Wow! It has taken me a week now to wade through all the readings for Topic 2. So much information..... so little time to take it all in! The importance of collaboration was something mentioned time and time again. These quotes really stood out for me, "The Principal holds the power either to make or break collaborative efforts.." (Principal support for Collaboration: Morris, 2007)and "Teacher Librarians need to align their efforts with the school's mission and the Principal's vision." (Principals: Catalysts for Collaboration: Farmer, 2007) For me, after reading the roles of T.L - collaborator is an extremely important, yet largely under utilised part of the job.
Reading the House of Representatives findings in School libraries and teacher librarians in the 21st Century Australia (2011), a few things jumped out at me including, "...the profession appears to have been in a state of decline for some years and, in some states, is on the brink of extinction." It cited the Lonsdale review a number of times with quotes such as, "Teacher librarians are viewed by their teaching colleagues as support resources, rather than fellow-teachers [or collaborators]" To me it appears that the view of the T.L is in need of a huge revamp. We don't want to be seen as a dying breed. We need to be making fellow teachers, principals and parents aware of what an important job the T.L has and how, if allowed to work in collaboration with classroom teachers, the students will benefit greatly.
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