Critical synthesis on how my view of the Teacher Librarian has changed.

When I first started this course, I was very naïve about the role of the Teacher Librarian (TL) (Field 2011a) and saw my role mainly as chief educator of all things wonderful about books and information. At that stage, the roles of Media Specialist and collaborative negotiator were two that I had not yet considered as being a part of the TL’s job mainly due to my past relationships with TL’s. Many more readings later I came to see that I actually had no idea of the magnitude of the roles that a TL has in a school: those of teacher, leader, information specialist, instructional partner and program administrator (Church (2011), Purcell (2010) and AASL (2009)) and what these roles entailed. After reading the articles by Herring (2007) and Purcell (2010), I began to see how overwhelming the job of the TL could be. So, I could relate to Clark (2011) when she wrote about the need for effective management of the roles of the TL.

With all of these expectations, it could be easy to lose track of our number one priority – our clients. Parkin (2011) addressed this in his forum post and helped me put things into perspective as he spoke of our duty to staff and students as our main objective with all other roles seen as being supportive of that objective. Lamb (2011) reiterated this idea writing about how being a successful TL involves building relationships, sharing the vision of the library program and the mission of the school and collaborating with others, all with the benefit of our students in mind. Lamb (n.d) also reminds us that as the TL, we are not alone because by successfully using our role as leader, we can recruit others and though collaborations with staff and students we can achieve more than we ever could alone.

So, why didn’t I know anything about the roles of the TL? As Farley (2011) stated, it is up to the TL to promote themself so that the staff know exactly what it is the TL does. I touched on this briefly (Field, 2011b) when discussing the importance of letting everyone know how important the role of the TL is for the school community. ASLA (n.d) also discusses the need for advocating the TL profession and making others aware of the misconceptions of the TL role in schools. After reading Joyce Valenza’s (2010) manifesto, Field (2011c) I was truly inspired. It brought me to the realisation that if, as TL’s we are going to be able to successfully collaborate with teachers and work towards the school mission, first we need to make others aware of exactly how much of a difference we can make.
With regards to Information Literacy (IL), I must admit that sadly, I was unaware that there was such a term and knew nothing about it. With so much to read about the subject, I felt that I needed a definition if I was going to wade though it all Field (2011d). As I began to delve deeper, I found that many authors were able to discuss the characteristics of an information literate student but unable to agree on a definition. I came to realise that no matter the definition or the model you use, whether it be Kuhlthau’s ISP model or Herring’s PLUS model, the message is the same: the IL process should lead students toward becoming self-sufficient in finding, using and evaluating information. It is my job then, as TL, to make sure that I rise to the challenge and meet the needs of the 21st Century learner by teaching them the skills they need for lifelong learning. To do this I believe that I myself must become a lifelong learner. I feel that the role of TL will be an ever-changing one and I will need to keep abreast of the changes and be flexible.

The biggest problem during this course for me was that once I started reading about something, I then wanted to find out more. I scoured reference sections of articles to see what else was related to that topic, searched for it and read that too. Initially I saw this as a downfall, now I think that it may be one of my strengths. I have had many moments of doubt during this course and have felt overwhelmed at times so it is fitting that I end with a quote that is becoming my mantra:

Learning begins with uncertainty and is driven by the desire to seek meaning.

(Kuhlthau, 2004, p89)


References:

ASLA, (NSW) Inc. (n.d) What is advocacy? Retrieved September 28, 2011, from http://aslansw.org.au/advocacy/how-to-advocate.htm

Church, A.P. (2011). School librarians as teacher leaders. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. 77(3), 10-12.

Clark, L.(2011, July 27). Managing Roles [Forum Comment]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201160_W_D_Sub2_forum

Farley, A. (2011, July 24). Role. [Forum Comment]. Retrieved from
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201160_W_D_Sub2_forum

Field, A. (2011a, July 27). Webinar 1 and my thoughts on the role of a Teacher Librarian. [Blog]. Retrieved from http://anexcitingjourney.blogspot.com/2011/07/webinar-1-and-my-thoughts-on-role-of.html

Field, A. (2011b, July 30). Collaboration and a dying breed. [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://anexcitingjourney.blogspot.com/2011/07/topic-2-role-of-teacher-librarian.html

Field, A. (2011c, September 2). Joyce Valenza – a great role model for Librarians everywhere! [Blog]. Retrieved from http://anexcitingjourney.blogspot.com/2011/09/joyce-valenza-great-role-model-for.html

Field, A. (2011d, August 23). Re: Definition. [Forum Comment]. Retrieved from
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201160_W_D_Sub4_forum

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century: charting new directions in information. (pp 27-42). Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University.

Kuhlthau, C.C. (2004). Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services. (2nd ed.) Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Lamb, A. (n.d) Overview: the school library media specialist. The School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved September 28, 2011 from http://eduscapes.com/sms/overview/specialist.html

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning. 55(4), 27-36.

Parkin, D. (2011, July 25) Role of the TL. [Forum Comment]. Retrieved from
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201160_W_D_Sub2_forum

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians do is check out books, right? A look at the roles of a school library media specialist. Library Media Connection. 29(3), 30-33.

Valenza, J. (2010) Manifesto for 21st Century school librarians. October, VOYA Magazine: Kurdyla Publishing. http://www.voya.com/2010/09/15/tag-team-tech-october-2010.