The management of any groups of people and maintenance of relationships are two of the greatest challenges faced by all of us in our personal lives and at work. Communication and conflict resolution are crucial factors in successful relationships. Savages article explores definitions and notes that "communication is an exceedingly complex process in which people, behaviour and objects transmit information, ideas and attitudes' He discusses some significant factors such as interpretation,various means of personal and media communication,types of intentional and unintentional and two way communication. This article gives an administrator some tips and strategies to use when dealing with rumors and mass communication. It outlines 16 generalisations, in relation to school communities, that leaders need to be aware of and they provide food for thought for a TL.
Mackay advocates resolving conflict through listening and details a method based on reflective listening. He notes that there are two conditions that need to be present for any hope of resolving conflict:-that both parties want a resolution and that both of them must be prepared to compromise. The reflective method involves a great deal of discipline and time, however I think this article provides some important points that we can all draw on to assist us in times of conflict or to prevent issues escalating to difficult problems with the people in our lives.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Life on the run and catching up.....
My life from late August to early September has been very busy with a school concert book fair,two assignments,new technology to learn and endless readings.So I will review the readings that have made an impact on me in a brief summary.In Beck and Yeager's article,'Making teams Work",the attributes of a high performing team are worth noting: - high involvement by leader -present most of the time and supportive. The leader sets high expectations, presented 'the assignment as a challenge...and an opportunity for each team member to stretch, learn and take risks." Team adopts a can do attitude.Members focus on the team's mission and their role in achieving it."The communication channels were wide open..people got information quickly, problems surfaced rapidly and there was lots of problem solving when the effort hit a snag".They found ways to develop team spirit and often had a lot of fun.(Beck&Yeager,1994,p.87)They discuss different leadership styles to use at various stages in team development which could be useful for a TL to consider when building a team of staff in a library/school.
Cheng explores models of leadership styles and strategies "in a new era of globalization,information technology and knowledge based economy, educational leadrs play a key role as transformational leaders.' Group members can lead different aspects of the institutions functions and influence members...through their managerial behaviours, charisma,vision and inspiration.
"Leaders should play the role of resource developer and distributor.They clarify the connections between inputs and outputs and determine what resources are critical to the institutions survival and development."Cheng outlines a five dimensional model of leadership- a framework for strategic management in education.
Cheng explores models of leadership styles and strategies "in a new era of globalization,information technology and knowledge based economy, educational leadrs play a key role as transformational leaders.' Group members can lead different aspects of the institutions functions and influence members...through their managerial behaviours, charisma,vision and inspiration.
"Leaders should play the role of resource developer and distributor.They clarify the connections between inputs and outputs and determine what resources are critical to the institutions survival and development."Cheng outlines a five dimensional model of leadership- a framework for strategic management in education.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Last week in retrospect...
I feel as if I am on a steep learning curve as far as all this new interactive technology is concerned! As part of the group assignment,we initially used the wiki, group email and announcements to communicate, however the chat line was too slow and frustrating. Then we chose to use skype to chat to one another and goole docs to view and edit the outline that I created as a starting point.
At first I felt it difficult to get my head around the topic and unsure about how we could exchange and clarify our ideas to formulate a unified response. I was also worrying that I was spending too much time learning these new programs,and getting behind with all those readings! It reminded me of Tuckman's team development model
(1965 p.75)-formimg, storming,norming,performing,adjourning.
To relieve my "storming" emotions,I chose to just write down my ideas and send them to the others for discussion at our skype conference. This worked well, Tareena is a speed typist so she was happy to type our responses and edit as we worked through the draft and the conversation seemed to flow naturally from there. We were able to formulate some structure and headings for the article that we could all add to as we read and gathered information independently(mid week).
This experience of working collaboratively correlates well with the readings regarding 'groups' and 'teams' which Law and Glover refer to as 'terms...to describe individuals cooperating to achieve a given task." They state a "team is predominantly used when a group is deliberatly constructed and there is a clear focus on its processes and level of performance". This article stimulates reflection on leading teams and the tables 5.1 -5.4 could provide self evaluation criteria.
At first I felt it difficult to get my head around the topic and unsure about how we could exchange and clarify our ideas to formulate a unified response. I was also worrying that I was spending too much time learning these new programs,and getting behind with all those readings! It reminded me of Tuckman's team development model
(1965 p.75)-formimg, storming,norming,performing,adjourning.
To relieve my "storming" emotions,I chose to just write down my ideas and send them to the others for discussion at our skype conference. This worked well, Tareena is a speed typist so she was happy to type our responses and edit as we worked through the draft and the conversation seemed to flow naturally from there. We were able to formulate some structure and headings for the article that we could all add to as we read and gathered information independently(mid week).
This experience of working collaboratively correlates well with the readings regarding 'groups' and 'teams' which Law and Glover refer to as 'terms...to describe individuals cooperating to achieve a given task." They state a "team is predominantly used when a group is deliberatly constructed and there is a clear focus on its processes and level of performance". This article stimulates reflection on leading teams and the tables 5.1 -5.4 could provide self evaluation criteria.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Quality management ,Library leadership
I felt the "Myron Tribus article re Quality Management in Education" had a some good points that are applicable to library leadership: -best definition to my mind
" Quality management is a different way to organize the efforts of people. The objective is to harmonize their efforts in such a way that not only do people approach their assigned tasks with enthusiasm, but they also participate in the improvement of how the work gets done.Quality management introduces a significant change in the relationship between those who manage and those who actually do the work." These points are taken from Ed Baker's comparison:-
'exercise managerial leadership through participative management in carrying out their roles as mentors, facilitators,innovators,etc.'
"people are active contributors, valued for their creativity and intelligence"."
' problems will be prevented and improvement will be promoted when people understand where they fit in and have the knowledge to maximize the contribution to the whole...create the environment that nurtures a team oriented culture that can prevent problems and continually improve"
This definition is more applicable to resource management - "quality is defined in a positive sense as products and services beyond present needs and expectations of customers. Innovation is required.External change is inevitable ,but a favorable future can be shaped"
Deming provides more specific links to education: - "Quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy ... It takes quality experience to create am independent learner" in relation to teachers he writes under quality management the objective is to seek to find a better way .... everyone in the system is expected, invited and trained to participate in the improvement process." S. Covey expresses this as "the teachers are not only responsible for continuous improvement, they are helped to become response -able"
"Students definition of a quality experience has to be found through discussion and negotiation.' - David Langford reports 'once the students understand and accept what it means to do quality work, they learn with such speed and effectiveness, that they more than make up for the time spent in defining a quality experience."
Like Fullan,Deming suggests a manager needs to establish a constancy of purpose -it means to establish a sense of purpose which appeals to all members ...and which provides them with a basis for decision making and taking actions." i.e asks students "what are you trying to do? 'What does it mean to you to do it well? What does the teacher have to do so you can do it well? How will we know if we re doing it well together?
He also advocates that a leader of change needs to understand some of the dynamics involved in changing people's paradigms and that the leader needs to devise a strategy which includes: -
1. develop awareness why it is necessary to change.
2.establishment of goals and objectives for change
3.share broad understanding of what the change entails
4. set of first steps
Finally the article shows some figures and tools that could be used to facilitate staff discussions and st/teacher evaluations.
" Quality management is a different way to organize the efforts of people. The objective is to harmonize their efforts in such a way that not only do people approach their assigned tasks with enthusiasm, but they also participate in the improvement of how the work gets done.Quality management introduces a significant change in the relationship between those who manage and those who actually do the work." These points are taken from Ed Baker's comparison:-
'exercise managerial leadership through participative management in carrying out their roles as mentors, facilitators,innovators,etc.'
"people are active contributors, valued for their creativity and intelligence"."
' problems will be prevented and improvement will be promoted when people understand where they fit in and have the knowledge to maximize the contribution to the whole...create the environment that nurtures a team oriented culture that can prevent problems and continually improve"
This definition is more applicable to resource management - "quality is defined in a positive sense as products and services beyond present needs and expectations of customers. Innovation is required.External change is inevitable ,but a favorable future can be shaped"
Deming provides more specific links to education: - "Quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy ... It takes quality experience to create am independent learner" in relation to teachers he writes under quality management the objective is to seek to find a better way .... everyone in the system is expected, invited and trained to participate in the improvement process." S. Covey expresses this as "the teachers are not only responsible for continuous improvement, they are helped to become response -able"
"Students definition of a quality experience has to be found through discussion and negotiation.' - David Langford reports 'once the students understand and accept what it means to do quality work, they learn with such speed and effectiveness, that they more than make up for the time spent in defining a quality experience."
Like Fullan,Deming suggests a manager needs to establish a constancy of purpose -it means to establish a sense of purpose which appeals to all members ...and which provides them with a basis for decision making and taking actions." i.e asks students "what are you trying to do? 'What does it mean to you to do it well? What does the teacher have to do so you can do it well? How will we know if we re doing it well together?
He also advocates that a leader of change needs to understand some of the dynamics involved in changing people's paradigms and that the leader needs to devise a strategy which includes: -
1. develop awareness why it is necessary to change.
2.establishment of goals and objectives for change
3.share broad understanding of what the change entails
4. set of first steps
Finally the article shows some figures and tools that could be used to facilitate staff discussions and st/teacher evaluations.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Fullan / Donham and Leadership
The five components Fullan associates with effective leaders are moral purpose, understanding the change process,developing positive relationships, foster knowledge building and sharing, and to strive for coherence. Whilst I can appreciate the value of all of these components, I see the task of creating coherence as the most challenging aspect and look forward to investigating more ideas about how to develop coherence and to mobilize people's commitment to a collective goal.'The litmus test of all leadership is whether it mobilizes people's commitment to putting their energy into actions designed to achieve improvements.'Whilst I think this is true, it is also a daunting task! However I agree that a desired outcome "of effective leadership is that more good things happen and fewer bad things happen"
In relation to a T/L, Donham makes a similar comment in his article re Leadership when he states " They ( Library Media Specialists(LMS))embrace the responsibilty to make good things happen in their schools" He goes on to describe leadership attributes of library media specialists as technical competence, pro-activity and passion.
At this point I am very relieved to see that he urges us to "understand what you can do best.. the challenge is to pursue to the maximum what one has aptitude for and strive for acceptable performance in the other aspects of the field" and he acknowledges "Rare is the LMS who is a true expert in all dimensions of the field".
Phew! I was beginning to feel so inadequate and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me!
This article resonated well with me and gave sound suggestions on how to lead from the middle and exert influence in a school community to gain the respect of colleagues. "Having influence requires establishing one's own expertise, working collegially with others, articulating one's ideas clearly, maintining a good 'say -do' ratio...and establishing processes for reflection and assessment."
Another way to gain respect is to "articulate a disposition of continuously seeking to get better" that is to improve the resources,lesson content and the library environment. He also gave some good reasons to advocate the T/L's inclusion on curriculum or leadership commitees and urges us to make the most of opportunities
to promote and use T/L expertise and information services within our school community. This article outlines key steps and critical attributes of strategic leadership for LMSs. He advocates regular reflection on progress, mentoring within the profession and some action strategies for learning and teaching, information and access delivery and program administration that could be effective in current school library settings. This article gave me a great introduction to the topic and many points to reflect on throughout this semester.
In relation to a T/L, Donham makes a similar comment in his article re Leadership when he states " They ( Library Media Specialists(LMS))embrace the responsibilty to make good things happen in their schools" He goes on to describe leadership attributes of library media specialists as technical competence, pro-activity and passion.
At this point I am very relieved to see that he urges us to "understand what you can do best.. the challenge is to pursue to the maximum what one has aptitude for and strive for acceptable performance in the other aspects of the field" and he acknowledges "Rare is the LMS who is a true expert in all dimensions of the field".
Phew! I was beginning to feel so inadequate and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me!
This article resonated well with me and gave sound suggestions on how to lead from the middle and exert influence in a school community to gain the respect of colleagues. "Having influence requires establishing one's own expertise, working collegially with others, articulating one's ideas clearly, maintining a good 'say -do' ratio...and establishing processes for reflection and assessment."
Another way to gain respect is to "articulate a disposition of continuously seeking to get better" that is to improve the resources,lesson content and the library environment. He also gave some good reasons to advocate the T/L's inclusion on curriculum or leadership commitees and urges us to make the most of opportunities
to promote and use T/L expertise and information services within our school community. This article outlines key steps and critical attributes of strategic leadership for LMSs. He advocates regular reflection on progress, mentoring within the profession and some action strategies for learning and teaching, information and access delivery and program administration that could be effective in current school library settings. This article gave me a great introduction to the topic and many points to reflect on throughout this semester.
Reflections on Fullan
Fullan's comprehensive overview of the characteristics of effective leaders of change provides insight into the attributes that leaders need to model and strategies that they could use to create a vision for a school library,to motivate a team of staff and to work collaboratively with teachers and adminstration to implement it.
When I consider my own work experiences,I can relate them to Fullan's closing statement in chapter one...
'The conclusion is that leaders will increase their effectiveness if they continually work on the five components of leadership with energy, enthusiasm, and hope:" These are the attributes that I have seen demonstrated by some of the most influential people that I have worked with and admired in schools.
When I consider my own work experiences,I can relate them to Fullan's closing statement in chapter one...
'The conclusion is that leaders will increase their effectiveness if they continually work on the five components of leadership with energy, enthusiasm, and hope:" These are the attributes that I have seen demonstrated by some of the most influential people that I have worked with and admired in schools.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
My starting points...
in terms of "communication,organisational theory and strategic planning" are indicative of my past work experiences. As a sales consultant I learned about body language and communication skills in terms of responding to various personalities and the use of phone conversations,emails to communicate with clients. I received training in giving positive feedback and dealing with conflict and difficult personalities as classroom teacher. These principles are relevant and could be applied in a library setting to deal with issues with students,staff or parents. I would welcome the opportunity to learn more about building positive relationships and cohesion amongst a team of library staff. I particularly liked Gilman's (2007) suggestions in "The Four habits of Highly Effective Librarians'that higlights the need for openness, responsiveness and advocates the use of an open forum to discuss school issues. My recent experience of using forums,blogs and Oztl -net have made me aware of the great value of the sharing and exchanging ideas and information with professional colleagues.
I have had little training in terms of strategic planning in education.However in my current role at a Catholic primary school,I am experiencing the implementaion of a whole school "Action Plan" to improve teaching & learning through the use of the inquiry approach,leadership & organisation health,student wellbeing and to strengthen faith and a sense of community.
I had training and experience in the sales and marketing field where I was responsible for the achievement of sales targets within my territory.In this role I worked with a team of sales and admin staff to plan and co-ordinate mailouts,sales offers,marketing events and product training sessions to achieve our goals.
In terms of organizational theory, I participated in a "Corporate Alignment Process" training program to define company goals ,share personal goals and to plan strategies to achieve both sets of objectives as a team. My readings of the Fullan text are prompting me to consider these aspects of leadership from a more objective point of view.
I have had little training in terms of strategic planning in education.However in my current role at a Catholic primary school,I am experiencing the implementaion of a whole school "Action Plan" to improve teaching & learning through the use of the inquiry approach,leadership & organisation health,student wellbeing and to strengthen faith and a sense of community.
I had training and experience in the sales and marketing field where I was responsible for the achievement of sales targets within my territory.In this role I worked with a team of sales and admin staff to plan and co-ordinate mailouts,sales offers,marketing events and product training sessions to achieve our goals.
In terms of organizational theory, I participated in a "Corporate Alignment Process" training program to define company goals ,share personal goals and to plan strategies to achieve both sets of objectives as a team. My readings of the Fullan text are prompting me to consider these aspects of leadership from a more objective point of view.
My Learning Journey continues....
I completed ETL 401 with a broader sense of the role of the T/L. One aspect that has played on my mind is the need to be a "leader" in the school community and to foster collaboration between library and other school staff. Having read over the subject outline and the assignments for ETL 504,I am pleased to see that the content was designed to provide us with the professional knowledge we need to put these ideals into practise. I am eager to learn more about strategies and processes that can be used to achieve these great expectations.
I feel challenged by the requirement to use new digital technologies such as wiki's and skype and to have to write an article collaboratively for a professional journal.I am nervous and apprehensive that my relatively poor experince with these newer technologies may hinder the progress of my group. At the same time,I am glad
that these assignments will give me the opportunity to improve my ability to use ICT, to communicate more readily with colleagues and to build a professional network with other DE students and T/Ls.
I feel challenged by the requirement to use new digital technologies such as wiki's and skype and to have to write an article collaboratively for a professional journal.I am nervous and apprehensive that my relatively poor experince with these newer technologies may hinder the progress of my group. At the same time,I am glad
that these assignments will give me the opportunity to improve my ability to use ICT, to communicate more readily with colleagues and to build a professional network with other DE students and T/Ls.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Closing synthesis of reflections on my learning journey
Through my readings and my internet research for this subject, I have increased my knowledge and my awareness of the availability of networks with other colleagues and professional organizations that can provide support,resources and the benefits of others’ experiences. A significant change for me on this learning journey, is the use technology to create my blog, to communicate more openly with fellow students on the forums and with colleagues in the wider professional community on OZTL –net. I have not been in the habit of using these formats to communicate openly with my peers, so I have felt self-conscious and hesitant to do so. Having had my studies interrupted by my overseas trip to New York, I felt as if I was always behind everyone else and therefore I didn’t contribute to the forums until later. I had intended to also refer to my contributions to the Forums on Topics 4 and Topic 6 in this synthesis, however I have just discovered that my posts were unsuccessful and I will be unable to rectify the problem before the deadline for this assignment. However, I will make it my personal goal for semester two to participate more pro –actively on the forms and on OZTL –net.
More reflections: the TL and information literacy
Prior to my studies in this course, I was unaware of the term “information literacy” and the use of “information processes’ as a framework for the development of these skills.Having read a range of literature on these topics,the processes I experienced myself whilst preparing my assignments,have given me greater insight into the value of these concepts and models in the role of the TL. The rapid advances in technological developments have significantly affected the role of the TL since my earlier experiences in primary school libraries. My perception of my role as a TL has been extended to incorporate instructional programs that foster information literacy and I have found many resources for my portfolio that can assist me to implement them across the curriculum.
I have broadened my outlook to view the bigger picture of the whole school focus. From this perspective I can see the need for the TL to initiate collaborative planning, teaching and evaluation of units of work based on curriculum and information literacy outcomes. This also makes it more important for the TL to participate on key committees that implement curriculum policies and play a leadership role in fostering collaborative partnerships with the Principal, teachers and senior administrators.
Having reached this point in my learning journey,I now feel apprehensive about how I could achieve the broad range of professional goals that I now have for myself, as a teacher librarian. The readings of the last modules on management, conflict resolution (Sanders, 2004) and “the habits of highly effective people(Covey,1990) and teacher librarians.(Gilman, 2007) have given me some practical strategies that I value and that will use to facilitate my personal development into a “highly effective teacher librarian”.
I have broadened my outlook to view the bigger picture of the whole school focus. From this perspective I can see the need for the TL to initiate collaborative planning, teaching and evaluation of units of work based on curriculum and information literacy outcomes. This also makes it more important for the TL to participate on key committees that implement curriculum policies and play a leadership role in fostering collaborative partnerships with the Principal, teachers and senior administrators.
Having reached this point in my learning journey,I now feel apprehensive about how I could achieve the broad range of professional goals that I now have for myself, as a teacher librarian. The readings of the last modules on management, conflict resolution (Sanders, 2004) and “the habits of highly effective people(Covey,1990) and teacher librarians.(Gilman, 2007) have given me some practical strategies that I value and that will use to facilitate my personal development into a “highly effective teacher librarian”.
More relections on the role of the teacher librarian
My readings regarding the studies of Todd, Kulthau & OELMA (2004) and Hay (2004, 2005) provided me with evidence of how school libraries and teacher librarians (Library media specialists) support students’ learning. "Evidence shows that an effective school library program managed by a dually qualified, fulltime teacher –librarian contributes significantly to student learning."(Hay, 2004.) This evidence can be used to promote the role of TL in schools and the wider education community. In the current situation in Victoria, where some schools are no longer employing teacher librarians it is imperative that we cease the opportunities to do so. It is also necessary for TL’s to assess student learning outcomes that are achieved through school library programs and collaborative teaching activities. The assessment data can be used to evaluate the success of the programs and to improve and plan innovative programs for the future. It can also be used as evidence of the TL and the school libraries contributions to the school community.
I noted two interesting inclusions in the IFLA/ UNESCO (2002) list of “Duties of the Teacher Librarian” was “to contribute to the mission goals of the whole school including evaluation procedures and to develop and implement those of the school library” and under the “Skills of a School Library Staff” it lists “knowledge and skills in the fields of management and marketing”. My experiences and my observations have demonstrated to me there is a need for TL”s to ‘market’ their own school library achievements and their profession.
I noted two interesting inclusions in the IFLA/ UNESCO (2002) list of “Duties of the Teacher Librarian” was “to contribute to the mission goals of the whole school including evaluation procedures and to develop and implement those of the school library” and under the “Skills of a School Library Staff” it lists “knowledge and skills in the fields of management and marketing”. My experiences and my observations have demonstrated to me there is a need for TL”s to ‘market’ their own school library achievements and their profession.
A critical synthesis of my reflections on the role of theTeacher Librarian
As s student, I came to this Teacher librarianship course with a background of various work experiences as a primary school teacher, a teacher librarian and as a sales and marketing consultant in the educational publishing industry in Victoria. I have worked as a teacher librarian in two primary schools in the 1980’s and in more recent years I have worked in a large Secondary college library (1400students) as a member of a team of six library staff, including three teacher librarians. I am currently working part-time in another primary school as a ‘Literacy / Numeracy Support teacher with the Year 5/6 students and teachers. This school does not have a teacher librarian, it employs a library technician to run the library and a part time teacher to teach ICT skills. My long term personal goal has been to become qualified as a teacher librarian and to secure on going work in a school library.
I have included this outline of my experiences so that the reader can appreciate the perspective that I am coming from and the gaps in my knowledge in teacher librarianship.
I have included this outline of my experiences so that the reader can appreciate the perspective that I am coming from and the gaps in my knowledge in teacher librarianship.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Over the hump!
I haven't blogged for a while because life became a little crazy in March! I had my daughters 21st birthday party to organise and then I went overseas to New York for nine days in late March. the party went well and we all had a good time and the trip to New York was great even though it was very cold! As you can imagine my study schedule was interrupted while all this was happening. I used the podcasts on my ipod to listen to the modules and downloaded as as many readings asap to take with me for light reading on the long flights! I felt as if Iwas at least keeping up with the current topics but I didn't get around to using the internt on my travels to blog,resarch etc. I was planning drafts of my assignment one in my mind and jotting them down on paper. But by them time I got back in early April I felt sure that I was way behind everyone else in the course and at times I began to panic. Fortunately my daughter who has just finished
Bachelor of Media and Arts course at Deakin uni, was able to calm me down and help me. Whilst I was madly trying to catch up with reading after reading, I began to feel confused, unsure -what were 'my own ideas"? Then I read these re-assuring comments in Kuhlthau " Tomorrow I 'll read this over and over and some parts will fall into place and some still won't...The mind doesn't take everything and put it into order automatically and that's it. Understanding that is the biggest help." Then I knew I wasn't the only one who had felt like this! Eventually I was able to clarify my ideas about the T/L role and I got asssignment one done, I was over the hump.
Bachelor of Media and Arts course at Deakin uni, was able to calm me down and help me. Whilst I was madly trying to catch up with reading after reading, I began to feel confused, unsure -what were 'my own ideas"? Then I read these re-assuring comments in Kuhlthau " Tomorrow I 'll read this over and over and some parts will fall into place and some still won't...The mind doesn't take everything and put it into order automatically and that's it. Understanding that is the biggest help." Then I knew I wasn't the only one who had felt like this! Eventually I was able to clarify my ideas about the T/L role and I got asssignment one done, I was over the hump.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
In retrospective
Whilst I was reading all the materials re ILSC and TL role I jotted down comments on paper because of a lack of internet access on my travels. So I am adding them here retrospectively.
I had experience working in a boys Secondary School College Library from 2006 to 2007 on a full time basis. More recently I have worked there on a casual basis and I have the valuable support of the library staff as mentors for my studies. In this college the library plays a central role in school learning programs and the library staff work cooperatively with the Principal, school leaders, administration, teaching staff and the 1400 students to the achieve the school goals. When I consider my experiences in this library I consider Sue Spence’s “ teacher librarian toolkit for an information literate school community’ to be a relevant and valuable resource which outlines practical and effective strategies that could be used to facilitate student learning outcomes and support teaching staff to enhance new technologies into their teaching methodologies.
'This process of understanding occurs within a culture that is more comfortable for students than it is for teachers because the processes of informing that dominate today did not even exist when most of today's teachers were born.' This quote from Henri and my observations of teachers in schools who are currently coming to terms with the challenges of new technologies, lead me to consider teacher resistance to change as a major obstacle to consider for assignment one.
I had experience working in a boys Secondary School College Library from 2006 to 2007 on a full time basis. More recently I have worked there on a casual basis and I have the valuable support of the library staff as mentors for my studies. In this college the library plays a central role in school learning programs and the library staff work cooperatively with the Principal, school leaders, administration, teaching staff and the 1400 students to the achieve the school goals. When I consider my experiences in this library I consider Sue Spence’s “ teacher librarian toolkit for an information literate school community’ to be a relevant and valuable resource which outlines practical and effective strategies that could be used to facilitate student learning outcomes and support teaching staff to enhance new technologies into their teaching methodologies.
'This process of understanding occurs within a culture that is more comfortable for students than it is for teachers because the processes of informing that dominate today did not even exist when most of today's teachers were born.' This quote from Henri and my observations of teachers in schools who are currently coming to terms with the challenges of new technologies, lead me to consider teacher resistance to change as a major obstacle to consider for assignment one.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
'The richness of the schools information services will influence and may even determine whether or not teachers and students are empowered to be independent learners both today and for the future" ASLA, Learning for the Future: Developing Information Services in Schools,Curriculum Corporation ,2001. P.3 Overview, Educational Context. On first reading I thought this quote could be influential in convincing school staff the value of having a T/L., especially here in Vic where many primary schools are only staffed by Library technicians. Or would it be?
ASLA provides a good framework for T/L's to create and implement policy for the library to be
a centre of information literacy in a school community . It is a good source of quotes in support of ILSC, however the research data included in the tables and the 'information and Literacy matrix of student learning ' presented date back to the 1990's. I need to review more current research figures and student learning models due to the rapid rate of change in new technologies since ASLA was published in 2001.
ASLA provides a good framework for T/L's to create and implement policy for the library to be
a centre of information literacy in a school community . It is a good source of quotes in support of ILSC, however the research data included in the tables and the 'information and Literacy matrix of student learning ' presented date back to the 1990's. I need to review more current research figures and student learning models due to the rapid rate of change in new technologies since ASLA was published in 2001.
Read, Read ,Read....Feb 19th
Read forums, blogs, emails, change email address to csu post office address. It's good to see some other samples of blogs, but I am not feeling inspired yet re my own.
Am I getting behind already? Prioritise -read ASLA book "Overview" and study guides again before res. school sessions.
Am I getting behind already? Prioritise -read ASLA book "Overview" and study guides again before res. school sessions.
Sunday Feb 15th
My experiences in a secondary school library were floating round my mind ready to record my plan for first assignment for ETL 401 re "the role the T/L should play in creating an information literate school community". Jotted down a couple of possible issues for 2nd part of assignment re a major obstacle. I feel better about having a plan down on paper .
I would like to discuss the obstacles /issues with a mentor -i.e. librarians at the secondary college where I worked or the lecturers at the residential school.
I have decided to attend the residential school sessions in Sydney. I think Iwould really benefit from some personal contact with lecturers and other students. I feel I need someone to talk to re
expectations, assignments and all those readings!
I would like to discuss the obstacles /issues with a mentor -i.e. librarians at the secondary college where I worked or the lecturers at the residential school.
I have decided to attend the residential school sessions in Sydney. I think Iwould really benefit from some personal contact with lecturers and other students. I feel I need someone to talk to re
expectations, assignments and all those readings!
a draft for the first assignment
Friday Feb 6th
Downloaded book list and checked forum messages re 2nd hand resources. checked out on -line Bookstore, prices etc. Explored the "Library" section of the website and tried to update or reduce forum options selected. My study guides have arrived -I need to get started! Tomorrow
Downloaded book list and checked forum messages re 2nd hand resources. checked out on -line Bookstore, prices etc. Explored the "Library" section of the website and tried to update or reduce forum options selected. My study guides have arrived -I need to get started! Tomorrow
Feb 13th -Smart study session
Can you see a halo shining above me ?I completed some Smart study units on the Library website re using databases for research. You can learn something new everyday.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Feb 7th
It's a terrible day here in Victoria, it's 47 degrees with gusting north winds. The whole family is staying home this afternoon by the airconditioner. It's a good day to start reading my study
guides. unfortunately my husband put the ABC on the radio and the reports of fires spreading
is distressing -perhaps it's not a good day to view study guides.!
Although I like the look of the content of the T/L subject the volumne of readings looks overwhelming. Just as I was feeling anxious about how I am going to find the time for all this,
I read DON'T PANIC... thank God I am not the only one feeling this way!
It's a terrible day here in Victoria, it's 47 degrees with gusting north winds. The whole family is staying home this afternoon by the airconditioner. It's a good day to start reading my study
guides. unfortunately my husband put the ABC on the radio and the reports of fires spreading
is distressing -perhaps it's not a good day to view study guides.!
Although I like the look of the content of the T/L subject the volumne of readings looks overwhelming. Just as I was feeling anxious about how I am going to find the time for all this,
I read DON'T PANIC... thank God I am not the only one feeling this way!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Early Feb
I have been exploring the CSU website trying to become familiar with it, because I will be so reliant on it doing distance study. I selected some forums to get in touch with what was happening at csu. Oops! I ended up receiving hundreds of forum messages in my in box and having to spend hours sorting through and deleting them!
I have been exploring the CSU website trying to become familiar with it, because I will be so reliant on it doing distance study. I selected some forums to get in touch with what was happening at csu. Oops! I ended up receiving hundreds of forum messages in my in box and having to spend hours sorting through and deleting them!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
January 2009
I am beginning on a new learning journey-a long awaited journey -to finally get the Librarianship qualification and to upgrade my skills in the CSU course. I am really looking forward to it because I have wanted to do it for so long but I am apprehensive about my abillity to write assigments after so many years of not having to do so.
I am beginning on a new learning journey-a long awaited journey -to finally get the Librarianship qualification and to upgrade my skills in the CSU course. I am really looking forward to it because I have wanted to do it for so long but I am apprehensive about my abillity to write assigments after so many years of not having to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
