You are right about this issue being universal. Your response could not be more
timely, as I was discussing some of these misconceptions with a classroom teacher
this morning. (One principal seems to believe that when no students are in the
library, I have nothing to do. When I mentioned professional development, she did
not like the idea of activities in this area on school time.)
A book is like a little room you can carry around with you, and anytime you need
to, you can slip in there and get away from it all.--Diane Stanley, The Mysterious
Matter of I.M. Fine
Basya Karp, Librarian
Shulamith High School and Shulamith School For Girls
Brooklyn, New York
basyak10@hotmail.com
> Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:10:43 +1000
> From: barbara.288@BIGPOND.COM
> Subject: Re: topics or issues in School Librarianship
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>
> Dear Barbara
>
> Having just marked a truckload of masters-level uni assignments which focused on
>"an obstacle facing
> the teacher librarian in creating an information literate school community" the
>most common issue
> when everything was unpacked was the lack of understanding of the role by the
>principal and staff.
>
>
>
> There were many symptoms of the issue such as
>
> . the perception that the role of the teacher librarian is so influenced by their
>personal
> experiences and remains rooted in the 'keeper of the books" memories;
>
> . the perception that any clerical can do the job because it is just circulation
>and
> shelving and so no teacher librarian is employed and teachers have to make do
>
> . the lack of understanding that collaboration will improve student outcomes
>because
> 'collaborative' does not mean 'competitive';
>
> . a lack of time to collaboratively plan or collaboratively plan and teach;
>
> . a lack of understanding of the whole concept of information literacy and that
>it goes
> beyond 'locating a resource';
>
> . the view that information literacy, which is our specialist subject, is an
>add-on not the
> cross-curriculum perspective it should be;
>
> . a lack of understanding that print and digital resources can live happily
>together and
> that an information search is more than clicking on a link suggested by Google
>
> . an inadequate budget which fluctuates at best and is non-existent at worst;
>
> . a perception that reading fiction is all about reading age and test scores and
>not
> something just for enjoyment
>
> . a perception that education itself is all about test scores
>
> . the lack of recognition of the value of the role amongst principals who
>configure their
> school's staffing
>
> . the absence of any requirement to work with the teacher librarian on
>internships etc
> during teachers' pre-service education
>
>
>
> There were many more and if it all boils down to one solution, then that is
>evidence-based advocacy.
> However, while it might have been necessary to do this in the late 80s/early 90s
>when the role
> changed dramatically, I have to ask why, 20 years on, all the work seems to have
>fallen on deaf
> ears!
>
>
>
> Although I am in Australia, having just been involved in an international
>conference through
> yourschoollibrary,org it would seem that these issues remain universal.
>
> Barbara
>
>
>
> Barbara Braxton
>
> Teacher Librarian
>
> COOMA NSW 2630
>
> AUSTRALIA
>
>
>
> E. barbara.288@bigpond.com
>
> Together we learn from each other
>
>
>
>
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