Tag: Roles and Responsibilities

Social Media in ‘Your’ Organisation – Reflection on INF506 Module 4 and Assessment 1

INF506 Module 4 Screen Shot of my laptop
Christy’s laptop screenshot of the research behind this module reflection – I’m calling this image: ‘400 words.’

OLJTask 10: Defining librarian 2.0

I don’t have an ‘organisation’…but I have the goods!

While I did read the module, I simply did not have time to read everything thoroughly and then complete this post before I submitted my first assessment. Thus, this reflection is written in support of that assessment and how I could have improved it having now read the module in detail. (As I write, I have received my assessment back and I have passed so that is a relief!)

I am not currently working in a library so that aspect of my reflection below will be based on my past experiences. It is also the reason a lot of my approaches seem too broad – I haven’t yet accomplished the level of practical experience required to narrow the roles and responsibilities of TLs down to the nitty gritty. That said, however, I recently attempted a job interview as a librarian in a local public library and they asked what I bring to the role. I floundered a little, but I said something like, I am focused on the library users, I have a positive attitude and I am flexible – very similar to the ‘customer service focus, strategic viewpoint and ability to be adaptable and resilient’ presented by Burton (2019, p.44).

So too do I have an open approach to programs that I will attempt and a modern take on what it means to be a teacher librarian in the 21st century. Chun (2018) lists some great attributes of TLs, which I believe I possess: user-driven focus – particularly for students, passionate, collaborative, innovative, risk-takers, leaders, evaluative – readily seeking and accepting feedback for growth, ever increasing their knowledge scope, and a consistent willingness to try new things. King (2018) adds ‘trend watcher’ to this list (in terms of the digital age) which I believe is most easily monitored via social media and applications like Diigo (mentioned in my assessment).

Did you thoroughly discuss web 2.0 or library 2.0?

I think the design process recommended by Bell (2018) is simple but beautiful: what’s the need, why is it a need, how can we fulfil the need? Change is necessary and the simpler the approach, the better.

In particular, the in assessment 1, I did not cover enough (or anything?) about the importance of having a change to web 2.0 minimum approach to social media in an organisation. Miller (2005) was writing about it 15 years ago, ergo, it isn’t new, by any stretch in technology terms, much less the term ‘library 2.0’, reimagining the library in a user-centred model for 21st century library services (Casey & Savistinuk, 2006). Here are three quotes that struck me particularly:

“The heart of Library 2.0 is user-centered change. It is a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change, inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services. It also attempts to reach new users and better serve current ones through improved customer-driven offerings” (Casey & Savistinuk, 2010, p.40).

“If we are not responding to the experiences our members are receiving in other cultural, learning, and retail industries, then we risk being irrelevant for our communities’ immediate and future needs” (Jane Cowell in Hoenke, 2018, p.7).

“What makes a service Library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input is a Library 2.0 service” (Casey & Savistinuk, 2010, p. 42).

(Note: This user-centred or user-focussed approach has been mentioned in my blog previously and also in my second assessment on the positives and negatives for library resource genrefication, written for ETL505 Describing and Analysing Educational Resources).

Yet, despite social media’s ‘coming of age,’ I have encountered quite a bit of resistance to interactive social media in the workplace. One principal (no longer in the same role) explicitly forbade it on school grounds. Indeed, teachers were not allowed to even have their phones out at school at any time and she was very clear that we would be terminated if we were caught. The lady who ran the canteen (a seasoned local, much respected) had a Facebook (FB) page for the school canteen and kitchen garden at the school. One year, I added photos to her FB page that I’d taken while teaching in the school kitchen garden (in my role as the kitchen garden teacher, being careful to only upload those images without people in them) and one of the principal’s friends (the librarian no less, also no longer at the school) ‘reported’ it.

I remember had to sit in the principal’s office and show her what I had uploaded and who was running the FB page, proving it wasn’t myself and that I had not dared to cross her (as if I would!). It was a ridiculous situation that was only helped that the images were (and still are) lovely representations and promoted what was one of the most important programs at the school. To this day, the school and surrounding schools in the town have a very reserved approach to social media which I find ‘safe’ but at the same time quite sad.

After reading Casey & Savistinuk (2010) libraries or schools who prohibit social media (or worse, get rid of the library all together, such as a local high school recently did in my area, refusing to reimagine the space as a Library 2.0) have lost the opportunity to ‘harness collective intelligence’ of the community and limited their ability to ‘tap into users via the long tail’ – i.e. they simply provide the same services to the same groups, fearing and avoiding change, without considering that they could allow users to anonymously comment or offer feedback on the collection or services and grow.

Did you mention privilege?

School administrators who refuse to partake in social media, omit a ‘tech savvy’ portion of society (Williams, 2018) who use social media as their primary method of communicating with the library or school – generally speaking, those who simply find it easier to use (not to mention those who are from lower socio-economic status (SES) who are traumatised or marginalised, or who have limited access to academia or literacy levels). This is supported by Admon, Kaul, Cribbs, Guzman, Jimenez, & Richards (2020, p.500) who point out that social media creates “an open forum by disrupting the boundaries of geography, position, institution, and hierarchy.” (And, although I’m not sure that I’m ready to run a ‘Twitter chat’ session for an organisation myself, as recommended by Admon et al. (2020), I appreciate their recommendations and will refer to them should a Twitter chat be warranted in future).

Certainly, having lived in Broken Hill for 6 years, I can attest that Facebook (linked to Instagram) was the primary source of advertising used by local businesses and community services – simply for the fact that everyone was on it and it was basically free (omitting the cost of the technology and internet).

Perhaps it is well and truly time for librarians and school administrators to consider our perceptions of privilege in our user-centred approaches to the library and in our communications with society. ie. Are we avoiding social media because we want to push our academic forms of communication onto a society who will only suffer from our position of power over information? 

Did you consider access in terms of ability?

Enis (2018) points out that we cannot just have the latest most whiz-bang applications and software but we also require facilitators (e.g. teacher librarians) to help our patrons utilise and access them as required. Furthermore, something else I note about my assessment was that my proof reader had recently completed an access related course where she said that I needed to change how I mentioned the image in my assessment so that I described it for those who might be colourblind. This links to the TEDtalk mentioned in Module 4: ‘If we consider our library a user-focused library, we need to tailor access for everyone, including those who rely on social media for connections to the library or school.’

Did you point out not just ‘doing’ social media but doing it well?

While I particularly covered aligning the social media recommendations with the broader school plan. I like the ideas from Rathore (2017), as well as those from Rossmann (2019) to align the social media project with the ‘broader communication plan‘ and am curious how many school libraries and schools in general actually have a communication plan…?

I did mention doing social media ‘well’ in my assessment, but I don’t feel I supported my comments aptly, having not mentioned Rossmann’s (2019) article which goes into ‘social media optimisation’ in depth. In addition, the argument for not just ‘doing’ Library 2.0, but doing it well is made very clear in the below TED talk:

Did you mention networking between librarians?

Another item that I did not mention in my assessment are the networking links between schools (lead by the teacher librarians). Just as the networking that prohibited social media in my previous setting, so too could networking help support tentative schools in taking the plunge into library 2.0 concepts and web 2.0 social media connections (and even web 3.0 interactive applications), as recommended in Cole (2016, p.9) challenging the library’s role as a “fixed community asset…(making its scope) unfettered by static definitions.” (What was obviously lacking in that scenario was simply leadership). 

Did you discuss project management and the various means of evaluation?

I did touch on project management / change leadership in terms of the timeline and involvement of a digital learning environment leadership team in my project proposal assessment. However, I would have liked to have more formally included the ideas recommended by Allen (2017) also, including: identifying and researching user needs, identifying and researching the project’s aim(s) based on the context’s vision/mission/strategic plan and the potential impact of the project on those needs, having clear measures for success – while still accepting a margin of trial and error, consideration for the context and norms within it, discussing the types of stakeholders/project groups and the required levels of communication/input, assessing the risks, and providing a basis for future professional development and growth of the context. Furthermore, of particular interest, is the project management table by Allen (2017, p.54) that I could have used (among other great tables by Allen). I also liked the ideas from Bell (2018) which recommends the Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries (with free downloadable toolkit) and the ‘Its Broken’ video by Seth Godin.

When it comes to the evaluation stage of the project, again,  I don’t think I fully discussed the scope required for evaluation of the recommendations in my assessment. All services, new and old, require a schedule and means for evaluation across the whole context and beyond – current staff, users, community members and those we are trying to gain via outreach (Casey & Savastinuk, 2010).

References

Admon, A. J., Kaul, V., Cribbs, S. K., Guzman, E., Jimenez, O., & Richards, J. B. (2020). Twelve tips for developing and implementing a medical education Twitter chat. Medical Teacher, 42(5), 500-506. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2019.159855

Allen, B. (2017). Getting started. In The No-nonsense Guide to Project Management (pp. 49-70). Facet. doi:10.29085/9781783302055.003

Bell, S. (2018). Design thinking + user experience = better-designed libraries. Information Outlook (Online), 22(4), 4-6.

Burton, S. (2019). Future skills for the LIS profession. Online Searcher, 43(2), 42-45.

Casey, M. & Savastinuk, L. (2010, May 21). Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library. Library Journal.

Chun, T. (2018). “Brave before perfect”- A new approach for future-ready librarians. Teacher Librarian, 45(5), 35-37.

Cole, L. (2016). BiblioTech as the Re-Imagined Public Library: Where Will it Find You? Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community in Session 213 – Metropolitan Libraries.

Enis, M. (2018). Adding Apps. Library Journal, 143(6), 24–25

Hoenke, J. (2018). A new career in a new town. Information Today Inc. 35(7).

King, D. L. (2018). Trend watching: Who and how to follow. Library Technology Reports, 54(2), 14-23.

Miller, P. (2005, October 30). Web 2.0: Building the new library. Ariadne, 45. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue45/miller

Rathore, S. (2017, August 22). 7 Key steps in creating an effective social media marketing strategy. [Blog post].  https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/7-key-steps-creating-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy

Rossmann, D. (2019). Communicating library values, mission, vision, and strategic plans through social media. Library Leadership & Management, 33(3), 1-9. doi:10.15788/2019.08.16

Williams, M. L. (2018). The adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries: A comparative exploration. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618788725

Advocacy for a Future Ready Library – Reflection on ETL504 Module 6.1

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash
Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

Following the reading of several articles and websites, [including Toor, Weisberg & Walter, (2010); Kachel, DelGuidice, & Luna,  in Levitov, (2012); SirsiDynix, (2016); Smith (2013); Bonanno & Moore (2009); ASLA (2019); and ALIA National (2014)] it is time to lift our game in advocating for school libraries in Australia.

This is an area that was briefly covered in the ‘Introduction to Teacher Librarianship’ course, where I found a book chapter that details several marketing roles that teacher librarians should / could utilise: Chapter 9 ‘Why a marketing background is a good fit for the library profession’ by Beth Canzoneri in Lowe-Wincentsen, D. (2014).

Thus, I’ve created a short GoogleDoc survey to help ensure any library in which I’m employed is adequately advocating for the library amongst all avenues and facilities available. (See also the menu link to the left of this blog).

NOTE: This is a very simple idea for managing what is a very complex area, linked to the school / library strategic plan, mission, vision and values, (about which I’ve gone into more detail in other blog posts). 

On my way Bitmoji
On my way Bitmoji

In the future I’d like to use the resources below to help create a marketing strategy for my library…

References

ALIA National. (2014, January 6). Promoting your school library [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Va5mo6ik2_M

Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2019). Students need access to high quality school library services. In ASLA: Advocacy. Retrieved from https://asla.org.au/students-need-school-libraries

Bonanno, K. & Moore, R. (2009). Advocacy: Reason, responsibility and rhetoric. Retrieved from https://kb.com.au/content/uploads/2014/08/Keynote-Advocacy.pdf

Kachel, D., DelGuidice, M. & Luna, R. in Levitov, D. (Ed.) (2012). Activism and the school librarian – Tools for advocacy and survival [Libraries Unlimited version]. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Lowe-Wincentsen, D. (2014). Skills to Make a Librarian : Transferable Skills Inside and Outside the Library. Amsterdam: Chandos Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=927792&site=ehost-live

SirsiDynix. (2016, October 6). Library connections video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/e6m1rTDiqlI

Smith, P. S. [TEDxTalks]. (2013, December 16). What to expect from libraries in the 21st century [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fa6ERdxyYdo

Toor, R., Weisburg, H. K., & Walter, V. A. (2010). Being indispensable : A school librarian’s guide to becoming an invaluable leader (epdf). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Ideas for Developing a Future Ready Library in Pictures and Graphs

Canadian Library Association (2014).
Canadian Library Association (2014). Key Steps for Implementation.
Leading Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Canadian Library Association (CLA). (2014). Leading Learning - Standards Of Practice For School Library Learning Commons In Canada.
Canadian Library Association (CLA). (2014). Leading Learning Framework – Standards, Themes and Growth Indicators for School Library Learning Commons.
Leading Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Baker, S. (2016). The 6 T's
Baker, S. (2016). (Permission to use image granted by the IASL Secritariat)
Future Ready Schools (2019) Framework Gears. Retrieved from https///dashboard.futurereadyschools.org/framework
Future Ready Schools (2019). The 7 Gears. (Permission to use image requested)
Alliance for Excellent Education (2016). Future ready librarians. Future Ready Schools. Retrieved from http-/1gu04j2l2i9n1b0wor2zmgua.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Library_flyer_download
Alliance for Excellent Education (2016). Future Ready Librarians. (Permission to use image requested).

 

These images are great resources and worth remembering and utilising for developing a future ready school library ‘learning commons.’ Where are Australia’s ideas for future ready libraries? Are they just for members of ASLA only or is the ASLA ‘futures’ white paper the only resource we’ve yet to produce? Why are we relying on the resources from North America? 

References

Alliance for Excellent Education (2016). Future ready librarians [Image]. In Future Ready Schools. Retrieved from http-/1gu04j2l2i9n1b0wor2zmgua.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Library_flyer_download

Baker, S. (2016). Figure 1. The six Ts of transformation model. [Image]. In School libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 143-159. Retrieved from http://www.iasl-online.org/resources/Documents/PD%20Library/11bakerformattedfinalformatted143-158.pdf

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading Learning Framework – Standards, Themes and Growth Indicators for School Library Learning Commons. [Image]. In Leading Learning- Standards Of Practice For School Library Learning Commons In Canada. Ottawa, ON- Canadian Library Association. Retrieved from https://apsds.org/wp-content/uploads/Standards-of-Practice-for-SchoolLibrary-Learning-Commons-in-Canada-2014.pdf

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Key Steps for Implementation. [Image]. In Leading Learning- Standards Of Practice For School Library Learning Commons In Canada. Ottawa, ON- Canadian Library Association. Retrieved from http-//clatoolbox.ca/casl/slic/llsop.html

Future Ready Schools (2019). The 7 Gears [Image]. In The Future Ready Framework. Retrieved from https///dashboard.futurereadyschools.org/framework

Professional Learning Transference: Why professional development doesn’t always result in improved outcomes

The funnel of professional learning transference (Cole, 2012 p.6).
The funnel of professional learning transference (Cole, 2012 p.6). (Permission to use image granted by Education Services Australia as the legal entity for the Education Council).

I was just saying to my husband the other day about how different this degree is to the training we receive as teachers. Even things that we are interested in, often get attended, our enthusiasm is strong as we walk through the doors of our school and then, mysteriously, we never seem to implement what we’ve learnt with any real vigour, or if we do it soon peters out, lost in the quagmire or superseded by the next training course we attend.

My husband is a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) Assistant Principal External Coach and the PB4L team in NSW are focussing on this exact phenomenon and implementing strategies demonstrated by Cole (2012), who explains very clearly why this occurs in the image (above) ‘The funnel of professional learning transference’ – Used here with permission from AITSL).

Most of us never make it to reflecting and/or seeking feedback to improve mastery, much less adding the practice to our repertoire and very very rarely helping others to adopt the practice.

This is where PB4L and QTR are both so beneficial! Out of all of the lessons I’ve modified based on training I’ve received, only one has stood out as something that I would fight vehemently to keep in my practice and that is the L3 shared reading lesson that I did in QTR. Following the successful lesson (where I received helpful feedback from three peers who had not attended the L3 training), all three wanted to learn how to implement the lesson (or series of lessons as it were).

Bitmoji Do It!
Bitmoji Do It!

I can see how this will help my assignment and help me create a community of practice in my library and at my future school(s)! I am totally capable of reflecting, helping others reflect, adding skills to my practice and helping others add them to theirs…Now to get it into my discussion paper somehow…

 

References

Cole, P. (2012). Linking effective professional learning with effective teaching practice. Retrieved from https://ptrconsulting.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/linking_effective_professional_learning_with_effective_teaching_practice_-_cole.pdf

Reflection on Module 3.3 Change Leader – SO MANY IDEAS!

“Change management is important but change leadership is essential” (Pennington, n.d.). Leadership versus Management:

Have a clear understanding about the difference between leadership and management, because if something turbulent happens that means an organisation or school is required to implement change and we are stuck in management tasks, we can’t lead (Kotter, 2013).

Therefore, leadership (leading) is: creating a strategy and vision for the future and creating an environment that motivates others to join the vision and strategy; whereas management (functional) is: planning, budgeting, organising, staffing controlling and problem solving (Kotter, 2013).

[I won’t write too much more about management versus leadership because I think I’ve written loads about this in my blog posts for ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum]

Nick Skillcom's (2019) definition of innovation
Nick Skillcom’s (2019) definition of innovation (Permission to use image granted by Nick Skillcom)

Innovation versus change:

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaI think we also need to have a clear definition as to what is innovation versus change. The two seem to be being used interchangeably in this course, and in some ways that could be dangerous, particularly given the ‘change fatigue’ discussed in my previous post(s). Innovation is change that is adding value for both the company and the customer [as detailed by Nick Skillcom from Idea to Value (2019)], but change doesn’t necessarily do this and promoting a ‘change culture’ frightens me. We need to remember to match innovation (and subsequent change) to goals. Perhaps a ‘change culture’ is an innovative culture that is open to change, but not necessarily constantly changing?

Innovation by Nick Skillcom (2019)
Innovation by Nick Skillcom (2019) (Permission to use image granted by Nick Skillcom).

These are interesting, given the wording of the principal standards from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL): “Identify the need for innovation and improvement; Develop a process and common language for change; Maintain their values whilst adapting flexibly and strategically to changes in the environment; Embed a culture of continuous improvement (AITSL, 2015).

Innovation: In order to recognise necessary innovations, I need to identify my passion. What’s my passion? Literacy. Quality literature. Education of children. Helping others find their passion. Encouraging colleagues to promote the social and emotional learning of students.

Professional Goals: 1. linking my practices to research; 2. linking my practices to the ASLA librarian standards.

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Leading from the middle:

The whole premise behind this is to build capacity in others, which is what we do as teachers every day (Gottlieb, 2012). First we must lead by doing, and must get to know our team at a personal level. Gottlieb (2012) has many ideas about how to run a meeting or series of meetings to achieve this.

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaMorning meetings that build personal connections link to the teacher/students’ ‘morning meeting’ idea in the new wave of positive behaviour for learning and trauma informed practice pedagogy promoted by the Berry Street Educational Model (BSEM) or the Responsive Classroom.

Gottlieb (2012) also suggest we create a website page of our team ‘biographies’ to help team members get to know each other and reinforce such things as: What are your values or strengths? What excites you about our strategic plan or mission? Why are the things we do in our library important? What is your personal journey that has brought you here, or what is your personal teaching and learning philosophy?

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaWell hell’s bells, I thought of this ‘Spotlight’ idea too about two years ago and my supervisor at the time thought it was a great idea! Unfortunately, his son fell ill and he had to move away before the idea came to fruition (and his replacement did not renew my contract). Time to dust off the idea and utilise it in my future library!

Implementing an innovation culture (not a change culture!):

Bitmoji - Climate
Bitmoji – Climate

Opinion based on my own experience: Changing the work culture in a school is a really big deal. Some might even say, insurmountable. When inundated with ‘top down’ policies, budget constraints, and a ‘to be run like a business’ mantra (influenced by a employment policy for administration staff that literally advocates for nepotism; ‘local schools local decisions;’ promotion on ‘merit’ being rorted – particularly for leadership positions; the bullying of bureaucrats and top-level executives resulting in the bullying of leaders; resulting in bullying of teachers, resulting in bullying of students, resulting in bullying on the playground; the oversupply of teachers (particularly new scheme teachers) in primary and the undersupply in secondary; the push to employ more (new scheme) temporary contract teachers (who struggle with building relationships with students – one of the main indicators of academic success) in primary over offering permanent positions – pitting the temps’ against each other in competition for the few permanent positions that arise; laying off temps in favour of ‘free trial’ teachers in from the city on incentive schemes, etc) trying to change a school culture from the bottom up, (or ‘the middle’ as per Gottlieb, 2012) at this stage is all but futile.

And while I agree that we need to develop as teachers, I am struck by Lortie’s (1975 in Oberg, 2011) terms “presentism, conservatism; and individualism” as being hinders to the change process. When I read this, I saw it as the bureaucratic level trends in society and global political trends rather than or in addition to the trends in teacher attitudes towards ‘change’ / innovation.

A Google dictionary search defines the terms as:  “Presentism: uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts.”…”Conservatism: commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation; (or) the holding of political views that favour free enterprise, private ownership, and socially conservative ideas.”…”Individualism: the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant; (or) a social theory favouring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.”

Wealth doesn’t ‘trickle down,’ but leadership attitudes seem to, as supported by Harvard Business Review (Zenger & Folkman, 2016).

The trick is to try to stop the ‘trickle down’ effect from reaching the students – and in that, the buck stops with me! I’m reminded of the social emotional lesson (learned from BSEM trauma informed practice teacher training) that I teach to students about things they can control. (I can’t control the bureaucrats or political arena, but I can control myself!)

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaThus, to combat anti-innovative mindsets, I will aim to address my personal presentism, conservatism and individualism mindset(s) through: professional development, personal reflection, collaboration,  questioning the validity of top-down changes (such as data collection, standardised testing, and mandatory curriculum), as well as battling the conservative practices of social inequity and lack of cohesion that trickle down to school inequities–further disadvantaging marginalised students (Oberg, 2011).

 

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaRegarding ‘top down’ changes and conservative practices: I will confidently ask my team(s) the question: ‘How can this innovation (such as a behaviour peg chart or stoplight ‘welfare’ policy), which is intended to improve teaching and learning, contribute to making a difference for all stakeholders and all students, or will it make a difference only for those already advantaged (such as those who are meeting outcomes, have social capital, or who come from economically stable, privileged backgrounds)?’ (Oberg, 2011 p.2).

 

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaI will get to know the teaching and learning philosophies influencing teaching practices, the school’s attitudes towards innovation (or if it is simply ‘change’), how the teachers interact (in isolation or collaboratively), the executive team roles and goals, and the methods for determining success – both professionally and academically (Pratt, 2017; Oberg, 2011, p.2; Green 2011).

 

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaI will proactively start in ‘my’ library by being patient with the innovation process (Pratt, 2017; Oberg, 2011), working flexibly and collaboratively with all stakeholders, setting SMART goals that are based on both the school mission/strategic plan/library mission/strategic plan of improving teaching and learning as well as based on evidence/research based innovations of 21st century teaching practices such as differentiation (Oberg, 2011; Green 2011).

 

Things I currently lack but need in a future teacher librarian role (according to Green (2011, p.23)): “established authoritative position, credibility amongst peers, a vision that is based on best practice and, importantly, a mandate to implement or produce change (innovation).”

 

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaI need to utilise my skills in linking practice to researched evidence, marketing, ICT and QTR (as well as from training and experience received from BSEM, L3, AL and TEN, etc) in my library and collaborate with teachers, offering professional development in these areas, in order to help them utilise evidence-based practices, helpful computer technologies, effective lesson structures or to professionally and collaboratively evaluate their lessons or units of work (Green 2011).

References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2015). Interactive leadership profiles. In AITSL.Retrieved from https://legacy.aitsl.edu.au/leadership-profiles/interactive-profiles/leading-improvement-innovation-and-change

Gottlieb, H. (2012, October 30). Leading from the middle: Bringing out the best in everyone [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://creatingthefuture.org/leading-from-the-middle-bringing-out-the-best-in-everyone/

Green, G. (2011). Learning leadership through the school library. Access, 25(4), 22-26. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/publications/access.aspx

Kotter, J. (2013, August 15). The key differences between leading and managing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEfgCqnMl5E [4.23 mins].

Oberg, D. (2011). Teacher librarians as cultural change agents. SCIS Connections, 79. Retrieved from https://www.scisdata.com/media/1353/connections-79.pdf

Pennington, R. (n.d.). How to make change work. In Educational leaders: Leading and managing change. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-change/Leading-and-managing-change

Pratt, A. (2017). The challenge of implementing change. SCIS Connections, 103. Retrieved from https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-103/the-challenge-of-implementing-change

Skillcom, N. (2019). What is innovation? 15 experts share their innovation definition. Retrieved from https://www.ideatovalue.com/inno/nickskillicorn/2016/03/innovation-15-experts-share-innovation-definition/

Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2016). The trickle down effect of good and bad leadership. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-trickle-down-effect-of-good-and-bad-leadership

Reflecting on Module 3.1: Change in Organisations

ETL504 Module 3.1-Change in Organisations (2019): Improving the impact of change conflict with a shared vision and strategies for improving the work culture or climate

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Change can be put into effect by various ‘change agents’ (managers, team members or consultants) and can be planned or unplanned and is either required based on internal or or external demands. Change from external demands is from sources such as: the marketplace / SES of the LGA; governing bodies / laws / regulations such as those required by ACARA or NESA; technological advances; the labour market such as the availability or oversupply of teachers; and economics / funding / the economy / budgets (Module 3.1, 2019).

Change required based on internal demands is from things such as: the school structure / eg. the school’s strategic plan, the library’s strategic plan, the school vision, the library vision, the school mission statement or the library mission statement; the workforce–from the principal to the GA; equipment, eg. buildings / pencils and; attitudes–the various backgrounds, experiences, religions, ethnicities and cultural groups of the stakeholders of the school (Module 3.1, 2019).

Some blockers to change might be caused by uncertainty, personal loss for ‘the way we’ve always done it,’ or genuine concern that change isn’t in the schools best interest (Module 3.1, 2019).

Change Management Strategies: “Planned, incremental change is always best” because work, workflow, attitudes & behaviours are all impacted by change (Module 3.1, 2019).

Change is initially confusing and challenging, but leaders can reduce change conflict or change-induced fatigue or stress by: linking the benefits of the change to the school vision or long term goals, anticipating where conflicts might arise and having a plan ready for how to ease them,  education, communication, participation at all levels of the organisation and leadership facilitation, support & negotiation (rather than manipulation or coercion) (Module 3, 2019).

Bitmoji - Climate
Bitmoji – Climate Work climate or culture:

In schools it is key that we create a ‘learning organisation’ within 7 dimensions classified by Kools and Stoll (2016): “1) developing and sharing a vision centred on the learning of all students; 2) creating and supporting continuous learning opportunities for all staff; 3) promoting team learning and collaboration among staff; 4) establishing a culture of inquiry, innovation and exploration; 5) establishing embedded systems for collecting and exchanging knowledge and learning; 6) learning with and from the external environment and larger learning system; and 7) modelling and growing learning leadership” (Kools & Stoll, 2016, p.3). This can also be understood by points listed in this infographic by elearning infographics.com (2013):

eLearning Infographics. (2013).
eLearning Infographics. (2013). (Image provided for uploading and embedding into blogs for free by eLearning Infographics).

Teams should also meet regularly for ‘wellness checks,’ including all stakeholders (leaders, staff, students and families) and change agents must remember that people learn best through: interdependence, change and the social constructs of reflective practise, conversing, inquiring and acting (Fleet, et al., 2016).

Fleet, et al., (2016) point out that positive change initiatives require: effective leadership, a positive school culture or climate, effective employment procedures, support, participation at all levels of the school (promoting a sense of respect for leaders who are able to perform the tasks that they expect others to be able to perform, individual ownership, consensual involvement & team-wide willingness to participate in changes or innovation) and creating a shared vision and mission statement.

Bitmoji: Vision Quest Shared vision:

‘Transformational’ or ‘distributional’ leaders need to develop a shared school vision in order to develop trusting relationships, solve complex problems, have a clear focus on teaching and learning, and a willingness to engage with the community (Fleet, et al., 2016; & Holmes et al., 2013). When creating a shared vision, Holmes, et al. (2013) reminds us that it takes a lot of time (sometimes frustratingly), as well as effective communication skills and patience in order to ensure inclusivity. Furthermore, sharing and communicating the school’s journey of change initiatives with the community promotes a shared understanding (Fleet, et al., 2016).

If every change or proposal (organisational, financial, teaching & learning)  links to the school vision and strategic management plan then the changes are ‘well justified’ can receive whole school and organisational support and funding and this, in turn, further contributes to a positive school learning culture or climate and creates a ‘bottom up’ (rather than ‘top down’) influence (Fleet, et al., 2016; & Holmes, et al., 2013).

Bitmoji: ‘Bottom Up!’ influence Top down influence:

‘Top down’ influences often sidetrack school innovations, change or reforms and super-cede relationship building because trust takes more time than what is allowed by governing bodies (Holmes, et al., 2013). ‘Top down’ mandated changes have very little uptake by teachers, because they react with a range of negative emotions, believe they aren’t given neither time nor education to understand changes nor support prior to or at implementation, and that changes from the top are transitory and will soon be obsolete (Clement, 2014, p. 42).

A whole school approach to change is more likely to have teachers driving the change based on the school goals and agendas and within their own time parameters, leading to more understanding and less stress or conflict (Clement, 2014, p. 43). ‘Change fatigue’ or ‘innovation fatigue’ or ‘reform fatigue’ can result in teachers as we are in a constant cycle of mandated education reform (such as continual curriculum change) which presents as dissatisfaction, exhaustion and perceptions of increased workload, lack of support, training and resources and unrealistic mandated implementation timelines (Dilkes, et al., 2014).

“Cynical, realistic and even enthusiastic teachers suffer change fatigue after years of rapid and continual curriculum change” (Dilkes, et al., 2014 p.45).

Bitmoji: Following the leader Leadership:

“Principals must be managers as well as leaders, dealing with the pragmatics of managing a complex system, being the human face of relationships amongst school personnel, learners & the community, as well as offering constructive visionary leadership to carry the school through the mundane, through the complexities of diversity, politics & bureaucratic infrastructures to the desired future” (Fleet, et al., 2016, p. 73). Humour, patience, flexibility, accountability, commitment and thoughtfulness are the skills of “visionary” leaders, as well as the ability to understand that knowledge and genuine learning communities and pedagogies are socially constructed (Fleet, et al., 2016 p 74).

Teachers can often express that they feel stress, physically, mentally and behaviourally (Module 3, 2019) and some ideas to help alleviate stress are: develop a whole school approach to growth mindset, flow and/or mindfulness; encourage a work-life balance (eg. stick to a work timetable then stop working at that agreed time-including emails, and think about something other than work every day, etc); do a ‘what I can control versus what I can’t control’ mind-map in order to identify stress triggers; ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ by prioritising or focusing on what really matters to you or what is a top goal; do a ‘stress’ survey and discuss the stresses identified openly as a team; find someone to talk to or to collaborate with; set S.M.A.R.T. goals; accept and give recognition to and from colleagues; seek and offer appropriate training and supports; and say ‘no’  and encourage others to say ‘no’ sometimes (Bailey, 2013; Cross, 2015).

Reflection on change conflict, fatigue and stress:

Is change conflict, fatigue and stress in my school representative of: individual and whole school stress management or coping mechanisms not being in place; a lack of a true growth mindset in teachers or leadership, a lack of a ‘invested interest’ from all stakeholders because of  ‘top down’ mandated change, a lack of understanding of the benefits of the particular change and how it relates to the school vision and student outcomes, poor communication about the change(s), a lack of understanding about how to implement a change, insufficient time given to implement the change, a history of consistent change creating a ‘why bother’ mentality, backlash from the community who’ve been left out of the decision making process or who haven’t had adequate communication about the change, or a reaction to the change itself due to consistent change creating ‘change fatigue?’ 

Reflection on downsizing:

Bitmoji You're fired
Bitmoji – You’re Fired

 

  1. I have worked for a clothing company who when into administration and closed down.
  2. I was also retrenched once from a marketing position.
  3. Later, as a temporary teacher, I did not have my contract renewed at one school and
  4. I did not have my contract renewed at another school the following year.

In the first and second and third instances, I felt that my employer looked after me to some degree, two found me work elsewhere (to some degree), one gave me access to external counselling and an external c.v. creation training service at no cost, but one (the last and most recent) did hardly anything to ensure my mental and financial health was in any way looked after as recommended by Wolfe (2019). I put this down to inexperience and arrogance of the leader(s) who thought downsizing by not renewing my contract was in the best interest of their school…although, it would have been better to have asked the staff for alternatives to laying off a teacher (Wolfe, 2019).

Similarly, as suggested by Wolfe (2019), my extreme level of poor mental health was not assisted by the lack of communication as to why I was selected to be ‘downsized’ but the other 8 temporary teachers were not, many of whom were not communicated with regarding my situation, creating a terribly insecure work culture (without any communication from the top, most asked me what happened, resulting in further distress).

References

Bailey, A. (2013, November 6). 10 ideas to help teachers beat stress. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/06/teachers-beat-stress-10-ideas

Change in Organisations: 3.1 [Study notes]. (2019). In ETL504: Teacher librarian as leader. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Faculty of Education and the Art’s Interact 2 website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42385_1&content_id=_2928579_1

Clement, J. (2014). Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

Cross, D. (2015). Teacher well being and its impact on student learning [Slide presentation]. Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. Retrieved from http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2633590/teacher-wellbeing-and-student.pdf

Dilkes, J., Cunningham, C., & Gray, J. (2014). The new Australian Curriculum, teachers and change fatigue. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(11). doi: 10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4

elearning infographics.com. (2013). How is a learning organisation differentiated. Retrieved from https://elearninginfographics.com/how-is-a-learning-organisation-differentiated-infographic/

Fleet, A., De Gioia, K. & Patterson C. (2016). Engaging with educational change. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central.

Kools, M. & Stoll, L. (2016). What Makes a School a Learning Organisation?, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 137, OECD Publishing, Paris, Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlwm62b3bvh-en.

Holmes K., Clement, J. & Albright, J. (2013). The complex task of leading educational change in schools, School Leadership & Management, 33:3, 270283, DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2013.800477 

Wolfe, L. (2019, April 7). Here are some alternatives to laying off employees when downsizing. In The balance careeres, Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/alternatives-to-laying-off-employees-when-downsizing-3515483

Reflecting on Organisational Theory 2.1

(ETL504 Module 2.1)

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

A good leader must ‘know thyself’ and ‘model best practice’: 

We need to be prepared to take on the traits of a leader: to practice and engage in identifying problems, correctly analyse problems, develop solutions using tested theory, tools or techniques, and apply these when needed.

We need to be able to strategically plan for our own practice as well as for the library by knowing ourselves and our staff, effectively organising and managing time, assessing strengths, weaknesses and job roles.

We need to be able to make the library an information resource, not just a source, by enabling continual ‘physical and intellectual access’ for our patrons.

We are part of something much bigger than ourselves:

Remember that the library is part of the greater school context, the greater community, the greater educational context and the greater context of the state and federal government curriculum and funding bodies.

We must understand the nature of information services and information management:

Information services: are contextually designed, satisfy need(s) of specific stakeholders and a range of users, offer support facilities, turn sources into resources, and promote both visible and invisible benefits. Information services are exactly that: services.

Information management: manages information that could be human, intellectual and technical.

(Colvin 2000) Competitive and effective managers / leaders reject the administrative, economic or scientific models of leadership and mechanical organisations and instead embrace and encourage: shared values, recognition, appreciation of judgement, innovation or creativity, and building relationships as the most important aspects of a living and breathing, humanistic organisation’s success.

The big issues are “how to attract and motivate the best knowledge workers, the value of teams, organising by projects, using infotech wisely and the flattening of hierarchies.” (Colvin 2000) … Management versus administration: “Iron authority has its uses but it has serious problems as a way to manage a fast-moving, adaptable, creative enterprise.” (Colvin 2000).

Administration is aligned with the mechanistic model: “functionally organised, many tiered hierarchies”(Colvin 2000). It could also be the economic model / scientific management: “…millions of free agents zoom(ing) around in cyber-space selling their knowledge-worker services hyper efficiently to such organisations as may require them from moment to moment…and in which buyers and sellers of everything connect for near anonymous transactions at that instant’s mutually optimal price” (Colvin 2000).

Organisations are “more like organisms than machines” (Colvin 2000).

People are “complex creatures…most likely (to be) ‘knowledge’ workers rather than physical labourers.” (Colvin 2000).

Managing is the ability to “create, judge, imagine and build relationships” (Colvin 2000). The human centred model views “values as the basis of managing the 21st century corporation…lots of people with aligned values constitute an awesome power…creating, articulating and sustaining the organisations values, thus become(s) one of management’s most important jobs…(Q)uirky humans…still very much need interaction, recognition and relationships…(M)anagement is a human art and getting more so as infotech takes over the inhuman donkey work – the ox work – of the world…Most managers now seem to understand that they will find competitive advantage by (quickly and effectively) tapping employees’ most essential humanity, their ability to create, judge, imagine and build relationships” (Colvin 2000).

Henry Mintzberg (Kokemuller, 2017) classifications for organisations:

  • Entrepreneurial: non-elaborated, flexible structures closely controlled by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
  • Machine: bureaucratic set-in-their-ways corporations or government departments
  • Professional: similar bureaucracy to machine, but with largely professional, competent, specialised, autonomous and knowledgable workers pushing the ‘economic engine.’
  • Divisional: large corporations with centralised control with divisions supervised by vice presidents.
  • Innovative: cutting-edge leadership in new industries with innovative leaders using de-centralised decision making which allows talented leaders to make judgments efficiently.

Look out for more reflection on these classifications in my next post!

References

Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the information era. Fortune, 141(5). Retrieved from http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1.

Kokemuller, N. (2017). Mintzberg’s five types of organizational structure. In Hearst Newspapers: Small business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/mintzbergs-five-types-organizational-structure-60119.html

Comparing and Contrasting: Herring (2007), Lamb (2011), Purcell (2010) & Valenza (2010)

Photo by Daniel Jensen on UnsplashThe role of the teacher librarian thinking prompts from the ETL401 Module 3.2 discussion forum:

“Prioritising the TL roles:.. TL roles that might ‘fly under the radar’… Lamb vs Herring vs Purcell vs Valenza… What to give up, according to Lamb and Valenza, in order to be a proactive TL… Purcell’s ideas of the prioritisation of the TL roles vs my ideas…” These things I found difficult to grasp in the form of these questions but I found  Karen Balmer’s forum post on ‘Module 3.2 The role of the teacher librarian’ posted on the 21st March 2019, provoked the most thought.

I particularly liked Karen’s statement that “the role has evolved significantly… 21st century skills that TLs should be helping to develop in their students. There also seems to be general agreement with what Herring’s (2007) asse(r)tion that ‘school libraries do not exist in a vacuum…'”

I was concerned by Herring’s statement that unnecessary emphasis is placed on reading for pleasure – as I think Herring has missed the mark, in a pursuit to support teaching information literacy when the aspects of literacy (learning to read, and reading to learn – or reading for pleasure) should in fact be taught together (one purpose, not outweighing the others) and should not be seen as in any way separate. (More on that in this blog post.)

Like Karen Balmer, I agree with Purcell that our role should be that of a team or school (curriculum) leader, (curriculum) partner, information (literacy) specialist, teacher and administrator (of the library and strong teaching and learning) programs.

Finally, Karen and I prefer how Lamb puts being at media specialist of 21st century teaching and learning in the fore-front of the list of roles, including information technologist, administrator and (last but not least) a teacher, with the additional roles of ‘curriculum consultant, community collaborator and digital detective’ as varying in priority on any particular day, depending on the needs of the stakeholders. In this, Lamb identifies how the social aspects of the role, or collaborating with educators as colleagues is vital.

References:

Balmer, K. (2019, March 21) Module 3.2 The Role of the Teacher Librarian [Online Forum comment]. Message posted to: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42380_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78883_1&forum_id=_147404_1&message_id=_2093678_1

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/science/article/pii/B9781876938437500028

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=60840783&site=ehost-live

Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books, right? A look at the roles of a school library media specialist. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ907292&site=ehost-live

Valenza, J. (2010). A revised manifesto. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/

Collection Development and My Future

[Reflection on ETL503 Modules 5, 6 & 7]

My two top thoughts following these modules is that there are a lot of issues that could arise from hoarding, weeding and censorship and thus clear policies and procedures are imperative.

As it is very likely that, should I be fortunate enough to get employed as a TL, I will have to write a collection development policy, I am worried I might struggle with it. I will certainly be the first to put up my hand and ask my colleagues and library network for assistance!

What I know about myself is that I struggle looking at an example of someone else’s work as a means to produce my own. I struggled to look at colleague’s work when preparing my accreditation, I struggle modifying other people’s teaching and learning units of work to suit my class or context…and critical analysis of the St Bede’s CDP, a school context in which I have very little understanding, has been very challenging. So it is unlikely that I will take much stock in using a different school’s CDP as a guide…

Alternatively, I prefer to look at professional industry recommended templates, which I’ve found more helpful personally.

As to the future of school libraries and trained school librarians, being an information literacy specialist, curriculum expert and keen marketing amateur is going to play a big part in our success. I am hopeful that I can make a difference.

The New Paradigm Part 2 of 2

[ETL401 Module 4]

The New Paradigm: Let’s do both inquiry based learning and outcomes 

In the previous post, I discussed collaboration and the steps that I think might be needed to get to a point where I can collaborate with the majority of teachers.

I’ve looked at the research and looked at the *information literacy inquiry models (particularly those more suited to primary and infants classes, such as Big6 and Super3) and okay, I’m in. Where do I sign?

*References in support of Inquiry based teaching and learning:

Bonanno, K. (2015). F-10 Inquiry skills scope and sequence and F-10 core skills and tools. Eduwebinar Pty Ltd, Zillmere, Queensland. Retrieved from: https://s2.amazonaws.com/scope-sequence/Bonanno-curriculum_mapping_v1.pdf

FitzGerald, L (2015) Guided Inquiry in practice, Scan 34/4,16-27

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L. & Caspari, A. (2015) GI: Learning in the 21st century, 2nd edition. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited.

Global Education Leadership Programme (GELP, 2011). We wanted to talk about 21st Century education. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA1Aqp0sPQo

O’Connell, J. (2012). So you think they can learn? Scan, 31, May, 5-11

The New Paradigm Part 1 of 2

(Reflection ETL401 Module 4 – The Teacher Librarian and the Curriculum)

(RSA Animate 2008) This is a very powerful video that offers a dichotomous view of an ‘education paradigm’.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water: While I agree that there has been (or in some cases, needs to be) a shift in the Australian education system, I am hesitant to throw out the baby with the bath water and dispose of outcomes. I have had great success with my students by utilising the NSW syllabus document outcomes and indicators. These have been regularly updated and rearranged over the years and each update, in my opinion, has improved the approach.

Similarly, so have approaches such as ‘play based learning’ or the ‘Reggio Emilia Approach’ / the environment as the ‘third teacher’ (Wein 2015), integrated units such as COGS and inquiry based learning (IBL) such as The Big6 or the Super3 / project based learning (PBL) models evolved over time and have been accepted and used by teachers to varying degrees and with varying degrees of success.

A Breath of Fresh Air: Anyone in the education system for more than 5 years will have seen enough new ideas blow in to the educational sphere to know that they generally blow straight back out to make room for the next big breeze, and leave very little in their wake in terms of real change.

I don’t think this ‘New Paradigm’ is a situation of ‘outcomes based learning’ vs ‘inquiry based Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplashlearning.’ I don’t think the two need to be pitted against each other in an argument reminiscent of the recent arguments about how to teach literacy as seen in media and other outlets, for example as per this 2017 blog post by Eleanor Heaton about phonics versus the whole language approach.

I see no reason why we can’t have both and simply be more flexible in the application of outcomes to meet real individual student needs.

The real issues with outcome based teaching are based in 1. a lack of authentic growth mindset (Dweck 2006) in adults and students – an inability to see mistakes as part of learning, 2. the social debate regarding reporting to parents and telling the students themselves or their parents that their child has or has not met stage outcomes based on a ‘letter’ mark or tick in a box. Far better, according to Hattie & Peddie (2003), for the system to simply say, ‘this is what sorts of things you/your child can do well,  these are things that they are still learning or here are the learning goals for the future.’ It isn’t the outcomes at fault, it is how we’ve applied them to our practice as educators.

[Sidebar 1: To this end, I am extremely interested in the Quality Teaching Framework to improve the structure of lesson delivery (if this is done through inquiry based teaching then so be it) and reading more about ability/interest/friendship grouping of students as opposed to age/year/stage grouping of students.]

[Sidebar 2: If you think Outcome based teaching is holding students back, don’t even get me started on the ‘Learning Progressions,’ ‘NAPLAN’ and the ‘Our Schools’ Website / league tables which have resulted in ‘teaching to the test’ and ‘school shopping.’ Gah.]

[Sidebar 3: If outcome models are so flawed and inquiry models are so perfect, why aren’t universities scrapping outcome based marking criteria and using inquiry models?]

Making assumptions about students: How students find information and their level of ability, particularly when it comes to electronic resources varies widely – much more so than adults realise and according to Coombes, “The basic premise of the Net Generation theory, that familiarity with technology equates with efficient and effective use and these achievements are only applicable to a specific group because they have grown up with technology, is flawed” (Coombes 2009, pp.32).

Technology is a tool, rather than a solution (Coombes 2009). Society has a new ‘digital age’ environment in which we live and we are expecting students to learn how to navigate it simply by being born amongst it. We have a new set of digital expectations in our society but have neglected to update our education system of our students to enable them to meet those expectations.

Information Search Process (ISP) skills / information literacy:  Being able to recognise functions of a digital device does not automatically mean that students are able to access, process and absorb information on that they come across on said device (Coombes 2009). Students are overly reliant on the internet, have limited ability to search effectively, and are rarely able to critically evaluate information that they find (Coombes 2009).

The Role of Teacher Librarians (et al.): Educators have responsibility to lift their game when it comes to teaching students information literacy / searching skills such as collecting, managing and evaluating information (particularly when they believe the first thing that appears in their search is the most relevant or most accurate when in fact the first thing that comes up is based on their prior searches and the search engine’s popularity algorithms), finding the information again at a later date, and storing information for future use (Combes, 2007b in Coombes 2009).

Evidence and Assessment within the library: I like the list of ideas in ETL401 Module 3 (based on Valenza 2015) for evidence that the library program is of benefit to the school teaching and learning programs and curriculum. However, I am wary of introducing something that is trivial or that will not stand the test of time or that might sit in a filing cabinet – lost and forgotten.

For that reason, I will use the Quality Teaching Framework and the subsequent evaluation sheet (that I modified on GoogleDocs) to evaluate my lessons or units of work professionally, and will also use the (yet to be created) school library website or more private/access restricted photo/video-based programs (where accepted by the school) for evidence of student engagement or achievement such as ClassDojo, Seesaw or ClassCraft. The benefit of these applications is that they are also able to be used by students themselves, with any device (at home or at school).

I’m looking at you, teachers who profess to be techno-phobes! As Coombes’ 2009 work was written 10 years ago, and research within her article is based on the 10 to ‘teen’ age range, most of the students in her focus are now adults and quite possibly, teachers themselves. Those who are from current and previous generations, as educators, need to be aware of our own gaps in information literacy so that we can stop the cycle of poor information seeking skills!

The Blame Game: What I’ve also seen in education, in varying degrees based on context, is a lack of personal and professional reflection. A lack of ‘mindfulness’ and being in the moment. A wish for the utopian environment and an unrealistic desire for perfect students who fit into a mould and live up to unrealistic expectations and students who are compliant rather than collaborative (Goss & Sonnemann 2017).

This results in a filtering down of ‘blame’ for the poor foundational (primarily literacy and numeracy) skills that students have when they arrive into high school. The high school teachers blame the stage 3 teachers. The stage 3 Photo by Jovis Aloor on Unsplashteachers blame the stage 2 teachers. The stage 2 teachers blame the stage 1 teachers. The stage 1 teachers blame the kindergarten/prep teachers. The kindy/prep teachers blame the preschools. (And everybody blames the RFF teachers and the parents and finally, the students themselves).

What I’d like to see is every person involved in education taking a look in the mirror and reflecting daily on their pedagogical practice. What I’d like to see is everyone practising mindfulness–thoughtfully doing what they can with the students and contexts that they have in the moment in time in which they are living, and authentic growth mindset–appreciating that mistakes are part of learning.

References:

Combes, B. (2009). Generation Y: Are they really digital natives or more like digital refugees? Synergy, 7(1), 31-40

Dweck, C. (2016). What having a “growth mindset” actually means. Harvard Business Review, 13, 213-226.

Goss, P. & Sonnemann, J. (2017). Engaging Students – Creating classrooms that improve learning. Retrieved from: https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Engaging-students-creating-classrooms-that-improve-learning.pdf

Hattie, J., & Peddie, R. (2003). School reports: “Praising with faint damns.” Journal issue, 3.

RSA Animate – Robinson, K. (2008). Changing educational paradigms.  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U#aid=P8wNMEma2ng

Valenza, J. (2015). Evolving with evidence: Leveraging new tools for EBP.  Knowledge Quest. 43/3, 36-43

Wien, C. A. (2015). Emergent curriculum in the primary classroom: Interpreting the Reggio Emilia approach in schools. Teachers College Press.

“This budget is too tight, could I try the next size up?”

(Reflection on ETL503 Module 3.1 Funding the Collection):

  1. “Should teacher librarians have the responsibility of submitting a budget proposal to fund the library collection to the school’s senior management and/or the school community? Or should such proposals come from a wider group such as a school library committee?
  2. Is it preferable that the funding for the school library collection be distributed to teachers and departments so they have the power to determine what will be added to the library collection?” (Giovenco 2019).

Well, here we go again. I thought when I got out of marketing (where I was given a budget amount and had to account for all expenditures within that budget) that I had seen the last of tight budgets. Tsk Tsk. Welcome to the world of being a Teacher Librarian!

  1. The responsibility for budgeting for the library is possibly best done collaboratively with the teacher librarian and the school executive and possibly the school’s P&C (who also have access to funds). As per the CSU Module (Giovenco 2019) a TL should be a budget collaborator, steward and thinker. Moreover, having never been in charge of creating a budget, I would be hesitant to take on a budget on my own and would be reliant on someone with expertise to help me.
  2. I have not mentioned classroom teachers intentionally. Should we collaborate with teachers about resources they might need? Yes of course. Should teachers have a say in the budget? Perhaps, yet I am leaning towards no. After all, why would teachers have a say in the budget for the library when they don’t have a say in any way what-so-ever in any other area of the budget? Teachers in some schools are given ‘classroom budgets’ and I think that spending that money is enough for them to worry about. Just do a Google search for ‘What should I spend my classroom budget on?’ and you will get 55,600,000 results. As soon as you ask for input, the assumption will be that what is asked for will be received and that is dangerous ground. Better to survey the teachers and ask what sort of resources they were thinking of or if they had any ideas and leave the budgeting to an executive committee that includes the TL.

In order to have a balanced (or at least one that fits) budget and a fully resourced curriculum I believe it is important to start with a clear policy in the Collection Development Plan.

There are loads of resources on how to do this (Such as Lamb & Johnson 2012, & Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Schools et al 2017, pp.20-25) and I intend to make good use of them!

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good IdeaGood Idea: Let’s make sure that a ‘perfect fit’ or balanced budget remains the goal as opposed to being in surplus…we don’t want to behave like or be perceived as politicians do we? Well, speaking for myself, I certainly do not.

To show the ‘balance’ (or presumably the lack thereof) I most certainly agree to having a section for the library in the School Annual Report in the format suggested by the school or using a template such as the one below:

References

ALIA Schools & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians. (2017). Budgeting policies and procedures.  In A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/groups/alia-schools

Giovenco, G. (2019). Budgeting for a balanced collection. In ETL503: Module 3: Accession and Acquisition [Subject module]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42383_1&content_id=_2636378_1

Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved from http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html

Musings of an Apprentice Information Specialist

Following my ‘pass’ on my Discussion Essay (Assessment 2) for Introduction to Teacher Librarianship (ETL401) I had another look through the forum posts for Module 2 from my colleagues this week and I wrote notes of my thoughts as I went along:

INFORMATION: A school context must come to an agreed understanding to a definition of, opinions of, and methods for seeking and absorbing information. Thus, we will have a better understanding of what is an ‘information specialist’ or ‘information literacy’ or ‘information (insert word here)’.

MULTI-LITERACIES: Back in my UWS studies in 2003-2006, we didn’t learn much about how to implement Guided Reading groups using PM Readers (ugh, I despise this method of teaching anyway) but we did a fair amount of study around ‘multi-literacies’ (Lilly & Green 2004 p.99 & 118, Worthington & Carruthers 2003 p.12, Arthur 2001, & Barratt-Pugh & Rohl 2000 p. 198-201).

[Sidebar: In fact, in my NSW Department of Education (DET) job interview in 2006, I was asked how I would implement my English program and when I answered academically, with my knowledge of ‘multi-literacies,’ I failed the interview and was told to do another practicum in a primary school (although that was not officially a requirement of the DET) in order to ‘pass’ my interview and be granted a teacher number. The head of the panel, a high-school principal, was worried that I wouldn’t implement the traditional Australian primary school English content and would create a generation of illiterate students, I suppose. Thankfully, I did as she asked and got the job easily the second time around…interesting how ‘multi-literacies’ has come full circle in the form of ‘information literacy’ as well…but I digress.]

GOING GLOBAL: Information has become more global, as has our society, with the introduction of digital technologies and the ‘world wide web.’ This means that we, as Teachers and Teacher librarians must be more flexible with our students as global citizens, acknowledging and integrating: multiple languages, multiple cultural norms, multiple methods of information seeking, multiple methods of information absorption (aka ‘learning’), multiple learning styles (that change depending on an individual person’s context in any given moment in their lives) and multiple ability levels.

Is information that is globally available, much like the fancy car that a rich family buy their inexperienced teenager, less valued? If it comes too easily will it get taken for granted and generally end in a car crash?

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: The global network has also seen the creation of ‘social media’ and ‘wiki’ spaces. This impacts on people’s learning because, while social media is an excellent tool for engagement and delivery of information (linked to the research and marketing analytics done by corporations on how to reach target audiences–particularly children as per Veltri, et al 2016), social media is a weak platform in which to apply knowledge to every day reality. It is a sub-reality. A false replication of actual society with real, living and breathing humans and human interactions.

This is evident in any situation where someone makes an educated statement on a social media platform and is then hit with a barrage of abusive comments. People on social media platforms go on to social media platforms in order to be ‘social’–they aren’t there to be educated and aren’t open to absorb information, particularly if they have to work for it or if said information puts them out of their comfort zones and into a learning pit.

NAVEL GAZING: I wonder if the prevalence or demand for self expression on social media has been born from the American talk show and self-help movement? Much like these movements who focus ‘in rather than out,’ (Murray 2015) could social media confuse the lines of what is a therapy tool, versus valuable information or accurately tested and researched knowledge?

ACADEMIC SOCIAL MEDIA: When we blend academia with social media, do we then, in turn, blur lines of authenticity for students? Why are some blogs academic and some mere musings? Is the blurring of academic information being part of the deep web versus readily available on the internet a clever way of engaging students in academia, embracing the method of delivery preferred by 21st century learners?

EASY TO FIND OVERLOAD  VS RESTRICTED ACCESS DEEP WEB: Both are problematic. Historically, libraries have suffered the weight of hoarding and politicalisation of information. Encyclopaedia Britannica have a great topic page on their website (El-Abbadi 2019) about the Library of Alexandria which details how the Royal library and its ‘daughter’ library the Serapeum were destroyed by fire and war.

Great swaths of information have been destroyed in the past, and in today’s global information network, we are drowning in misinformation, irrelevant information, and less connection to information.

We are slightly more organised on the deep web, which is less susceptible to misinformation, but more likely to segregate and discriminate against users, particularly to society’s lower classes.

THE TL ROLE: In order to be valued as TL who are information specialists, we are the navigators and we need tools like telescopes, compasses and maps to help the ship navigate the ‘infosphere’ (Floridi 2007). We must safely navigate towards islands of internet information and cruise ships of social media. We must safely navigate below the water, helping the ship find and understand the underwater volcanoes and creatures of information.

TL’s  need to:

  • remember how to use digital technologies
  • but to still keep in mind that using social media for work purposes is like working while on holiday, particularly for some teachers and teacher librarians who are suffering from stress or burnout, or who are trying to stabilise their work/life balance and
  • we must strive to enable students to go through the stages of the Learning Cycle,
  • use evidence-based practice,
  • be aware of theories and pedagogies that we have been using as teachers, such as Multiple Intelligences and/or the Berry Street Educational Model (BSEM) for trauma informed practice or Quality Teaching Rounds, and
  • work collaboratively with all stakeholders, much like the crew of a submarine!
This is a drawing by my son Toby Roe that illustrates how we view the TL role in the current ‘information society’ or ‘infosphere’ (Image use with permission from the artist)

Teacher Librarians need to be the navigators of the (school) submarine. The principal and executives are the captain and first mates. The teachers are the crew and the kids, the families are the passengers. The submarine needs everyone to work together in order to be able to navigate the information sea above the water, including the political breezes and cultural water currents, the social media cruise ships and the various modes of information islands. It also needs to be able to safely navigate below the sea in the deep web with all of the volcanic deep web databases, applications and sea creatures that lurk about in the darkness.

References:

Arthur, L. Young children as critical consumers. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Oct 2001. v24. i3. p.182(14).

Barratt-Pugh, C. & Rohl, M. (2000). Literacy learning in the early years. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

El-Abbadi, M. (2019). Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Retrieved from www.brittanica.com/topic/library-of-alexandria

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23, 59-64. CSU Library.

Lilly, E. & Green, C. (2004). Linking Home and School Literacies. Developing partnerships with families through children’s literature. NJ: Pealson.

Murray, D. C. (2015) Notes to self: the visual culture of selfies in the age of social media. Consumption Markets & Culture, 18:6, 490-516, DOI: 10.1080/10253866.2015.1052967

Worthington, M. & Carruthers, E. (2003). Children’s Mathematics: Making Marks, Making Meaning. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Veltri, G. & Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F. & Gaskell, G. & Theben, A. & Folkvord, F. & Bonatti, L. & Bogliacino, F. & Fernández, L. & Codagnone, C. (2016). (Radboud University) Study on the impact of marketing through social media, online games and mobile applications on children’s behaviour. Published by Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2576.7280.

Are School Librarians an Endangered Species?

(Reflection of ETL401 Module 3.1-3.2)

100 words (actually, I’ve highlighted 65) that summarise the amazing and encouraging ‘Profession at the tipping point (2015) and the keynote speech from the ASLA 2011 Conference, by Karen Bonanno Keynote Speaker ‘A Profession at the Tipping point: Time to Change the Game Plan’:

Due to a Federated Educational Structure, new push for ICT qualifications and other ‘tipping points‘, we are fighting for our jobs and have to prove why we are relevant. (Otherwise we run the risk of becoming endangered).

To do so we must:

Look at our situations as ‘glass half full’.

‘Let our rhetoric resonate with our audience.’

‘Begin with the end in mind’

Use the ‘5 Finger Plan to Success (Pre-imminence, Focus, Brand, Circle of influence; and surmise the little things we do that count)

We need to use slow seduction rather than expect a seismic shift, aiming for 1% improvement over time, building relationships as we go along every day in our schools, communities and professional networks. And we should be striving for the AITSL Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher Qualifications. 

Christy Roe Bitmoji Good Idea

References:

Bonanno , K. (2015). A profession at the tipping point (revisited). Access, March, 14-21

My 2019 Understanding of the Role of the Teacher Librarian in Schools

  1. When I reflect back to when I was a child, the local library was a place of peace and organisation, a place of welcoming and quiet during what was a lonely and poverty-stricken time in my life.
  2. When I was a young adult the local library was a place that I went to be free of expectations and demands and could read and research relevant and up to date young adult novels and magazines to learn more about how to exist in the world.
  3. When I grew to be an adult, the high school and college librarians were the most efficient and helpful people that I knew, and I trusted them to have the most quality and noteworthy resources to support my education.

Perhaps, for some people the Internet offers peace, organisation, welcome, quiet, freedom, research, trust, direction, and quality resources, so long as they have the Internet skills to find what they need (USC Marshall, 2019).

It does not, however, always offer these things for the majority of students with any consistency and requires a human to help them navigate.

Does the world still need school libraries or libraries in general?

I myself have worked at a school that debated this issue and very nearly voted in favour of changing the library to a book-less computer lab. There have also been articles regarding the topic, such as (Preiss, 2014; The Conversation, 2015 and Dring, 2014).

After experiences that I’ve had, and following articles such as those listed above, the lack of support for the library possibly stems from some systematic employment decisions, which have resulted in the library becoming out of date with modern times.

Let’s create a hypothetical 2019 NSW Primary school library:

What had previously been a full time position may have been dropped to part time because of a decrease in student enrolments, funding cuts or the needs of the librarian. The previous librarian, who had possibly been at the school for many years and who possibly had specific Librarian qualifications, may have moved on or retired. A teacher who wanted to work part time because of health or family reasons perhaps then filled the role. Thus, that teacher my have then remained as the librarian for the next few years, unaware and under-skilled—changing very little, despite the world changing all around them.

It is understandable then that the hypothetical library would be seen as out-dated and irrelevant: it had failed to change with the times.

What is the role of a 2019 Teacher Librarian in reality?

According to the NSW Department of Education (2018), the school library is central to teaching and learning and the role includes: “Collaborative teaching support, Information services, Personnel and Materials and equipment systems.”

Bitmoji Christy Roe wants to hear your thoughts

Food for thought: Conspicuously missing from the NSW DET Role information is the requirement for Teacher Librarians to have or be attempting their Masters of Education degrees. (Pop over to the forum topic in Interact2 and lets discuss it!)

 

What about the 2019 digital environment in which we all live?

Teacher Librarians have a workplace that is within a changing information and digital landscape and must therefore be flexible to change. Just as classroom teachers have had numerous changes and growth, so should teacher librarians.

This means that librarians need to actively manage the collection resources including and beyond paper texts and pro-actively research and implement online resources across schools to support teachers and engage students.

This need for a 21st century approach is supported by research from Softlink (2017), which concludes:

“Continued investment in school libraries is vital for the development of literacy and improved educational outcomes. Librarians and library staff play an important role in student academic development. It is clear there is a growing requirement for digital and online resources and that school-wide access and integration is important for engaging students in learning.”

References:

NSW Department of Education. (2018). Your Library. Retrieved from  https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/your-library#Schools0

Preiss, B. (2014). Teacher Librarians On Borrowed Time As Pages Turn On Reading Sources. Retrieved from  https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/teacher-librarians-on-borrowed-time-as-pages-turn-on-reading-sources-20140919-10j3ly.html

The Conversation. (2019). The Calamity of the Disappearing School Libraries. Retrieved from The Conversation, 2015 http://theconversation.com/the-calamity-of-the-disappearing-school-libraries-44498

Dring, S. (2014). Don’t Overlook Your School Librarian They’re the Unsung Heroes of Literacy. Retrieved from  https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/sep/18/school-librarian-literacy-support-teacher-students?fbclid=IwAR3J0c-NzDLhxVY47ecmxYmfS1fb7rEgYd4NnRxMRjgDM_VMcdK0N_QI8yU

Softlink. (2017). The 2017 Softlink Australian and New Zealand School Library Survey Report. Retrieved from https://www.softlinkint.com/downloads/2017_Softlink_Australian_and_New_Zealand_School_Library_Survey_Report.pdf