ETL504 Innovation and Change

The Fullan text makes it clear that there are many aspects of leadership. One of the things that he said that challenged my previous beliefs and ideas is that dissention can be the innovator of change. That is, that having people that disagree with you can be a good thing. It can lead to new ideas being presented and different 'solutions' reached.
It is not always important to have cohesion in the team. Alothough cohesion is important, dissention and disagreement is not always a negative.
Top down leadership does not promote sustainable change. Ensuring that all participants of change, those who are the 'workers' need to have their voice heard. Leaders cannot simply dictate.
Another interesting point Fullan makes is that empowerment, ownership and enthusiasm does not happen overnight. It takes time and trust must be built.
As a TL these points are of special import. One of the major roles of the TL is to work in teams with collegues and it is important for the TL to ensure that trust is built. T
hey must ensure that ownership and enthusiasm is part of all of their interactions in order to see change happen in their school. They muyst realise that people who challenge what they are doing may have ideas that will improve changes that are being sought.

504 Leadership

Leadership must be shared. This is the key idea in the readings for this topic. If leadership is shared then change becomes sustainable.
If change is to be sustainable then leadership must be distributed. This does not mean the end of the principal and the executive. It means that the principal and executinve need to be the driving force, while empowering others through professional development, choices, flexibility and positive working relationships.
Leadership in schools cannot be the domain of the few. In order to sustain change then the impatus for change cannot leave whent he prinipcal or executive leaves.
The teacher librarian is in a unique position to provide leadership. In order to effectively fulfill their role they must work in collaboration with others. They can use these collaborations to both lead and follow change. They can be leaders by sharing in and promoting change. They can display leadership by ensuring professional development needs are being met both by leading professional development and by maintaining a print and digital collection that will meet users needs.

ETL501 Reference Interview

It is clear that the reference interview is of vital importance when the librarian is assisting a user to find information. It is vital to narrow down and understand the information need of the user and direct them to relevant resources both print and digital.
It is also clear that it is easier to conduct a reference interview in person and slightly harder to conduct one over the phone.
When it comes to the digital reference interview it is clear that it is a still developing concept. Some libraries allow users to contact them using general email, others use a form on the web link 'Ask a reference librarian', others still provide real time chat and discussion in order to assist users. The digital reference is time consuming and lack the personal interaction, but is a vital tool in the digital world (including for us students wh0 are not on campus and find it harder to access library services in person).

The problem likely to face teacher librarians using the digital reference interview, especially in primary schools, is that students may not be literate or computer literate, they may not have access to the internet outside of the school setting or time inside the school setting and they may not be able to adequately express their needs in written form and it may be far easier to conduct the reference interview in person.

WTL504 Team work and colloboration

It is clear from the readings that groups and teams are different. Groups are people working in the same organisational structures, teams are people working together to achieve a focused outcome. A team must have a dedicated leader in order to succeed. The leader must be able to lead and develop individuals as well as the team.
As a Teacher Librarian it is important to lead collaborative teams to ensure the learning of information skills. It is also the role of the teacher librarian to be members of teams, even where they are not leaders. They must confirm their role and achieve their directive.

ETL501 Searching the internet Topic 3

There are so many more search engines than I realised. It has opened up my eyes to the extent and quality of information found by different search engines. There are different search engines for different reasons and there are even websites that allow you to find the search engine that best suits your purpose. I have also been exposed for the first time to Bolean logic and other search 'tricks'.

ETL501 Wikipedia

My opinion on wikipedia is that it is useful but cannot be trusted to contain accurate information. As a teacher librarian I would not encourage students to use it, however, I would not stop them. I would advise them to use it to look at the references provided by editors of the site on the topic they are researching and use it as a starting point to find relevant and accurate information.

ETL501 What is reference material?

I think that the term reference material needs to be defined in a new way. Reference material seems to be material that is gathered and stored together about a particular topic or topics. I think that the term is redundant when it comes to library items that may not be borrowed and needs to gain a broader meaning.

ETL504 Decision Making and problem solving.

It is clear from the readings that decision making and probloem solving is a much researched area. The readings all advocate similar steps in the decision making process. They start with defining what the problem is and gathering data. They do not offer solutions until these steps are done. I have tended to look for solutions before analysing the problem and problem solving for me has not always been in collaboration with others. From these readings I learn that I do not always have to solve problems on my own, in fact it can be benificial to me and the implementation of the solution to the problem to deal with problem solving and decision making in a team. One of the most important role of the Teacher Librarian is collaboration and this fits in very nicely with the readings. They advocate collaboration when making decisions and solving problems.
As a collaborative teacher librarian it is important to work in small groups all of the time. It is an important skill, shown in these readings to be able to share the decision making processes with these small groups. To define the 'problem', gather data, offer solutions, chosing solutions, implementing and evaluating solutions as a collaborative team is important to ensure that all stakeholders will be enthusiastic in the implementation of programs.

ETL504 The 12 quality principles

This was a very interesting reading. It definately put the 12 principles of quality into context. It is clear that a school community needs to work together, right from formulating the school's mission, to strategically planning, implementing and evaluating organisational systems. The 'client' is key and quality and value are defined by them. Actions must be mutually agreeded upon and participants must be enthusiastic. Participants will be more enthusiastic when they are part of the decision making process and part of planning the organisational systems. Participants work in the system, but in order to have quality they must work on the system in order to improve it. Systems must be based in fact and data (opinions may be data too) and must be sustainable. Systems must take not only the isolated school community into consideration but also the wider local community and nation. It is important that leaders set an example and do what they preach.

ETL504 Quality Management Web Reading (Tribus)

This model concentrates on creating a lifelong learner with a joy and passion for learning. It advocates a system where all stakeholders have input into education. It teaches students how to not what. This system is against testing where ranks are included. I especially liked the point made that 50% of students will always be in the bottom half of the cohort! Interesting point. A teacher librarian can use this system to encourage change in the perception of their role. They can show that information skills, and the student, not the product, are important. It can be used to encourage collaboration with both collegues and students and promotes a joy of learning.

Initial Thoughts (ETL504 learning journal)

Communication
Communication in its most basic form is verbal. This may be one on one with students and / or collegues, or in a group. Written communication is also important and this may take the form of hard compies or electronic communication. Communication between students, collegues and executive is vital.
Communication between peers outside the school community is also improtant. This may be with other local and similar schools or with a national or international network of peers. This is probably easiest done through electronic means.
As a leader the teacher librarian should be actively communicating and contributing to a network of their peers. As a leader, they should be instigating and facilitating discussions.
As a classroom teacher communication with students, collegues and executive staff is important and is slowly starting to become electronic in my personal situation.

Organisational Theory
I have little technical knowledge in this area. I guess it means how to be organised and the benefits received from being organised. It is how you fit the role of teacher, librarian and leader together and fulfilling those roles within time constraints.

Strategic Planning
Again, I have little concrete knowledge. Perhaps planning to teach, long term planning to build and develop the library collection, and on a broader scale, planning short and long term school goals. This may include planning human resources as well.

Assignment 2 Part C

As a classroom teacher, with no experience in the library, I came into this course with little understanding of the role of the teacher-librarian as stated in my blog (24/2, Residential School). Since then I have reflected on, read about, discussed and analysed the role of the teacher-librarian and my understandings of this have grown and developed.

Initially, when asked to define the role of the teacher-librarian, my understandings were that their role was to buy books for the library, facilitate borrowing and returning and to release teachers from face to face teaching. Right from beginning the readings, I realised that my knowledge was sorely lacking. There have been many critical points along my journey and these are explored below.

I first realised that the teacher-librarian at my school was underutilised (25/5, topic 1 sub-forum, RBL) when reading Haycock (2003, p.34) who stated simply that 'collaboration is the key to getting the most out of the school library'. Having never collaborated with the teacher-librarian, it was a critical realisation for me that this was one of the major roles. Continuing to explore collaboration lead me to believe that it is vital for the teacher-librarian to use their unique qualifications and skills to plan, implement and evaluate teaching and learning programs in collaborative partnerships with classroom teachers.

This collaboration will also lead to the implementation of another role of the teacher-librarian, that of promoting the information literate school community (ILSC). As reflected in my forum posting (20/4, topic 4 sub-forum, Information Literacy- thoughts), I had not previously heard the term ILSC. I see this as a a failure on my part as a classroom teacher, but as stated in my blog (19/4, some thoughts), assignment one was a critical point in my understanding of the ILSC and the teacher-librarian's role within it.

It was with interest that I read the forum post from Yvonne Hodgson (1/4, topic 2 sub-forum) in which she talked about what she would do at the beginning of the school year to set up collaborative practices. In this post she talks about first gaining the principal's support. Many readings were provided on this subject, but it was when I read this post, from a practicing teacher-librarian, that I realised that principal support was vital. Watts (1999, p.29) surprised me by saying that 'significant others who are aware of what teacher-librarians know, do and can do, and are willing to do are very rare.' I did not realise that it was the role of the teacher-librarian to promote their skills and job. In saying that, it makes perfect sense, as I as a classroom teacher for a number of years, was not aware of what teacher-librarians can do. It has become the role of the teacher-librarian to promote their worth using evidence based practice (Hay, 2005, p.17).

Being able to collaborate and understand the information needs of the ILSC, and being able to identify the needs of library users, leads to the next major role of the teacher-librarian, one that I thought I understood at the beginning of this course. My simple understanding of this role, manager of resources, has grown and developed over this subject and ETL503. As reflected in my blog (1/3, Selection Criteria) I looked at policy documents from the NSW Department of Education and Training which are particularly relevant for me, as I work in a NSW Government school. These policy documents reflect the role of the teacher-librarian in shaping the library collection to meet the needs of users. This made me realise what a broad and important role that manager of resources is.

The Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians document lead me to the critical realisation of just how broad the role of the teacher-librarian is. While reading and analysing this document, I developed a greater understanding of what it means to be an excellent teacher-librarian. This document strikes me as one of them most important for the teacher-librarian to follow in order to successfully fulfill their role and is one that I will refer to throughout this course and my future career as a teacher-librarian.

Over the course of this subject my perceptions of the role of the teacher-librarian have certainly changed and developed. Starting with the limited knowledge I brought as a classroom teacher, I now understand that the role of the teacher-librarian is broad, including the teacher-librarian as curriculum leader, information specialist and information services manager (Learning for the Future, 2001, pp. 60-62). The breadth of the teacher-librarian role is slightly intimidating but Herring (2007, p.31) offers some relief, stating that it was '...clear that no teacher-librarian could fulfill all of these roles at the same time...' and they need to '...effectively priorities roles according to the current needs of students, staff and parents in the school community'. I am fully aware that my knowledge of the teacher-librarian role is still in the beginning stages, and reading, analysis and reflection over the course of my study, as well as gaining practical experience as a teacher-librarian, will continue to shape my understandings.

Some thoughts

It has been a while since I have blogged and I have now submitted the first two assignments and am anxiously awaiting my results.
503 Assignment One - This assignment was a big one! I did not realise that there was so much involved in identifying information needs, selecting and acquiring resources. It was a valuable lesson to learn and gave me useful ideas about the various tools that a Teacher Librarian can use. I liked starting with the NSW DET sites as these fit into my school. I will need to work on using a wider variety of tools.
401 Assignment One - This assignment allowed me to understand what an Information Literate School Community is and the significant role that the Teacher Librarian plays in this. Before this course I did not even know that the term Information Literate School Community existed and that it should be a practice to be strived for.

Reflections

A teacher librarians job is a lot bigger and broader than I thought before starting this course. I had never really sat down and considered just what a teacher librarian, or a librarian in any library really does. The scope of a teacher librarian's job is huge! Curriculum leader, collaborator, resource manager just to name a few!
Learning about collection management has been interesting. There are so many things to consider. I am especially enjoying the small piece on censorship that we have been doing and how censorship encroaches on selection.
Looking at my school (where I am not the teacher librarian) I can see that the role is very narrow and there is no chance to be a curriculum leader. Of course, this can change.
My eyes have been open to a whole new world within a school that I was not aware existed (reflects on my collaboration, or lack there of, with teacher librarians as a classroom teacher).

The TL and the curriculum (401)

Thinking more about resource based learning I can see that it relys on an inquiry learning approach (still to read about the different models so won't comment on them just yet). I like the idea of rbl but does it fit in with everything? Where do the fundamentals fit in. Can you use rbl at some stages and have teacher directed learning at others? Teaching a spelling rule or maths equation does not really lend itself to rbl.

Having said that, where does rbl and inquiry learning fit into the NSW quality teacher framework? I think that it fits very well. The framework encourages an open and supportive classroom. It promotes quality learning, as does inquiry learning and rbl. The terminology used is just different. Both promote deep understanding and knowledge as well as higher order thinking skills. It is the processes of how to learn and how to find information rather than just the content itself. Both rbl / inquiry learning and the quality teaching framework show that students prior knowledge is important and that they need to build on this.

The teacher librarian needs to be aware of all curriculum areas (as do primary school teachers) and is thus a very valuable source for planning and curriculum development. In the readings it is suggested that 'resource based learning' is a term mostly found in library literature and as such the tl is in an excellent position to promote it and collaborate on its development (will clarify that with 'trained teacher librarians').

Principals should expect the tl and the classroom teacher to plan units of work together, but they can make or break this. They cannot expect this collaboration if they do not supply the support, the expectation and the budget for it to happen.

The role of the teacher librarian (401)

It seems that the teacher librarian is a threatened species. Studies from all over the world show how useful the TL is in promoting and teaching information literacy yet there are equally as many readings telling us that we have to prove our worth or there may not be TL positions left. Indeed, in Canada, the funding for qualified teacher librarians is quickly shrinking.
The TL needs to promote their role. There seems to be three key roles for TLs.

• Curriculum leaders - as trained teachers, TLs have a knowledge of curriculum requirememts.
• Information specialists - the expert on print and digital media in regards to resources.
• Information services managers - collection development and management.

(From Learning for the future).

Many reading suggest that support from the principal is vital but many TLs do not receive this support so are hindered in their quest for collaboration and the promotion of an information literate school.

TLs have to promote their role and prove their worth. They need to not only be leaders of change they need to be seen to be leaders of change and to be seen to be a valuable resource in an information literate school community.

Selection and Censorship (503)

After reading the professional statements I have found that the key thing that they advocate is freedom. That is free and unrestricted access to information.
Censorship comes in many forms. Some obvious, such as challenges to materials, and some not so obvious. I think censorship at the selection point is the worst form of sensorship. There is no further action that can be taken, it is simply not selected. This can happen in two ways. Firstly, the selector is aware of their bias, and censors anyway (or as a result of). Secondly, the selector is unaware of their bias and therefore is unaware that they are censoring. This second factor is perhaps the most scary because there may be no way to stop it.

Censorship in the school library context is a tricky subject. I think that it comes down to the collection management policy. Selection needs to take into account the curriculum and needs of the community. It needs to support learning. Where does censorship fall. This is not a subject to easily be answered and yet another one that will grow and develop as I learn.

Selection Criteria (503)

I have just had a look at some selection criteria in different policies. They are many and varied. Each state has their own way of dealing with things and the NSW DET seems to be very general. Having had a look at my school's library policy and in particular at the moment, the selection criteria and I can see that it is woefully inadequate. A lot of work will need to be done in order to design a model collection development policy based on the needs of my school.

I can see that selection criteria need to reflect the school community and its needs as well as take into account both print material and digital resources. At this point I think that there needs to be core or general criteria that relates to all resources and then more specific criteria for more specific resources.

Print format or digital resources?

Believe it or not, there is room for both!
The print format does not diminish in value or significance simply because digital resources are advancing quickly, but the way we find and use information is changing.
It is hard to believe (but certainly not impossible) that the digital resource will take over fictional print resources. Even though there are constant advances in ebooks, the print format will still be the favoured resource (in my opinion of course, I have no readings to cite to back up my point of view). Non fiction print resources are still important aspect of a school library collection, especially if the library is not linked to technology as is the case in my school's library.

We do however, need to focus on developing digital resources. Many learners now use technology as their information source and to not cater to this need would be unprofessional. TLs and teachers alike need to upgrade their own skills and provide the oportunity for students to access various digital resources.

Selection Aids (503)

There certainly are a lot of selection aids with an Australian focus available on the internet. I found the online bookshops and publishers' sites to be a useful but limited tool. As they are trying to sell books, they have a summary of the book rather than a review. This is good if you know what resources you want but not good if you are seaching for a relevant resource that you know little about.

The review sites were helpful in that they mostly contained critical reviews of resources and there are many sites available to review books to be used in Australian schools.

A selection aid needs to suit your purpose. The criteria will vary with the different types of selection aids. Some criteria that I think would be useful are:

• Is the aid easy to use and navigate?
• What bias does the aid have (is it trying to sell books?)?
• Are there access costs?
• Who does the reviewing? What authority do they have?
• Is it a suitable reviewing aid for the situation (e.g. a primary school library)?
• Does it suit the local community (e.g. a primary school in western sydney)?

My school currently uses SCIS, dept of ed (NSW) sites, advertising material, booksellers and book fairs. Perhaps another reviewing tool would be of value.

Resource Based Learning

An interesting topic with many questions arising from it. I have published my thoughts on the csu forum about resource based learning but would like to get down here that it is something, as a classroom teacher, I would like to explore. The question is how do I start? With year three, do I start small, with one KLA or do I go for it and start with all? I think to explore RBL I will start with one KLA? or does this make it just a 'research task'? Hmmm, questions and thoughts I will need to carefully consider.

History of School Libraries

The readings for this (in topic one) were certainly and eye opener. I did not realise just how short the history of school libraries in Australia actually is. I didn't know that high schools had libraries before primary schools and that there was little direction and knowledge in indvidual schools. It certainly explains why my school, built in 1960, does not have a 'library' building and our school library is simply two classrooms with the dividing wall removed!

It seems that there have been common concerns throughout the decades of school library development and that these concerns continue today. Concerns such as budget, training of teacher librarians, design of the library, collaboration between teacher librarian and teachers and the stocking of libraries. All concerns that I am sure will be explored in depth throughout this subject.

401 - Management Implications

Sanders, R. (2004) Chapter 13: Conflict resolution. In Australian library supervision and management (2nd ed., pp.127 - 132). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies.

The three things I have learnt are:

• Listen carefully. When involved in a conflict it is all too easy to let emotion get in the way and talk without listening. Listening carefully is important in that it allows you to think about the other party's point of view. To negotiate successfully where both people 'win' this is a key aspect.
• Preparation - to resolve conflict it is better to step back and remove yourself from the situation until people are calmer. You then have time to prepare. Think about your points and how to get them across properly as well as think about the other party's point of view. How does it conflict with yours? How is it similar to yours? What possible solutions are there?
• As a mediator of conflict you also need to be prepared. Perhaps the most important thing to realise if you are a mediator is to keep your emotions and own point of view out of the equation. To successfully mediate you need to be impartial, even if you agree with one of the partys more than the other.

Covey, S.R. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people: Restoring the character ethic, [Pt. 1], pp. 146-164 and [Pt. 2], pp. 165-182.

The three things that I have learnt:

• 'Effective management is putting first things first.' (p148) and carrying it out. Ordering things according to priority, things that are important, will allow you to carry out on a day to day, month to month basis, what needs to be done. You will be doing all of the important things that are not urgent rather than urgent and unimportant things.
• Delegation is key to effective management. To delegate effectively you need to set the correct criteria, obligations and assessment or judgement and you have to trust the person or team delegated the task. To stand over and have input, and needing to be involved in every step of the task is not effective delegating and you might as well have just done the job yourself to begin with.
• Planning - not by day, month or year, but by week. To sit and write a list of the priorities for the week and then delegate particular times and days and hours to these tasks, and having the self discipline to stick to it will see you achieve more of the important things that need to be done. This is the thing that I have learnt most about and will implement into my working life as well as my home life. I have always liked planning and prioritising but still seem to miss some of the important things in my life. I will sit down and write a list of my roles and what is important in them for this week and then delegate what day and time they will be done. I will come back here and report on how this is going every so often to see if there is any improvement.

Gilman, T. (2007). The four habits of highly effective librarians, (Chronicle Careers), The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23

I found this article fairly straight forward and I have already been thinking about openness and collaboration but found that this article did not really reflect the situation that the library I am studying is in. It is a small library and collaboration occurs more with the teachers in the school than with other libraries. Perhaps this is something to read again as I go more into this course and understand libraries on a larger scale better. I will come back to this article again.

Residential School

A fabulous way to focus my thoughts and get my head into gear to start this course. I have had a close look at the two subject outlines and now have a clear idea of what is expected and where I am going.
I was excited and more importantly, interested, in the subject content and discussions that took place on the weekend.
I have had my 'thinking time' and as a result I have a few thoughts I would like to write down about the weekend.
I am coming into this subject 'cold' without having had any experience in a library. I have 11 years as a primary school teacher and that knowledge background but basically none as a librarian. Defining the role of a librarian was hard, especially since it seems to be evolving even as we are striving to define it. The digital age is making it a much broader role and it is raising more questions for me than has been answered.
Does the TL have to be a technology expert?
What role does the TL play in the comouter aspect of the library and who looks after the technical issues?
How important are print resources and how will this change as digital and electronic resources evolve and grow?
These questions will need ongoing thought throughout the following two years and even then they may not be answered.

I have always seen TL as a fairly independent and perhaps isolated role but after the weekend collaboration seems to be key. An aspect of the TL role for me to explore and adjust my thinking on.

I especially enjoyed the discussion on challenged materials and found that this subject evoked the most emotion during of the weekend. Again, more questions arise.
What right do TL's have to censor material, if any at all?
How can we ignore personal bias?
How much does censorship come into selection?
Does emotion have a place in challenging materials? Should it?
How strong a policy do you need to have and how can we do this to respond to challenges?

What a fantastic weekend. The 'learning curve' requires us to ask questions and seek answers. What a fun and challenging jouney we are all going on over the next two years.

Teacher Librarianship

I am happy that I have managed to create my blog for this course. It has ended up being quite easy and straight forward to use and should come in handy for keeping a record of thoughts and learning tasks.