ASSIGNMENT 2, COLLABORATION WITH A TEACHER TO EVOLVE THEIR PRACTICE

The collaboration process begins with the teacher-librarian (TL) making genuine and personal connections with the teachers in the school. This partnership sits at the root of experiencing successful interactions with teachers and implementing a successful library program. The TL must take the time to get to know the teachers and make it a priority to become a respected instructional partner.  Being an instructional partner involves understanding the needs of the teachers and students, suggesting new ideas, and working with them to encourage information literacy and inquiry-based learning.

 

The teacher-librarian can offer specific research instruction, help with connecting curriculum content, provide reading materials and other resources, and create inquiry-based and research-based projects among other things. Although the teacher-librarian can offer a multitude of reference resources and services, the fact remains that some teachers are hesitant to enlist the help of the teacher-librarian. The following explains how changes in classroom practices and the implementation of new innovations can take time and that the feelings of the teachers towards the new innovation play a role in the process.

“Change is a highly personal experience, involving developmental growth in feeling and skills. More to the point, people need sustained help along the way if they’re going to fully implement a new idea, and they’ll require different kinds of help as their needs change.”  (Morris, P. 1975)

An effective tool that provides a deeper understand of how teachers view change and new innovation is the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55). CBAM is comprised of seven Stages of Concern and eight Levels of Use.

Stages of Concern: Enables leaders to identify attitudes and beliefs toward a new innovation.

1. Awareness: What is the innovation?
2. Information: How does the innovation work?
3. Personal: How does the innovation impact me?
4. Management: How can I master the skills needed for the innovation and fit it all in?
5. Consequence: Is implementing this innovation worth my time?
6. Collaboration: The implementation of the innovation is working fine. How do other teachers use it?
7. Refocusing: Is there any other innovative teaching strategies that might be better?

 Levels of Use: Determines how well the staff is using the innovation.

1. Non-use: The individual has little or no knowledge of the innovation, no involvement and is doing nothing towards becoming involved.
2. Orientation: The individual has or is acquiring information about the innovation and/or has explored its value and what it will require.
3. Preparation: The individual is preparing for the first use of the innovation.
4. Mechanical Use: The individual focuses most effort on the shot-term, day-to-day use of the innovation with little time for reflection. Effort is primarily directed toward mastering the tasks required to use the innovation.
5. Routine: The use of the innovation is stabilized. Few changes are made in ongoing use. Minimal effort and thought to improve innovation use or its consequences.
6. Refinement: The innovator varies the use of the innovation to increase the expected benefits within the immediate sphere of influence.
7. Integration: The innovator is combining own effort with related activities of colleagues to achieve a collective impact within the collective sphere of influence.
8. Renewal: The user re-evaluates the quality of the use of the innovation, seeks major modifications of, or alternatives to, present innovation to achieve increased impact, examines new developments in the field, and explores new goals for self and the larger community. (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55)

Change can be described as “a process, not and event” (Hall, Hord, 1987) and that “personal concerns are legitimate” (Hall, Hord, 1987). CBAM is a unique tool that can be used to measure how people learn about new innovative teaching strategies and the stages they go through when presented with new educational resources.

For this assignment, I will relate the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to a fictitious teacher with lagging technology skills. Throughout, I will discuss the plan of action taken by the teacher-librarian to guide the teacher through three CBAM Stages of Concern and Levels of Use.

Teacher: Mrs. Johnson

Mrs. Johnson is a well-respected teacher with 26 years of teaching experience. She is currently teaching grade 4. Mrs. Johnson is a contributing member of the staff and is dedicated to her students. She attends the occasional professional development session to learn new teaching innovations but she prefers not to take risks in class. Mrs. Johnson begins her journey in the CBAM Non-use Level of Use regarding the effective use of a digital reference resource, in this case, World Book Online, suggested by the teacher-librarian.

When preparing for research-based projects with her students, Mrs. Johnson emails the teacher-librarian and asked if she can round up all the reference books on a specific topic. She then goes on to sift through the information in the reference books, marking the pages with sticky notes where the desired information can be found. Mrs. Johnson wants the student to easily find specific information about the topic. Mrs. Johnson has used the print materials in the library for this project and for many others. She is comfortable using print materials and has never considered how her methods are affecting student learning. It is important to consider if the learning materials she chose are meeting the needs of the students. Using print reference resources allows the students to easily understand how the information is organized. There are, however, many limitations to using print reference resources. They do not allow the student to have an interactive experience. The information may be dated and may not allow the student to learn about new information and points of view. Reading levels may be too difficult for students. Using World Book would allow the students to expand their reading experience. World Book provides articles, colourful images, clear illustrations, and links to relevant videos and clearly presented current information. World Book allows the students to compile and save all their information as well as email information to others. There is also an option to turn text into speech which would be very useful for students with reading difficulties. World Book offers a more enhanced learning experience to the students.

worldbook.com/digital.aspx

While Mrs. Johnson is in the library, the teacher-librarian approaches her and performs a “reference interview” (Reidling, p.99) to gain knowledge about the project and topic. They have a short discussion about the research project at hand. The TL takes advantage of the opportunity to ask Mrs. Johnson if she would be willing to learn about a useful digital reference resource. Mrs. Johnson has no knowledge of digital resources available through her school division. This is an indication that she is at the CBAM Non-Use Level of Use. The teacher-librarian makes her aware of what the library has to offer and suggests that she try using the digital encyclopedia World Book. She explains that the digital encyclopedia is easy to use, fun for the students and contains current information. Fortunately, Mrs. Johnson responds positively and her body language indicates that she is willing to learn more. This indicates that Mrs. Johnson is at the CBAM Awareness Stage of Concern. Mrs. Johnson has been made aware that such resources exist. The teacher-librarian makes more suggestions on how to use the resource and suggests working together on a small cooperative project. Mrs. Johnson, always polite, explains her concern that she is not “tech-savvy” and that she has difficulty understanding how to use digital materials. Although Mrs. Johnson doesn’t like the idea of using digital reference resources, she allows the teacher-librarian to show her some of the features of the World Book digital encyclopedia. At this point, Mrs. Johnson is at the CBAM Informational Stage of Concern. She would like to know more about the new resource but she is not sure if it will be a good fit for her. Mrs. Johnson is at the CBAM Orientation Level of Use and she is taking the time to look at the innovation to see if it’s something that she wants to learn more about. It is important at this point, that the teacher-librarian encourages and supports Mrs. Johnson in the implementation of the new innovation. After listening to Mrs. Johnson’s concerns, the teacher-librarian reassures Mrs. Johnson that she will assist her in learning how to use the new resource. The teacher-librarian offers to block some time to sit with Mrs. Johnson and explore the new resource. Here, the teacher-librarian offers informal training and is “modeling and demonstrating the use of the innovation, reviewing information, providing feedback and clarifying misconceptions.” (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55). At the computer, the TL briefly shows Mrs. Johnson the digital resource. She was pleasantly surprised at what she saw but she still had concerns about how she will be able to effectively use the resource and help the students who are having difficulty. Mrs. Johnson was concerned about how using the innovation will affect her because she feels that her technology skills are lagging.

“It’s normal to want to know how something new will affect you, and to feel a threat to your competence, comfort, control, and confidence.” (Morris, P. 1975)

Mrs. Johnson explained that the students will most likely need help navigating through the digital encyclopedia and that she lacks the skills to help the students. This is an indication that Mrs. Johnson has progressed from the CBAM Informational Stage of Concern to the CBAM Personal Stage of Concern because she is considering how the use of the innovation will affect her. The teacher-librarian offers to provide “personalized technical assistance” (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55) by spending time giving an orientation to Mrs. Johnson. After the orientation, Mrs. Johnson feels more confident with the use of the new teaching innovation. The teacher-librarian then offers an orientation to the students with the help of Mrs. Johnson. Maintaining a positive connection with Mrs. Johnson, the teacher-librarian verbally praises her for taking a risk and stepping out of her comfort zone, “communicating and acknowledging successes” (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55).

Together they decide on the best time to work with the students on getting to know the digital encyclopedia. Together, they will guide the student through how to use the digital encyclopedia. At this point, the teacher-librarian is carrying Mrs. Johnson through the CBAM Orientation Level of Use to the CBAM Preparation Level of Use. Mrs. Johnson has made the decision to begin the first use of the innovation with the help of the teacher-librarian.

Throughout the encounter, the teacher-librarian offers “reinforcement and encouragement” (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, 1987, p.55) by offering to assist Mrs. Johnson from beginning to end regarding implementing the use of the World Book Digital Encyclopedia.

Going forward, the TL’s goal should be to focus on the strategies that support change among the teachers. There are many ways to encourage the teachers to try new innovative ideas. As an example, the TL can facilitate a small learning group where new technology will be presented, demonstrated and modeled by the teacher-librarian. The TL can regularly share tips, demonstrate how the technology links to curriculum content and provide one-on-one technical assistance. Most importantly, the TL should strive to make meaningful connections with the teachers, prioritize their needs of the teachers and offer services that will lead the students to develop information literacy skills.

 

Hall, G.E. & Hord, S.M., (1987). Change in Schools: Facilitating the Process. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Marris, P. (1975). Loss and Change. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Hord, S.M., Rutherford, William L., Huling-Austin, Leslie and Hall, G.E. (1987) p. 55

Riedling, Ann Marlow, et al. Reference Skills for the School Library: Tools and Tips, 3rd ed., 2013.