Amazed at how vital yet unknown

As I'm reading more and more about Teacher Librarians (or Media Specialist or what ever you want to call them) there is a growing sense of a dichotomy between how undefined the role is and yet how vital it seems to be.  Everybody says how important and vital they are, yet no-one seems to be able to say exactly what they do.

On one hand, although there are many highly esteemed and educated persons trying to define the role of a TL, there is no one definitive definition.  One says this, another adds this aspect in, yet another says this is the most important thing and so on and so on.  Added to that is that not many people know what a TL does - and if we can't define it, no wonder!

On the other hand, even though we can't figure out exactly what a TL does, there is so much saying that having a good TL in your school has a dramatic effect on student learning, achievement etc etc.

So, even if no-one actually know what a TL does, you better get one anyway!

Hmmm. 

How should TLs prioritise the roles they play in schools?

How should TLs prioritise the roles they play in schools?
These are my thoughts after comparing the Johnson and Lamb article with that of Purcell and Herring.

A lot will probably depend on the school and its priorities. If they just want a person in the library who will occupy the students for 45 mins so teachers get the required amount of release time as stipulated in their enterprise bargaining agreement, then what you initially do may be quite separate from what goes on in classrooms.

There would be things you could do to increase the collaborative aspect – simply emailing teachers and asking what their units of study are for that term would at least tie it in with the classroom learning.

Much would also hinge on the sympathy of the head of the school as to how they see your role and how sympathetic they are to a change in that. For instance, your requests to run staff PD sessions showing the usefulness of Kidspiration may depend on the HOD saying yay or neigh.

I like the idea suggested in Johnson and Lamb where you Show teachers how using IT can make their job easier and Fit in with what is already being taught, rather than have isolated, stand-alone lessons.

I guess then, that the first few steps in working out your priorities would include working out what the current role of the TL is, finding a school mission statement, stock taking what you have so far in terms of Info Lit resources, talking to staff regarding their views on what a TL should be doing – that is, get a feel for what is already there.

Once you’ve done that, compare that to your list of what a TL should do, decide what is achievable, then work out a plan to get there.

Thoughts?

Thoughts on Purcell reading - All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books Right?

Do you agree with Purcell?

After reading Purcell's article, think about a) whether you agree with the roles Purcell identifies and b) whether you would change the order of the roles she identifies e.g. should teacher come first?

Do I agree with the roles Purcell identifies? Hmmmm.....

A key statement I underlined is in the conclusion – “Media specialist’s roles are constantly changing and they must be able to accept new tasks in order to perform their duties successfully”

Constantly changing?  This says to me that any attempted definitions of the role of a TL could possibly be like photographs in time: they may be very relevant for right now, but in time – a year, a few years, or a decade – they will not match the current needs and expectations.  Her definitions may have dated by 2021, as may have other definitions we are examining now.  The article is dated Nov/Dec 2010 and so is fairly recent, but it would be an interesting exercise to go back in 5, 10 years time and do a comparison between what a TL was expected in then and now.

Or not. 

They may be as solid as they come and be just as relevant then as now.

Having said that do I agree with her role definition?  Honestly, not having had any TL experience, I myself am a novice with very little idea about what a TL does or is supposed to do.  These articles are defining it for me as I go, so my judgement calls at this stage comes from very shaky ground.  There is no way I have any solid experience to call on.

Purcell says herself in the last sentence – Library media specialists need to do a better job of clearly articulating their roles........

I guess that’s what we’re trying to do.

More thoughts as they come to hand

Role of a Teacher Librarian - thoughts on Purcell reading

Hey all.  Just read All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist by Melissa Purcell.

Here are my thoughts on it:

The TL seems to move in and out of all of these roles as the moment requires, and most seem to converge on the Programme Administrator role (forgive my English rather than USA spelling).  A timeline could almost be drawn through roles as new units of study are introduced to the school community.

As an Instructional Partner they sit beside classroom teachers to assist in designing and resourcing units of study.  They know what is being taught.  (Classroom teacher – what is being taught in their year level and maybe the one above and below.  TL – what is being taught across the entire school)

As an Information Specialist they guide both teachers and students in accessing the information and techniques they need, almost like a portal to information.  However, this portal is not passive but actively develops and expands the higher order thinking and filtering skills so teachers and students can evaluate, filter, retain or discard information.  They make choices about its relevancy or importance.

As a Teacher they use their teaching skills to instruct staff and students how to find, access, and distribute not just knowledge and information, but the methods to do this – be it software, the Dewy Decimal system, websites, databases.  For instance, how do you narrow searches on EBSCO to find what you really need?

As part of the Programme Administrator role, they already have a good handle on their learning community – their interests, their ages, past experiences, level of literacy and aliteracy.

This would then converge in the Programme Administrator role again as the questions would come up:

·         Do we have the current resources to meet the needs now identified?

·         How can these be best presented and distributed?

It seems that, with the exception of the role of leader, all 4 other roles are done to some extent by a good primary teacher on a much smaller and more focused scale.