Professional+Commitment+-+Lifelong+Learning

= = =** 3.1 Lifelong Learning **=

=// Excellent teacher librarians  //= **// 3.1.1. Empower others in the school community to become lifelong learners //** I attempt to do this although I am not sure how successful I am. I am very supportive of all staff who are studying and we have two teachers doing their Master in counselling, one doing a PHD (Middle school education)and several teachers aides doing their education degrees part time. I am not sure that I empower them though. I certainly encourage and support their recreational reading and have gradually created an eclectic group of readers with a wide variety of tastes! The library website has opened possibilities for several staff and I am hoping that our Web 2.0 project next year will develop and foster further learning. **// 3.1.2. Undertake research which informs evidence-based innovation in school library program //** While I am very aware of evidence-based research and its importance, particularly the work Lance (2003) in the USA and in Hayes (2006) in Australia, and was made even more so during the paper 'Professional Application of Research', I have done very little in a structured and professional manner. This is an area that I am hoping to address in some manner, post masters. Meyers in a study entitled //'From activity to learning: using cultural historical activity theory to model school library programmes and practices’// which was published in Information Research,  Vol. 12 No. 3, April 2007, identified a common theme in each of the six sites studied:  ·        <span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">Teacher-librarians often had a difficult time articulating how the library contributed to student learning or aligned with the broader teaching mission of the school. Many of their priorities and motivations were based in affective needs or responses to immediate problems or “fighting fires.” Librarians were neither thinking nor acting strategically. None had short-term or long-term goals for his/her programmes or facilities. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">·     <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">Teacher-librarians felt isolated from other librarians and misunderstood by teachers and administrators. They were not using their position in the school to enhance pedagogy or promote the mission of the library. Most did not display the attributes of influential practitioners or leaders. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> <span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">·    <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">Teachers and administrators had a poor grasp of the roles teacher-librarians played in the school. They focused predominantly on the provision of resources rather than learning outcomes. Mis-communication between the teacher-librarian and classroom teachers appeared to occur regularly. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> <span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">·      <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU"> <span style="COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #0033ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif">The degree to which teacher-librarians felt they were in charge of the library programme dictated the extent to which they felt influential within the building. Teacher-librarians often felt victimized and powerless to change their situation, even when they recognized the need for new practices. <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU"> I include these four points because at nearly every network meeting, conference or workshop I attend, at least one of these points is raised by a TL in the room. Somehow we have to reverse this trend. I confess to being disillusioned at times. I have never been in a job before where so much is expected at such a broad level eg. Not only are you to be the literature guru for Prep to Parent; you have to know your curriculum inside out from Prep to 12; you are more likely than not, also seen as the Technology guru; you need to attend curriculum team meetings, senior, middle and junior school staff meetings, and all that is before you have purchased a resource, or had anything to do with the day to day administration of the library. What I am suggesting, I suppose, is along the lines of evidence based practice serving as advocacy. And then, on the other hand, I see this as a negative approach. If we are always seen as whinging then we achieve nothing. Perhaps we should use our evidence based research to promote the results that can be achieved when ‘all the stars are aligned ‘ – The reflection sheets from guided inquiry units should be keep and collated and somehow measured over a period of time, rather than unit to unit. Enough – random thoughts to be acted upon in 2009! //Hay, L, (2006).// //School libraries as flexible and dynamic learning laboratories..that’s what Aussie Kids want.// //  Scan Vol 25 (2) //  Lance, K. C. & Loertscher, D. V. (2003) //Powering achievement: School library media programs make a difference: The evidence,// 2nd ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Willow Research and Publishing; 2003. Lance, K. C. //What Research Tells Us About the Importance of School Libraries//**.** __White House Conference on School Libraries__ 2002. Retrieved 16 January 2006 from __  http://www.imls.gov/pubs/whitehouse0602/keithlance.htm  __ Todd, R. (2008) Student Learning through Ohio libraries: the Ohio research study (2004) DELM http://www.oelma.org/studentLearning/default.asp Todd, R. (2008). The Evidence-Based Manifesto for School Librarians __. __<span style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-ansi-language: EN">School librarians can’t prove they make a difference, they may cease to exist. <span style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-ansi-language: EN"> School Library Journal //http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6545434.html// // **//3.1.3 Engage in debate on educational issues within the school community//** Isn’t this is nature of curriculum teams– constant debate!! Examples of c urrent debates currently on the table: **EduKate** – is this the right choice for the College? Does it have a wiki, individual blogs function? Who is tagging the files – What metadata controls are there? Metadata- yes it is important because….. Is there a search capability? (if not, then metadata could be a bit irrelevant!) Is this the right choice for our LMS? **Web 2.0** – When is this going to happen? How are staff going to get PD? Wireless options – can we check this out? **IT Dept** – We cannot run programs if you block every file that has a .wmv extension! Internet searching is useless if 1 in 3 sites are blocked Yes that’s right, I want to disassemble the computer lab from the library and spread the computers out //**3.1.4 Create and foster library-related professional development opportunities for staff**// ** Discussed in 3.3.4 **
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