Joanne has made some good points, especially about
the AASL and the degree programs.
One of the problems I see as I work with two media
specialists who are completing their education is a
lack of training specifically for a school setting.
All the future librarians are given the same
courses except for one or two. Public, academic,
corporate and school librarians have very different
jobs. There is not enough emphasis on teaching in
ALA accredited programs. Granted many of the people
in these programs are former teachers. But in our
district this means that they concentrate on content
rather than information skills related to the
content. This infuriates a lot of principals.
One of my co-workers took a cataloging class from
the head of the department. He told them that LOC
was unreliable and gave them very difficult books to
practice their cataloging skills. Very few had
access to an unabridged or any other DDC. She came
away from the class frustrated and not knowing how
to catalog on a occasional basis in a school library.
Having said all this I will admit prejudice. I
graduated with a bachelor's and master's in Media
Education from NCTE (National Council of Teachers of
English) certified schools. Both programs were for
school media specialists only. Neither program
still exists. Lately, I've heard about AASL
renewing their acceptance of this certification. I
would advocate such a move.
Carol
Carol Savage
Library Media Specialist
Hawk Ridge Elementary School
Charlotte, NC
c.savage@cms.k12.nc.us
----- Original Message -----
From: Joanne Seale <books4me@EARTHLINK.NET>
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2003 12:21 pm
Subject: Educating Principals
> I have been reading with interest this thread and
the opinions of the
> list members on whether it is our responsibility
to educate principals
> as to our worth or importance to student achievement.
>
> I would like to put a new twist on the discussion,
which some members
> have touched on -
>
> Until changes are seen in teacher and
administrator education programs
> to include education about the importance of the
library media center
> and certified teacher-librarians/media
specialists, I think we
> have no
> choice but to individually educate.
>
> This is an issue I have thought significantly
about since
> beginning my
> coursework in the Fall of 2000. I am a new media
specialist in a
> supportive district where each school has at least
one certified media
> specialist, including elementary schools.
However, most of the
> elementary media specialists are on the activity
wheel, providing
> teacher planning time. A few of us are fortunate
enough to have a
> modified flex schedule, where we have fixed
classes for part of
> each day
> but also flex time to perform library management
duties, plan and
> teachwith classroom teachers, etc. I have a
supportive principal who
> struggles with how best to provide teacher
planning time (contract
> required) with limited resources. I believe that
each principal
> struggles with this same issue. Therefore, in
each school we are
> advocating for our position, the importance of the
media center to
> student achievement, and the importance of having
a flexible
> schedule to
> meet the information needs of students and
teachers as they occur.
>
> But wouldn't it be great if each
teacher-librarian/media
> specialist did
> not have to do this on a daily basis! The key to
that is, in my
> opinion, changes are needed in the teacher and
administrator education
> programs. Library school programs who advocate to
their own students
> are preaching to the choir. Library school
programs should be
> advocating to their fellow teacher education
programs about the
> importance of including education regarding the
media center in the
> teacher education curriculum. AASL and each state
affiliate
> should be
> advocating at the national and state levels about
the need for this
> education to be included in the teacher and
administrator education
> programs. The research is there for the
importance of a strong media
> center; however, the research results are
generally not included
> in the
> right curriculum.
>
> If it were a perfect world and every teacher and
administrator
> embracedthe importance of a flexibly-scheduled
media center as the
> heart and hub
> of the school and a certified
teacher-librarian/media specialist, we
> would still need to promote our programs, advocate
for strong budgets,
> and inform our stakeholders of the difference we
make; after all
> we live
> in a system that has limited resources, and
tradeoffs are made
> every day
> regarding funding. But how much easier this would
be if the teachers
> and administrators were "on the same page!"
>
> Until there is a national and state emphasis on
incorporating this
> information into teacher and administrator
education programs, we will
> have to continue as individuals advocating or
promoting our programs,
> justifying our positions in some cases, and trying
to influence the
> minds of the individual administrators or board
members with which we
> have contact.
>
> Just some thoughts.
>
> Joanne Seale
> Media Specialist
> Apollo Elementary School
> Titusville, FL
> books4me@earthlink.net
>
>
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