Part C – Critical synthesis of my view of the role of a teacher librarian
As Marcoux (2009) said it should be, my learning curve as a trainee teacher librarian (TL) has been rapid and ongoing. This blog entry is a critical synthesis of how my view of the role of TL has changed. In this essay, I will discuss what I think the role of the TL is, followed by a discussion of the strengths and limitations of my learning journey through this course.
After studying this subject (ETL 401) I am beginning to understand what the roles of the TL are. For me the roles described by the Learning Resources Council (2005) are the most relevant. They describe the TL as a leader, collaborator , teacher and manager.
Strengths
One of my main strengths before beginning the course was my interest in learning about how to be a TL. This is an example of how I was beginning to be a lifelong learner. I was developing an interest in how technology can be used to facilitate learning. Examples of my use of web 2.0 tools in my teaching are provided in the following links - Wikispaces (Ramrakha, 2011a), Delicious (Ramrakha, 2011b) and Prezi (Ramrakha, 2011c). In the blog entry in March the impact of the ETL401 is apparent, as it is evident that I am beginning to think about how to use the wiki to teach information literacy.
Limitations
After reading during the first assessment task, Herring (2007) and his list of roles and the 12 Australian School Library Association (ASLA, 2004) standards of excellence, I was unsure whether I would be able to reach that sort of level. Since then, I have been thinking that the best approach is to tackle one major role/job at a time. For example, at the same time as writing this essay I am writing 400 report comments at work. I want to design a website for the school library but I also want to upload my comments in time for the other teachers to read and use them, so I will put off the website until they are finished. That is to say, that before commencing this course, not only did I not have an awareness of all of the different roles of a TL which I should have, I also did not understand how or the need to balance (Ramrakha, 2011a) them (Abilock, 2004).
Furthermore, when I first started the subject, all I could do was to paraphrase other writer’s opinions about the role of the TL without truly appreciating what these words meant. Examples of this can be found in the following two blog entries: they are More on the role of the teacher librarian (Ramrakha, 2011b) and Description of the duties of a teacher librarian (Ramrakha, 2011c). Now I am developing a vocabulary of terms that are used frequently in the TL world. These include: inquiry learning, information literacy, collaborating, leadership and constructivism. This has meant that I can read the information about the work of a TL and understand it, more deeply.
Before completing this subject I had no idea of the centrality of the role of information literacy (Herring, 2007 , Purcell, 2010, ASLA ,2004 and Marcoux, 2009). I thought my role was to stimulate ‘love of reading’ more than anything else. Unfortunately, I had little grasp of what the term information literacy and the information skills models referred to. I realize now, that I should have read more about my role, as I was working part time as a TL for two years before I started this course.
Initially, my understanding of the role of the TL was that I thought it was one of service. I still believe that my role is to assist the school community in its work but as a leader and a collaborator not as a servant. Leadership, according to Everhart (2007) is when the TL provides access to information to the school community , regardless of their needs. Furthermore, Everhart describes how it also involves the development of IL across the curriculum using a collaborative approach. The research I conducted and wrote about on the ETL 401 Forum (Ramrakha, 2011g) regarding learning organizations highlighted to me how all aspects of SC need to work together for successful collaboration to occur.
I feel I could have learnt more about collaboration during the course. I have a need to learn more about it, as I believe it is the key to teaching information literacy across the school, effectively. As a lifelong learner, I will continue this pursuit in the future.
To conclude, I now am beginning to comprehend what it means to be TL. Furthermore, during the course I have gone from working as a TL in a very naive and uninformed position to one in which I can see in my daily practice what it means to teach information literacy, collaborate, lead and manage.
References Part C
Australian School Library Association. (2004) Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. [Policy sheet].Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm
Abilock, D. (2004). What's Your Name? Knowledge Quest, 32(3), 9-10.
Doll, C.A. (2005). Collaboration and the school library media specialist. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Everhart, N. (2007). Leadership: School library media specialists as effective school leaders. Knowledge Quest, 35(4), 54-57.
Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians in the school library. In S. Ferguson. (Ed.). (2007). Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services (pp.27-42). Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies.
Howard, J. K., & Eckhardt, S. A. (2005). Why Action Research? The leadership role of the library media specialist. Library Media Connection, 24(2), 32-34.
Lamb, A., & Johnson, I. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: a dynamic collaborator, teacher, and technologist. Teacher Librarian, 36(2), 74-78.
Learning Resources Council, (2005, February 9) The role of the teacher librarian [Position paper]. Retrieved from http://aslc.teachers.ab.ca/About%20the%20Alberta%20School%20Library%20Council/Pages/Position-Papers.aspx
Marcoux, E. (2009). Intellectual access to information: the teacher-librarian as facilitator. Teacher Librarian, 36(5), 76-77.
Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), 30.
Ramrakha, S. (2011a, March 17). Using a wiki at school [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/using-wiki-in-school.html#Using%20a%20wiki%20in%20school
Ramrakha, S. (2011b, April 19). Delcious [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/04/delicious.html#Delicious
Ramrakha, S. (2011c, March 11). Prezi [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/prezi.html#Prezi
Ramrakha, S. (2011d, March 18). "What's in a name?" [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-in-name.html#%22What's%20in%20a%20name?%22
Ramrakha, S. (2011e, March 2). More on the role of the teacher librarian [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-on-role-of-teacher-librarian.html
Ramrakha, S. (2011f, February 25). Description of the duties of a teacher librarian [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html
