Don't worry I'm still here

Well, a month has gone by and I have been very quiet on the blog front.
Two assignments are now done and I can think about this again, very quickly before I have to start the others.

I am finding some of the ETL504 course very hard to deal with. It is so theoretical and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do for the second assignment.

All the ideals that are being espoused are good in theory, but how do they become reality? I am not an agitator by nature. It seems that the librarian needs to be an outspoken and bossy person who places the library at the forefront of everything.
And where do they find the time to do this? I'm good at procrastinating but I don't feel like I actually have any time to do anything.

As for ETL401, I'm still trying to create the information literacy programs for my school. I think after the second assignment I will be able to do that a bit more easily. And I haven't commented on the forum yet....

ETL401 - Information Literacy

I had always thought that information literacy was just library literacy; knowing how to find information, figuring out if it was good and using it well in assignments. I never realised just how important and all encompassing it could be.

Prior to starting this module I had written a proposal for implanting an information literacy programme in my school. It looks a little something like this.

INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAM

Purpose: To explicitly teach students critical thinking and evaluative research skills.

Goals:

For every student in the school to be critical and evaluative researchers.

For every student to know the steps of the research process and use them effectively.

For every student to use the library at school, the Internet and other libraries more effectively to help them with their work.

For every student to question and evaluate their sources.

To eradicate plagiarism in the school.

What has been done so far?

·          Each year, Year 10 completes the “All my own work” programme at the end of the year.

·          Each Year 7 LES class has had one lesson in the library to talk about research processes.

·          I have worked with Kim to develop a research scaffold for a Year 12 Studies of Religion assessment.

What needs to be done?

·          Each year group needs to be taught about information literacy, maybe in a one hour lecture during PC.

·          For each assessment in the school the TL needs to work with the writer of that assessment to develop a research scaffold for students to complete that assessment.

·          Establish an acronym to help students remember key points about information literacy. (POCAMRU)

·          To encourage students to use a variety of digital media.

·          To make digital media more prominent in the school.

Key components:

-          Digital literacy: Do students know how to use their computers, digital resources in the library and the Internet to their fullest potential?

-          Information literacy: Do students question the accuracy and reliability of the information they find? Do they know where to find the best information? Do students know how to annotate texts?

-          Anti-plagiarism: Do students know how to summarise? Do they know how to quote sources correctly? Do they know how to reference?

But after reading the module I think I have so many things to add.

Information literacy truly is an all encompassing thing. It will instill in students the ability to be lifelong learners and critical thinkers. It is about accessing and organising information.

And really I think this is the core of the librarian’s work.

ETL504 - Decision Making and Problem Solving

            I am interested in how decision making and problem solving occurs in a school, and especially the role of a TL in such a process. In our school at present much of the decision making happens at the top, with teachers being told that this or that will happen without any say in the matter. What happens in this process then is a lack of ownership of the decisions by the majority of staff and the lack of implementation of any solutions by them.

            What I wonder is if this would change if decision making and problem solving was lead from the middle. What if concerns were raised by teachers, taken to a middle manager, the TL maybe, and then passed on to the executive? The reading by Harvey (2001) and the subject notes indicates that the more consultation the better the outcome. They also suggest though that in different circumstances different approaches are needed.

            The main point that stuck out to me was that implementing a decision is often more difficult than deciding what to do. And that takes me back to my first point. Everyone needs to be involved in the decision making process in order for the solutions to be viable.

Teacher Librarian as Leader

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

Not just because it is one of the units I am doing, or because it keeps coming up in just about every reading for every subject we do, but because we are now at the end of Term One 2011. I am now at the end of my first term as a TL. And I feel like I have little to nothing to show for it.

So far the only things I have done seem to be cosmetic. Some new displays, lanterns and  the rearrangement of furniture. (That actually is one benefit, every day I have to rearrange the furniture after some teacher or another has mussed it up. In itself though it is a problem. The library is seen as just a physical space, a place for large gatherings or wet weather activities.)

In one week I will go for an update meeting with my Principal. Convened by me, for the purposes of discussing what I'd actually like to do in the library, the lasting impression I would like to make.

Number one on the agenda is a library website. And if I get nothing else that is my one desperate wish.
Then there is a creative writing programme.
And specific assessment workshops for different grades.
And a gifted and talented programme.
And an information literacy programme for every grade.

That's probably enough for now.
This whole TL as leader thing has got me thinking,
I know I'm a leader
But does anyone else in the school know it?

TLs and assessment

I am finding the assignments we are being given for this Masters to be very stressful. I am never quite sure what I am being asked to do or why they take the form they do. It would be a lot easier if they were more straightforward, if the steps to be taken were clearly outlined or the texts we were supposed to use were easily accessible.

For example in ETL401 we need to respond to two articles. Well, not both of them are articles and neither is easily identifiable. There are two Herring articles in the resources section of interact and you have to go on a wild goose chase to find the Purcell article. As for the bit about standards, it would be easier if they just put the standards we were allowed to choose from on the subject outline or a link to them at least.

And then there is the group assignment for ETL504. I am in two minds about this. I have really enjoyed talking to other people about the work. It helps to clarify it. But we are doing an online course. Using digital technology to meet is not easy. It doesn’t help that I don’t really know what the assignment wants me to do either. Apparently we are making a pitch to a journal for a proposed article that will never get researched. We can only write a few sentences per slide on a powerpoint and we are supposed to be analytical and respond to the readings. It is kind of like the assignment for EER500, but that was easier as we actually got to write the proposal rather than just pitch it.

Even with the forums and the lecturers’ advice this is all too complicated.

My conclusion therefore is that Teacher Librarians or those that teach teacher librarians cannot write good assessments.

ETL401 - The TL and the curriculum

            It seems fitting that education is moving toward an emphasis on the student as learner. The idea of constructivist learning, where the student leads their own inquiry based on a teacher provided model or scaffold is a good one. When they get out into the big wide world students will be able to be functioning members of the workforce, monitoring their own productivity and work through the company vision.

            It is also good then that inquiry-based and project-based learning are also coming to the fore. And it is within this realm I believe the TL has the most influence.

            Two years ago the school I am currently working at tried the whole project based learning thing. And it did not go very well. Some committee had decided that it was time for us to do it as it was a new trend but no real thought had gone into the process of setting it up. Students were supposed to learn first how to work in groups and then complete a project together. They did both but not in any deep way. There was little choice for students and next to no instruction in information literacy.

            Now we are currently being educated in the NSW Quality Teaching Framework. And the introduction of this model has been far more effective. At first it was quite daunting, as part of the process for us is having our peers view and review our lessons. What it does do though, is really make you think about your teaching, and more importantly about your students’ learning. Within the framework there is a real emphasis on making the learning more relevant to the students, connecting it more deeply to themselves as learners.

            If we remember all the hats that a TL is supposed to wear then it is important that they become involved in the planning of learning in the school. This is both for units of work and assessment. I would love it if every year I could have 20 minutes with each class in each subject to show them how they can use their library more effectively. But teachers are loathe to give up their time.

            If I knew every unit and assessment going on in the school I would be better able to select and acquire resources that students might actually need and use. I would also be better able to help them when they asked.

            Students in my school barely use the library for their assessments unless they are directed to by their teachers – most think a google search and anything they find on Wikipedia is enough. I am trying to change this but it is going to take time.

ETL504 - Quality Management

At the moment I am struggling to fit the quality management principles in with the view of the library and teacher librarian that I have developed through study in other subjects and even in this one.

At the moment I see the TL as a leader in the school being part of information literacy across the curriculum. The idea that the library should be the ‘learning hub’ of the school has been heavily promoted and is one that I agree with. The idea of quality management though, does not seem to fit in with this. It suggests to me that the library should again be isolated with weak links outside itself.

I can see the library working within a system, and the need for it to work to support the system and its goals, but I just can’t see how this might be achieved.

The Streeton Primary School “12 Quality Principles” (2000) does somewhat shed some light on quality management in education for me. I understand that it is important for there to be quality management within education, that education is the product and students (and their parents) are the clients. What I still don’t get though is how the library fits in to all of this.

I can create quality management within the library but how can I spread this throughout the whole school?