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!

A pothole in my learning road

Having family come to stay for the last two weeks has really put a dent in my study time. Going to work every day, coming home to cook dinner and then entertaining our visitors has meant that trying to find a chunk of time to sit down and read articles and undertake research has been really difficult. It was lovely to see them and have them stay, but it was also a great relief to wave goodbye yesterday. Now I can knuckle down and get Assignment 2 finished. Really didn't need this distraction - I'm already an expert at procrastination and now I feel that I've "lost" two weeks of valuable learning time. Hmmm.

Topic 5 and the beginnings of an ILSC

This week I have started the ball rolling into beginning to create an ILSC in my workplace. My principal and the senior management team have given their support to the adoption of the NSW ISP and for most teachers (including me), this will be the first time a model has been used seriously to guide the research tasks undertaken by our pupils.

There was a look of bewilderment on many teachers' faces when I gave them each a copy of the ISP. I explained that this year we will working together to embed IL skills into our curriculum and I will be supporting them as we plan units of study together. In the short term, I think that I will need to tread gently as I look for these opportunities and to show teachers that my job is to assist them in providing the best possible learning outcomes for our pupils and not to make their job any harder.

From the Topic 5 readings, I especially like Senge's (2007) comments about building learning organizations "where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together." I think I will be referring to this statement regularly to keep me focused and to inspire me as I work with my school community to create an ILSC.

Information Literacy as an evolving state

In Langford's (1998) article she refers to literacy as being an evolving state that "mirrors the expanding information needs of society" (Breivik & Gee), thus meaning that it has become a "dynamic concept". This is so true.

The number of websites, online tools, games, etc. available to society is limitless. It seems that every day a new "must have/must use" technology is promoted to us. Just this morning I read that Google is soon going to release a Facebook competitor. My first response was 'Why? Do we really need another FB?' And then I thought, 'Why not?' It's just another avenue for people to express themselves and connect with each other.

This is the nature of our love affair with technology, and with progress in general. We are attracted to the newest, fastest, coolest that are on offer.

Nobody is forced to use these new technologies. I have many friends who refuse to sign up for FB accounts. However, the children we teach ARE participating in 21st Century technologies and they need to be taught the skills to be able to confidently and competently use these technologies in a responsible way. TLs need to ensure that the curriculum taught in their school supports the information needs of the learners.

One of the statements in Warlick (2007) resonated with me. He says that "We can no longer be the gatekeepers. We must, instead, teach children how to be their own gatekeepers, and this is an ethical imperative." Having heard of a number of students in my school using social networking sites inappropriately, this reinforces the importance of learners being taught the IL skills to manage their expanding information needs in an ethical manner.

Need more hours in the day!

It's been two weeks since I last blogged. Going back to work to begin a new school year certainly reduced the time I could put into my ETL401 studies. I'm a week behind in my readings, which I am really not happy about. At least I've got a few public holidays coming up soon, so hopefully I can catch up then. If only there were more hours in the day. If only I could exist on less sleep. If only I could get out of work earlier so that I didn't come home exhausted each day. If only ...

Maybe I need to re-read Covey's reading from Topic 6. There's an idea!

I met with all the teachers last week and explained how my role would be changing this year. With me working on a flex. schedule for the first time, I am looking forward to collaborating with all year groups with their planning.

This change seemed to be received well, so here's hoping for a fun, productive year of collaboration!

Assignment 1 finished!

Yes, my first assignment is finished, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to reflect on what I have learnt during the process of researching and writing it.

From this experience I have learnt that although I knew that teaching information literacy skills to children was important, I really didn't know how to go about creating an Information Literacy School Community. From the readings I have learnt the value of collaboration and that this is something I need to encourage in my school if we are to enrich the learning opportunities we offer to our pupils. I realise that there may be some reluctance from a couple of teachers, but I feel that in the main, most teachers will be happy to have my input into designing, teaching and assessing our curriculum.

I look forward to a challenging year ahead and hope the rewards we reap as a teaching community will make it all worthwhile.

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. -- George S. Patton

Referencing

I have learnt a very valuable lesson this week. I found that organising my references in the APA style is a mammoth task. It's taken me nearly as long to get the referencing right as it did to write the assignment! Not really, but I can't believe how long it took me to get every date, bracket, full stop, italic, page no., etc. in the right place.

Gee, I will never, ever leave it to the end again. From now on, I will make sure I do my referencing correctly as I use each quote in my writing.

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. ~Eartha Kitt