Before this course was undertaken the view that I had of a teacher librarian (TL) was that of most other people: that the teacher librarian manages the books and teaches students about fiction and non-fiction books in a non-contact lesson.
In the blog entry posted on July 12 (Fabian, 2010), reference is made to memories of library experiences as a young child through to high school. The school library was a place where books were kept with the occasional help of finding a book for an assignment. It was not the type of library that was described in the readings from Hazell (1990) as being a “dynamic, integrated resource service offering library and information services to all members of the school community”. The reason for this lack of knowledge was identified in the same blog post as being there was little to no explanation about TL’s, what the TL can provide, how to utilise the school library and the TL, in teacher training courses and educational literature (Fabian, 2010, July 22nd). Another reason is the view that some schools and principals hold of the library and the teacher librarian. In other campuses of the school I am associated with the TL is there to manage resources and provide non-contact for the class teachers (Fabian, 2010, July 28th). After speaking to one of the TLs at the school it was expressed that money and time restraints resulted in the TL not being utilised appropriately (Fabian, 2010, 29th July ETL401 forum, topic 2). A reading undertaken by Sue Spence (Fabian, 2010, July 22nd) on the state of TLs in my home state also showed that the majority of school libraries were being run by SSOs and not trained TLs which further adds to the false perceptions of librarians.
A discovery was made about the importance of the TL and resource-based learning (RBL). I had not experienced that as a teacher as there was no TL in the school where I was first employed. The reason identified on the forum posted on July 18th (Fabian, 2010, ETL401 forum, topic 1) was that being early childhood trained there was a lot of explicit teaching required; there was also a lack of training in this from the university degree. Progress has been made in the school by in that I approached teachers and showed them the importance and benefits of RBL. A development of a RBL task for one class has begun in hopes that other teachers will want this in their classes too and eventually make this part of the policy and curriculum of the entire school (Fabian, 2010, September 20th). Co operative planning and learning will also hopefully become a norm in the school as I realise the great importance of it (Fabian, 2010, August 26th), and have already begun to make some suggestions to teachers where they can incorporate some co operative learning tasks in their programmes.
Interesting to me was the belief that the key role of the teacher librarian was to supporting the teachers first (Fabian, 2010, July 27th). This is opposite to what has been experienced and is practised in a large number or libraries in the past and even today. It makes sense that by providing the teacher with education on the importance of being information literate (IL), encouraging training and development, and supplying the teachers with the information they need is the primary role and where most of our time should be spent. The secondary role of supporting the students would naturally flow from that as they benefit from well-equipped and trained teachers and TLs (Henri, 2005).
Something that struck me is the importance of critically analysing things and researching wisely. This has been learnt through ETL501 where we were learning about evaluation and also through this subject in relation to the research models. Again, things that were not included in the teaching university degree nor covered in P&D once teaching in a school commenced. A very important and vital role it appears of the TL, especially in this technology geared world (Fabian, 2010, August 27th).
Using the blogs and forums has helped to solidify what I now believe the role of a TL is. The forums were very helpful when I might not have understood something, reading it in words by someone else helped. It was also good to share experiences and find similarities in thoughts and practices, and also be challenged and inspired by the differences. The blog was useful to record the learning that was happening. A realisation came after reading about the Big6; that the readings, the forums, the blogs and assignments were all part of metacognition; getting us to evaluate and think about how we think (Fabian, 2010, 17th August).
Overall, the readings, forums, blog, and interactions with other TL students and teachers have helped to shape the new view that I have of TLs. That a TL is an essential asset, that is professional, and is a leader in educating the youth of today and tomorrow.
References can be found in the assignment reference list.
