At the beginning of studying this
subject of Teacher Librarianship my views of the role of the teacher librarian
were passionate, but, perhaps, naïve. I had worked as a teacher for nine years
before leaving and studying to become a librarian. I then worked in a public
library as a collection manager for two years before returning to teaching in
2011. In that time I developed some ideas as to what the role of a teacher
librarian in a school might consist of. What I did not realise is the sheer weight of
debate that exists over the role of the teacher librarian, the issue of
information literacy and the barriers impeding the work of the teacher
librarian.
Herring (2007, p. 32) makes the point that a teacher
librarian’s role should be educational rather than administrative – having come
from a public library, where a lot of work that I did was administrative with
only a small part educational, this idea has resonated with me. Hamilton (2011, p. 35), writes that for her the roles
of “administrator, leader, instructional partner and information specialist”
begin to blur in her position as a teacher librarian. I am now – as I am about
to start a teacher librarian role in my school – beginning to understand just
how that can happen and how it should happen. My first professional encounters
with teacher librarians at the beginning of my teaching career were not that
inspiring (Hannon, 2012d), and undoubtedly set up some
initial barriers between collaboration with the library and my teaching. It
wasn’t until I started studying to become a librarian that I came into contact
with some real role models on how a teacher librarian could contribute in a
positive and education way to a school.
Introducing information literacy into a
school is one of the most important roles a teacher librarian can have.
Defining and implementing a program teaching information literacy seems to be one
of the hardest parts of this role. There was a lot of debate on the ETL401 Forum
over just what the definition was, how
to make sure that it is taught as more than merely a set of skills and what
sort of model should be used to do so. I could see how PLUS model from Herring (J Herring & Tarter, 2007), could be used alongside the
Munro Literacy strategies (Department of
Education and Early Childhood Development, 2009) we were already implementing in
the school (Hannon, 2012a). Upon further investigation I changed
my mind about which model to introduce and was deciding between the Big6 Model (Eisenberg,
2001) or the NSW
Department of Education ISP Model (Dawson &
Kallenberger, 2007).
Although there is a lot more literature available concerning the Big6
Model as it has been used in a large number of American schools, I have decided
to introduce the ISP model in my school as I liked the circular outline (as
opposed to the much more linear Big6), and I felt that it was more appropriate
to an Australian school. Before investigating these models I was under the
rather naïve impression that a teacher librarian could just do a few lessons on
internet and book searching and some on correct referencing. I am now planning
a whole school approach to information literacy (Hannon, 2012c).
To be able to teach information literacy
across the whole school curriculum I have come to realise the importance of
collaborating with the classroom teachers. I will need to get the support from
my Principal and the leadership team to help me encourage collaboration between
myself and those staff who still have the view that a teacher librarian is not
a useful person to have in the school library (Hannon, 2011). As I will only be working two
days a week collaboration will initially happen with only a small group of
staff (Hannon, 2012b) – ones that I know are open to
the idea of working with a teacher librarian to teach information literacy
skills in the school.
References
Dawson, Merran, & Kallenberger, Niki (Eds.).
(2007). Information skills in the school:
engaging learners in constructing knowledge (SCIS 1343769). NSW Department
of Education Retrieved from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/ppub/index.htm.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
(2009). Literacy to Learn: Getting Students Knowledge Ready for Literacy
Learning Retrieved 27/01/12, from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/english/literacy/strategies/literacytolearn.htm
Eisenberg, Michael B. (2001). Big6 Skills Overview. The Big6: Information and Technology Skills
for Student Achievement Retrieved
18/01/2012, 2012, from http://www.big6.com/2001/11/19/a-big6%E2%84%A2-skills-overview/
Hannon, Ann-Maree. (2011, 29/12/ 2011). Initiating
collaboration. Retrieved from http://reehannon-silenceinthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/12/initiating-collaboration.html
Hannon, Ann-Maree. (2012a). PLUS model and Munro
strategies. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=frameset&forum_id=ETL401_201190_W_D_Sub6_forum&message_id=5524128
Hannon, Ann-Maree. (2012b, 01/01/12). Re: Initialising
collaboration within a school. Retrieved
from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=frameset&forum_id=ETL401_201190_W_D_Sub7_forum&message_id=5517015
Hannon, Ann-Maree. (2012c, 22/01/12). Re: Not just a TL
job. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=frameset&forum_id=ETL401_201190_W_D_Sub6_forum&message_id=5535445
Hannon, Ann-Maree. (2012d, January 18, 2012). Thoughts on the
role of a teacher librarian. Retrieved
from http://reehannon-silenceinthelibrary.blogspot.com/
