HIT: Philosophy of education statement for resume

[Laura LaBelle <laura.labelle@ATT.NET>]

Hello LM_NET -
I am posting a HIT from the responses I received about
composing a philosophy of education statement.  Thank
you to all, especially Judith, Mary, Bill, Keith,
Dorothy, Jean, Peter, Angus, and Donald.  I hope this
summary is helpful to everyone who contacted me about
posting a hit.

Laura LaBelle
Part time reference librarian
Full time student
Ssouth Windsor, CT
laura.labelle@worldnet.att.net

Philosophy of education question:

I am looking for guidelines and/or a format for
composing a philosophy of education statement to add to
my resume. I have been in academic and public libraries
since receiving my MLS, and am now obtaining
certification to switch to school libraries (middle or
high school).  Many of the school systems in Connecticut
seem to ask for such statements. Should it be a separate
page? How long is a typical statement - a few paragraphs
or a few pages? I would like to put many of the general
precepts of Information Power into practice in a school
library - is that the sort of content I should include,
or just general educational views? I searched the
archives & found a similar question but no answers. If
anyone can advise me, please  respond to me directly.
Thanks.

Laura LaBelle
Part time Reference librarian
Full time student
South Windsor, CT
*********************************************************
*****************************
** Yes! Info. Power is Good! Also, any state standards
for libraries, esp.school libraries....

** As someone who's gone from public to K12 about 3
years ago, I'd say the Info Power guidelines are a good
place to start. I'll warn you that you will have to come
up with a very good answer to why you're switching,and
that many places won't give you much credit for
experience outsideof K12 (or the reverse). My suggestion
is to try to tailor your response to that school
district, add the Big 6 research framework, tell them
how your background out of school applies to K-12. A
general philosophy is nice- 2-3 paragraphs maybe.

** I recently switched jobs, and wanted to have a
concise philosophy of librarianship for my resume. I'm a
typically wordy writer, but came upwith a satisfying,
concise statement that I think is the essence of
librarianship:My media philosophy is: to help learners
learn, and to help teachersteach. Of course you could
get wordier and wordier, and start elaborating, butI
think that basically sums up the array of goals of a
media person. Ithink something quick, catchy and
memorable (and logical) is better thansome long,
involved treatise that some principal will barely glance
at.

** The biggest thing to remember is that the statement
should be a personal document of not more than one page
of type. By all means include a few succinct points on
applying IP2 principals.

** Check out the Missions and Expectations of the school
you are interested in applying to and use that
information in formulating your Philosophy of Education

** I think your idea of incorporating the info power
piece is a good one.  You could call it your core
statement for the library program.


**I believe students and staff in an educational process
should be encouraged to be "Information Literate."
"Information Literacy" is the abilities to access,
evaluate, and use information from a variety of
sources," to solveproblems, and communicate effectively
(Doyle 1992).I believe "Information Literacy" is a
learning process by which one identifies a need or
defines aproblem; seeks applicable resources; gathers,
analyzes, and interprets theinformation; synthesizes and
effectively communicates the information toothers; and
evaluates the process. An"information literate" person
is an avid reader and consumer of artisticand cultural
information. They are interested learners, creative and
critical thinkers, and responsible users of information.
They collaboratewith others, both in person and through
technologies in designing,developing, and evaluating
information projects or products. As they doso, their
skill in using information technology increases.I
believe "Information literacy" skills are lifelong
learning skillsrequiring the learner to apply higher
level thinking. "Information literacy" skills are not to
be taught in isolation but rather continuously
integrated throughout the curriculum. They are most
meaningful when taught within an interdisciplinary unit
or within a unit addressing an authentic,real-life need
or problem. I have adopted and modified my Philosophy of
education from "InformationLiteracy Guidelines for K-
12," Information Literacy Task Force

************************************************
Laura LaBelle
(signature above)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu   In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=