionate about. Having just celebrated our annual Book Week, I realise from the comments of my colleagues that I obviously exhibit passion for children's literature. Of course I knew that I was passionate, but I didn't realise that my passion was able to have such an effect on my colleagues until I was thanked numerous times for the great week of activities that the Book Week committee and myself had planned for our students. I now realise the effect one person's passion can have on others and that this is a fine example of "leading from the middle".

Scenario 1 - Miles' library

The importance placed on collaboration and the various forms of technology needed came through loud and clear in Doug Johnson's Scenario 1. I must admit I found some of it "way out there" - trying to project 14 years into the future was difficult for me.
Today’s children are way more tech savvy than many teachers (myself included) and I believe this will continue into the future. I think the thing we need to be mindful of is that our programs are able to offer our students the learning opportunities and access to technology that they will need to prepare themselves for their future. I can see how our students will need to be skilled up to use various technologies, but I’m not sure I agree with the notion that they will not be required to write essays.
I agree that students being able to direct their own learning is very exciting. In my school we are trying to personalise learning so that the children can have a say in what and how they learn.
This clip by Corning about future technologies is worth watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

Children, technology and the future

Today's children view technology as an essential part of their lives - removing tech devices from their lives would be like starving them of food and water. They believe that they cannot live without a means of communicating (constantly) with their peers.
I have two teenage kids and they can't leave home without their BlackBerries - they appear to me to be an extension of their arms - and they amaze me with the functions this tiny device provides them and the speed with which they can access information with them. When they are at home, their BBs supplement the social networking they do on their computers.
One of my concerns is that because they have a variety of means to communicate with their peers, they sometimes share too much information about themselves and others which I think is inappropriate. Children need to be taught how to use these new technologies in a safe and responsible way. Although the TL can help address this need, I believe that all teachers should play a role in preparing students to be cybersafe and cybersmart.

Back to the grind

So my next subject has begun - ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader.
This means lots of reading, pondering, forming opinions, reflecting - and of course, assignments!
Once again I will need to juggle the challenges of work, family and study.
Bring it on!!

The end, or just the beginning? A critical synthesis of my learning from ETL401

When I signed up to study for my masters in teacher librarianship, I was eager to learn how to better perform my role as a teacher librarian (TL). As I worked my way through the modules in ETL401, I began to realise that there were many gaps in my understanding of the role I should be playing in my school. I believe that my misguided understanding was probably due to lack of training and role models, and the uninformed expectations of my colleagues. I subscribe to a number of listservs and find that these help immensely to increase my knowledge and understanding of teacher librarianship, but to be perfectly honest, it is the reading and research I have done since beginning ETL401 that have really made an impact on my understanding of the complex role I need to play in my school. Having the opportunity to read forum postings by fellow students and make my own contributions to them has encouraged me to question some of my teaching practices and to make changes where necessary. I consider this to be an essential part of being a teacher as we are also learners and learning together can enrich our experiences (Roulston, 2010, September 4).

My learning from ETL401 helped me to realise how valuable it is for a TL to work on a flexible schedule. I discovered that it is more important that classes are booked for lessons after the teacher and TL have planned collaboratively and not booked on a permanent basis (Haycock, 2003). “It's my time that needs to be more flexible so that I can to try to cater to every year group's needs and collaborate with them when planning.” (Roulston, 2010, July 25). I had been working on a fixed schedule (which only allowed me enough time to see infant classes) because in my school this is expected of all our specialist teachers. After meeting with my principal and showing him the benefits of a flexible schedule, I have now moved away from my previous timetable.

As I worked my way through the topics, I realised that there is more important learning that needs to take place not only in the library, but in the whole school environment, and my priority has to be to begin creating an information literate school community (ILSC). It is my responsibility to see that an information literacy (IL) policy is written and adopted (Hore, 2010, August 10) in order for our students to be able to access, use and manipulate information in a thoughtful manner (Henri, 2005, p.19 and McKenzie, 2005, p.144).

I discovered that communication between my principal and I needs to be regular and focused on our students’ IL needs; he needs to be informed and educated. In the past I thought that one of the ICT teachers would be the driver of any initiatives in this area, but now I realise that I am the one that should be leading the way. I need to focus more on the library being seen as a centre of learning and not just a place where we keep resources (Herring, 2007, p.27). Our library is a busy, vibrant centre, but it is underutilised. “I can see that we have a long road ahead of us to raise the profile of our libraries and to show that we do more than just store books and read stories!” (Roulston, 2010, July 19). I now understand that collaboration is the key and I must make time to meet with class teachers to plan units in order for us to begin creating an ILSC.

For the past year I had been looking for a library curriculum that I could use to teach library lessons. Being a classroom teacher for over 20 years, I was used to having a curriculum to follow, but no matter how hard I trawled the Internet, I couldn’t find one. And then the penny dropped. “Now I realise that I've been searching for the impossible. It's the products of collaboration between the TL and the teachers that form the curriculum - it's not something that can be bought online or from a bookstore. It's the planning that meets the needs of the learner that is the basis for what needs to be taught in the library.” (Roulston, 2010, August 5). This “light bulb moment” has totally changed and informed the way I plan and teach.

I will finish with a quote from librarian Joyce Valenza, as I feel that it illustrates the kind of library environment I wish to create. “You understand that library is not just a place to get stuff, it is a place to make stuff, collaborate on and share stuff. Not a grocery store, but a kitchen!” (Valenza, J., 2010). An exciting and challenging time awaits me!