My learning curve on my view of the role of the teacher librarian (TL) has been huge!
I really had no idea what a TLs role involved beyond my own experience of the TL at primary school, which was as a resource manager and advocate of children's literature within the school community, my love of which led me to this course. When asked what masters degree I was doing, my reply of “TL” was almost given apologetically, as if it was a pretty lame choice!
My early blogs, “Farewell Technophobe” (Ealand, 2010, July 4) and “Kid’s View” (Ealand, 2010, July 20b) in which I mention my daughter’s comment that “you don’t love IT, you love books. You should go to the library not be a librarian”, highlight my initial dismay at finding the role may not be as I’d thought and I must confess to wondering if I hadn’t made a mistake in my choice of masters degree.
A few posts on came the self-explanatory “Rapidly Expanding View” (Ealand, 2010, August 3). Reading Haycock (2003), and later Lonsdale (2003) and School Libraries Work (2008), and realising the extensive research that positively correlated the library and TL with student learning outcomes was an aha moment for me. This was the dawning of an understanding about the central and important nature of the TLs role within the school community and the potential that it holds. I was excited and enthused by this realization (para. 3).
There were a few key facets of the TLs role that seemed to be jumping out at me. One was connectedness. The possibility of the library as a central “hub” or heart of the school with branches reaching out to all parts - teachers, students, administration, principal, parents as well as the professional community - really resonated with me. Another was collaboration (Haycock, 2007). The idea of the TL as a member of the teaching team, providing curriculum support to teachers in planning, resourcing and teaching was new to me. Still another was agent of change. “How exciting that the TL can be an agent of change for the whole school and help create an information literate school community“ (Ealand, 2010, Aug 3). This concept seemed provide the opportunity to synthesise all my growing understandings of the TL role into their contribution to a school’s mission to create the best possible environment for the mastery of student and teacher information literacy (IL) (Henri cited in Henri, 2005).
Resource-based learning, inquiry learning and constructivist theory were all new to me, having not taught in the school system for many years. Exploring recent and evolving pedagogies of teaching and learning inspired the dormant teacher in me, and realising that the teacher part of a TL was so integral to the role (Hay, 2009) was very satisfying and has been one of my most enjoyable and inspiring realizations about the role.
My own IL was brought into question throughout the course, (Ealand, August 25) and I was reassured by reading the forums that other students were struggling in the same way (Hartigan, 2010). The relevance of this to my developing view of the TL was highlighted with particular reference to Kuhlthau’s (2004) ISP and the affective dimensions of the inquiry process, which seem such a valuable contribution to the understanding of this process by both the student and TL.
As my learning curve continued to arch, other facets of the role asserted themselves. Leadership, as articulated in the Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians (ALIA/ASLA, 2005), so necessary to facilitate the agent of change role (Farwell, cited in Haycock, 2003), seems vital. Getting the principal on board (Henri, Hay & Oberg, 2002 and Hartzell, 2002) seems ironically to be both a consequence of, as well as a prerequisite for, the enabling of TLs to fully realize their role. Also, professional development, important with any profession, seems even more so for TLs with the evolving and dynamic nature of ICTs. Furthermore, the outcomes based focus of the role and the importance of evidence-based practice to insure both an understanding and addressing of the evolving needs of the school community also contributed to my growing understanding of the TLs role.
It seems neat to finish with Covey (1990). His idea that good can be the enemy of best struck a chord with me very early on in the subject (Ealand, 2010, July 20a). I have since come to understand that the role of TL is a complex and demanding one. A challenge for TLs in striving for excellence must be to not let what they do well, (troubleshooting ICT problems, chasing overdue loans, covering books…) hinder the realisation of their unique contribution, (challenging current pedagogical practices, promoting and nurturing an ILSC, improving the literacy learning outcomes of all students, empowering others to become lifelong learners, capturing the hearts and minds of students by fostering a love of story…).
