Critical synthesis- ETL401 assignment 2 (not quite as catchy as my other titles)

When I first considered embarking upon my studies in teacher librarianship, I thought I had a reasonably sound idea of the role of the teacher librarian. I quickly discovered that I had grossly underestimated the importance, responsibilities and scope of the role of teacher librarians in schools. I wasn't a total philistine, expecting I would merely be learning about the Dewey system and how to push a cart full of books, but I didn't fully appreciate the integral role the teacher librarian plays in the school community. In this respect I have been on a bit of an information literacy journey myself and travelled through many of the stages identified in a variety of information skills processes, most particularly identifying with the NSW DET ISP model stages- defining, locating, selecting, organising, presenting, assessing (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007)- all to varying levels of success. I am most definitely focussed on pursuing the goal of "lifelong learning" (ALIA, 2004) for myself and for members of school communities in the future.

As an 'outsider' not working in a school community and not seeing teacher librarians at work every day, I guess you could say I fell victim to some generalised stereotypes of teacher librarians. I made assumptions that teacher librarians kept to themselves, managed their libraries and only responded when students or teachers came to them for help. I queried my choice of this course of study because I wasn't interested in being locked away with resources, I wanted to get involved in students and teachers lives and help them access the wealth of information available. Yet I had a yearning to be a part of the quest for learning in a way that was different to that of classroom teacher. Luckily for me, through my studies this semester I have been disabused of the notion of a quiet wallflower librarian, managing their own domain in a vacuum, without influencing or being influenced by, the outside world. The role of the teacher librarian is a dynamic and integral part of an information literate school community.

It may seem somewhat naive, but prior to this course of study I had never really considered in depth the 'teacher' part of teacher librarian. I wondered why being a qualified teacher was a prerequisite for this qualification. As the semester has progressed I have given this concept much more thought and have come to realise that due to the fact that teachers librarians have skills and qualifications in both teaching and librarianship, they are uniquely placed to "combine knowledge about curriculum and pedagogy with information management knowledge and skills" (Ryan, 2009: 13) and bring both of these skills sets to bear in developing and promoting an information literate school community.

The role of the teacher librarian in pedagogy and curriculum development, as well as developing teachers and information literate learners across the school community (not just students) is something that I had not necessarily considered until commencing my studies. Collaboration is at the core of the role of an effective teacher librarian and something that I have only really started to appreciate through my studies. If there is no effective communication and collaboration between teacher librarians and the rest of the school community there is fragmentation and teacher librarians will find that they may be left on the outer and have only very "limited influence on learning outcomes" (Gibbs, 2003: 5). The teacher librarian should be a leader in the school community and actively pursuing collaborative opportunities wherever possible. By getting involved, teacher librarians can work to challenge some of the preconceived ideas members of the school community have about libraries and the professionals who staff them, 'sell' their skills to the broader school community and have more of a contribution to the running of the school and the advancement of information literacy. By educating teachers, parents and the executive about the services and capabilities available through the school library, teacher librarians work to improve the reputation of the profession as a whole and may find that funding and assistance become more readily available in the future- particularly if the teacher librarian is able to show proof of improved results through the use of the services of the library.

The role of the teacher librarian is so much more than print resources, and my studies so far this year have introduced me to the concept of the teacher librarian as a leader and an early adapter of ICT (Foley & Hay, 2007:22). This is a far cry from the archetypal librarian shuffling around with dusty old books. By continuing to be at the forefront of developments in information retrieval, access and ICT, teacher librarians will assure their integral role within the school community a long way into the future.


References:
- Australian Library and Information Association. (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/policies/teacher-librarian.standards.html
-Australian Library and Information Association. (2001, amended 2003, 2006). Statement on Information Literacy for all Australians. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/policies/information.literacy.html
-Australian School Library Association (1994, amended 2009). Statement on Information Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/information.literacy.htm
-Australian School Library Association (2003, amended 2009). Statement on Teacher Librarians in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/teacher.librarians.Australia.htm
-Department of Education and Training (2007). Information Skills in the School. Retrieved from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/teachingideas/isp/docs/infoskills.pdf
-Foley C and Hay L. (2007). Shaping our profession: teacher librarianship into the future. Scan; vol.26 No.3, Aug 2007: 21-27.
-Gibbs R. (2003). Reframing the role of the teacher-librarian: the case for collaboration and flexibility. Scan; Vol.22 No.3, Aug 2003: 4-7.
-Langford, L. (2002). Information literacy: whose view, whose responsibility, and does it really matter? Access, Vol.16, No.3, 2002: 21-24.
-Ryan, S. (2009). TLs, Literacy, and the Curriculum. Incite, Vol. 30, No. 10, Oct 2009: 13-14.