Dear Toni,
There has been a lot of research about collaboration between the school library
media specialist and the faculty. Donna Shannon, Assistant Professor and
Coordinator, School Media Program, College of Library and Information Science,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, wrote an article that sums up some of that
research. The following are some of her conclusions:
"Factors that facilitate school library media specialist involvement in the
school's instructional program have been identified in a number of studies. They
include time for cooperative planning between classroom teachers and school library
media specialists (Ervin 1989; Lumley 1994; Stoddard 1991), adequate staffing of
school library media centers (Kinder 1995), personal characteristics of teachers or
school library media specialists (Fedora 1993; Hughes 1998; Johnson 1993; Yetter
1994), and a school culture or organizational climate characteristic of effective
schools (Bell and Totten 1992; Chapman 1990; Hughes 1998). Putnam (1996) found that
while library media specialists may perceive their instructional role as an
important one, a fixed-schedule program is a barrier to actual practice of that
role in elementary schools. In findings consistent with these results, Bishop
(1992) concluded that the school library media specialist's role in an elementary
school's literature-!
based reading program was more important after a flexible library schedule was
introduced. Fedora (1993) also found that a flexible library schedule had a
positive impact on the school library media specialist's ability to function in an
instructional role." (The Education and Competencies of School Library Media
Specialists: A Review of the Literature -
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume52002/shannon.cfm)
I hope this helps you somewhat.
Sincerely, Dr. Michael Bell
drmichaelbell@virtuallrc.com
Former Chair, Texas Association of School Librarians
Retired school and university librarian
webmaster at http://www.virtuallrc.com
webmaster at http://magbot.virtuallrc.com
webmaster at http://alphamarks.virtuallrc.com
webmaster at http://www.academicindex.net
You wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> I'm curious about the following three roadblocks to collaboration in
> your school. Feel free to answer all three or ONLY ONE OR TWO of the
> questions.
>
> How does scheduling affect how you collaborate (team-plan,
> team-teach, team-assess) with your teachers? [I'd love some MS and HS
> responses here as well as elementary].
>
> How does school culture adversely affect your ability to collaborate
> with your teachers?
>
> How does lack of administrative support adversely affect your ability
> to collaborate with your teachers?
>
> I'll post a HIT.
>
> Toni
>
>
> Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com>
> Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita
> Maine Association of School Libraries Board Member
> Buxton, ME 04093
> http://www.tonibuzzeo.com
> Collaborating to Meet Standards: Teacher/Librarian Partnerships for
> K-6 Second Edition (Linworth 2007) BRAND NEW!
>
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