Week 3

Aside from feeling slightly overwhelmed, these are my thoughts about the readings etc this week. WOW what a HUGE topic too. So much was covered and so much to read. I couldnt read all of it but did my best.

The question was asked in our module : Consider how the modern role portrayed in the literature compares/contrasts with the role played by teacher librarians in your experience. Can you account for any differences?

The role we are reading about differs greatly to the one I have seen in my experience. My experiences are dated though, so that could account for some of the differences. Living in a country town has also shown some differences (not many schools have a trained TL in them that I am aware of). I think things like technology has also made a BIG difference. Something I read in an article was talking about the "google generation" and how everyone wants the information RIGHT NOW! They don't want to have to wade through things to get the correct answer. We're becoming a lazy and impatient society in all factors of life really. So I think that has a big impact, why schools perhaps don't see the need for a TL like we are reading about, because the teacher can find the info at home, or a quick google search before school starts can give the child an answer for a project.

The reading for this week was from Henri, J. (2005). Chapter 2: Understanding the information literate school community. In Henri, J. & Asselin, M. (Eds). The information literate school community 2: Issues of leadership.

I also read from Skrzeczynski, C. (1999). Breaking the barriers: Sculpturing an information literate school community. In Henri, J. & Bonanno, K. (Eds). The information literate school community: Best practice, pp. 241-258. This was great to read about a real school "doing it right". As someone who works in a school where the library is only for borrowing books, this gave me great hope of what it could be like!

Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18. I found something in here really interesting where Oberg says that TL's tend to be invisible because of their low profile in educational literature. I would totally agree with that! I don't remember learning a THING about the role a TL can do for you in uni, or how valuable one can be. In all the subjects we did, even in all the prac's, not ONCE did anyone mention the benefit of having a TL and how they can assist in what my goal is as a teacher.

As a teacher in SA it was interesting to read about this research by Sue Spence on the state of our school libraries here. It was found that 60% of schools do not have school libraries run by qualified TLs. SSOs are doing the job of the TL, expoliting the SSO and taking positions away from would be TLs.