Re: Role of the Librarian, Role of the Teacher

[Debbie Abilock <debbie@NUEVA.PVT.K12.CA.US>]

Michelle:
I believe the Canadian method produces excellent practitioners---I did a
workshop at the Canadian Library Assn this spring and found the
participants to be savvy people.  This is not an either/or situation.
What I AM suggesting, however, is that there is a different twist if the
teacher becomes a librarian without any library school training.  I
believe that the librarian's job is to train teachers to teach library
skills as information literacy.  This is the most powerful method of
infusing the curriculum with research.

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Debbie Abilock              "It is important that students bring a certain
The Nueva School            ragamuffin barefoot irreverence to their studies;
Hillsborough, CA            they are not here to worship what is known, but
debbie@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us         to question it."  (Jacob Bronowski)
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On Sun, 18 Sep 1994, Michelle Larose wrote:

> Dear Debbie,
>       Just read your reply to a Mr. Huntingdon(sp??).  I can't recall
> having read his original letter, however I would like to point out the
> various and varied roles of librarians, or teacher-librarians, as we are
> called in Canada.
>       You are quite right in stating that classroom teachers and library
> teachers have different jobs and responsibilities.  However, here, the
> teacher-librarian is less a librarian and more a teacher. That is, we must
> not only have the same teaching qualifications as classroom teachers, we
> must also have at least 2 years classroom experience, then the equivalent of a
> year's training in librarianship.
>       When I was going through the faculty of Education, I wondered why
> it was so essential that I have classroom experiencewhen all I wanted to
> do was be in a library.  Let me tell you that it has been an invaluable
> experience.  Now I understand their point of view (though I can't say that
> they understand mine all the time).
>       I spend less time doing reference work than I do teaching research
> skills.  I suppose you could say that is reference, but my emphasis is not
> on accessing the information, but on knowing what to do with it, and using
> it properly, and understanding it, sythesizing and reporting.
>
> Hope this offers a different point of view, while still agreeing,
> Cheers,
> Michelle Larose-Kuzenko
> Sun Valley Elementary
> Winnipeg, Manitoba
>
>
>