Critical Synthesis

Part C – A critical synthesis of my reflection

As a child imagining myself as one day becoming a librarian, I had a very limited view of what this would involve (see blog post, ‘Then and now’, http://tlinthemaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-and-now.html). My observations as a student and as a casual teacher had given me some ideas about what a great teacher librarian looked like, and how empty a school felt without one. I had observed a teacher librarian (who was respected though she was still obtaining her Masters degree) who I had perceived as being great at her profession. I noticed the care she took to cater for student needs, and that she put effort into compiling digital resources on the school’s network, so was already becoming aware of the multiplicity of roles a teacher librarian can take on before I began studying – little did I know, I still had so much to learn.

Towards the beginning of the course I began to notice a shift in my thinking – I was beginning to think like a teacher librarian (see blog post, ‘Starting to think like a teacher librarian’, http://tlinthemaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/starting-to-think-like-teacher.html). I began thinking about the roles that I would play, what people’s perceptions of teacher librarians are, and what kinds of work environments I might end up working in. I found myself reading newspaper and journal articles, such as the article by Riley (2010) and wondering ‘what will this mean for me as a teacher librarian?’

One thing that helped that thinking to change was my increase in knowledge as I read through the modules of my subjects. I found that there were quite a few important concepts that I did not have knowledge or understanding of, even though I only graduated with my teaching degree at the end of 2008. I had not heard the term ‘information literacy’, let alone ‘information literate school community’. Not only do I now understand what these terms mean, but that information literacy is vitally important for our students. I understand that there are many things I will be able to do to create and extend students’ information literacy as a teacher librarian, such as scaffolding them as they learn the information process, giving them opportunities to conduct their own research, and collaborating with teachers to plan resource based learning (RBL) units. RBL was another concept I had not heard of before studying this subject. I knew about integrated and inquiry based units from my university studies, but learned from this subject that these can and should incorporate resource based learning, where the teacher and the teacher librarian collaborate and students are able to access resources that suit their learning style and ability. My learning about this concept can be clearly seen in the Module 1 forum (Thomas, 2010), where I profess confusion about what RBL is – I am able to say that I have a greater understanding two posts later, stating how reading Module 3, particularly the Campbell, Flageolle, Griffith & Wojcik reading (2002), helped me.

Reading what others wrote in the forums also helped to change my view of the role of the teacher librarian. An example of this, and of a major point of my learning journey, was the post by Graham Bebington (2010) about ‘evidence-based research’. My response to his post shows the impact it had on me – I now understand the importance of collecting evidence to show that the role I am playing is an important one, for job security, job satisfaction, and respect from colleagues.

Another learning tool which has shaped my learning journey has been the assignment – completing assignments has not only consolidated the learning from reading the coursework, and improved my referencing skills, but has created moments of deep learning in itself. In completing Assignment 1, I became aware of many of the obstacles in the way of information literacy in a school I know. I realised what potential challenges I face, and was able to think of ways I might combat them. This increased my confidence in my ability to be a leader in this area in the future if it is needed – I can encourage the school community to understand the importance of information literacy, and I can encourage classroom teachers to collaborate with me as teacher librarian to support student learning – these are things I would not have thought about doing before starting this subject. The second assignment allowed me to analyse information skills models, and to think about how I will apply them in the future. It also cemented in my mind the image of the teacher librarian I wish to be by asking me to evaluate the standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians (ALIA/ASLA, 2004) – I wish to be a professional who refers to these standards on a regular basis and strives to achieve them, with student learning at the heart of all I do as a teacher librarian.

I no longer just imagine myself in a lovely big room with books (though this is still an appealing part of being a teacher librarian), helping people to find them. I imagine myself making a difference to student learning, as well as to their passion for the written word. I have always known that my passion for sharing my love for reading had the potential to make a difference to the attitudes of children – now I understand it is through my actions as well as my attitude that I will show my passion, and help to pass it on. I understand that being a teacher librarian is being a professional, with many roles to play – even more than is suggested by the title itself.

References:

ALIA /ASLA (Australian Library & Information Association and Australian School Library Association). (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm

Bebington, G. (2010, March 10). Re: evidence-based research. Message posted to ETL401 Module 2 sub-forum.

Campbell, L., Flageolle, P., Griffith, S., and Wojcik, C. (2002). Resource-based learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Riley, K. (2010, March 8). Why take the teacher out of the librarian? In Education: journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation 91(3), p19.

Thomas, J. (2010, March 19). Is it a question of terminology? Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum.