For me, I find that theoretical knowledge always imparts more clarity when applied to real life situations. While I was listening and trying to “soak in” all the theoretical knowledge the last few classes, I thought about how they played out in previous schools I have worked at. In the last few years, as policies are beginning to show up for the use of ICT, I have felt the normative and coercive forces at play within school communities. For some of the teachers who use some ICT resources in their personal lives, for the most part, these policies were welcomed because it was already something they were familiar with. However, for some staff, who did use ICT resources in their personal lives, I get the feeling that they feel somewhat coerced into teaching it. These policy can create a sense of division within a school. Now, it seemed like those who might not have wanted to email, for example, suddenly, had no choice but to use some of form of ICT. In our discussion of institutional isomorphism, I really feel that the teacher-librarian has become a major player in managing and sustaining this evolution of ICT policies from a more coercive practice to a normative one.
From this perspective, I feel that as a teacher-librarian, my job is to develop trust between all members of the school community to embrace this change. I really connected with the point brought about the “linguistic cognitive domain”, and how we needed to use our language to use their methods to understand our methods. In turn, this will allow us to develop on the grounds of safe and trusting environment to move forward from. This idea really resonated with me because I found many teachers do not understand the role of the teacher-librarian as a facilitator of 21st century learning. I think many of the friction and hesitation between staff members over the adoption of ICT really comes from ignorance. Even though the government has started to develop policies about the use of ICT, there has not been a lot of support for its adoption in the school environment. Honestly, if I did not choose to pay and attend these classes at UBC, I might have the same reservations about ICT and how to deliver it to students as well.
Starting out in a new school in September, I feel that it is important to develop this trust with the school community with regards to the use of ICT. At the staff meeting, I want to present the staff with my vision for the library, my experiences with ICT, and the role of the teacher-librarian as a ICT facilitator. I feel that this important because without this understanding, from personal experience, teachers do not know with what mindset to approach teacher-librarians to collaborative on projects. I found that in my previous school that once they understood my role, they felt more comfortable approaching me for projects and ask me to teach them about certain ICT resources. Furthermore, I think it is also really important to be open to the needs of the school, and not be judgemental about where the school community current state of ICT knowledge is at. With that mindset, I think it allows everyone to develop and grow in a safe environment as learners of 21st century teaching.
We know that the field of education has demonstrated high resistance to adopting technological dispositions in practice. It has been decades, and billions of dollars have been invested to provide infrastructure, and yet, still teachers report feeling unprepared to use ICT in their teaching. This is the reality, so we don’t go into life in school in September, with a false sense of hope that there is going to be a welcoming teaching community. However, despite the majority in the field of education, there has also been documented a persistent individual or small group of educators who were enthusiastic about bringing technology and inquiry into their professional practice against the odds. These are the people to find and affiliate with. Then, using linguistic cognitive domains, build connections to those educators who are resistant. Small connections, meaningful connections. These are baby steps, but it is through our relationships that we will change the course of education.
I think that alot of teachers don’t see how technology can improve the learning that happens in schools. But, once they try using it and seeing how beneficial it is, teachers will being using it. I’d also suggest that you look at what other countries are doing in terms of incorporating ICT in the classroom to see what is really possible. The doctor that I go to carries around paper files and hand writes prescriptions. But, they’ve recently adopted ICT in the medical office. Now they’re carrying around laptops and printing off prescriptions. How did they start? Perhaps they saw other doctors do it and began experimenting with it themselves. Then, they saw how beneficial ICT was and began to use it. So, there may be resistance “getting the ball rolling” but once going, it’s all good.