School libraries have always been an essential part of the school community, but in recent years there has been a shift in perspectives on their role in education. In 2014, the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association published the document From School Library to Library Learning Commons (updated in 2017) which outlines how a school community can transform their library into a space that can address the needs of today’s learners. Two important emerging themes in education that drive this change are:
- “Collaboration is required of all learners; that is, amongst teacher-librarians, teachers, and students.”
- “Technology has had a dramatic effect.”
As I work through the courses in the Teacher-Librarian Diploma, the need for TLs to embrace the co-teaching model has become more and more pressing in my mind. My concern as I enter this profession is that while the value of collaboration and co-teaching continues to increase, the time available or provided to dedicate to this area is diminishing. I have been trying to work out how I can best establish an environment of collaboration as a TL without adding to the already-full plates of classroom teachers. In order to start generating keywords around this topic, I created a word cloud using WordArt.com and the document What Can Collaboration with a Teacher-Librarian Look Like? from the BCTLA and the Surrey Teachers’ Association:
It is clear from words like “Digital”, “Apps”, “Websites”, and “Tools” that technology is an important focus of collaboration in an LLC. One of the emerging themes in last week’s discussion about digital mentorship was that ADST is an area of concern for many classroom teachers. I have already started the process of establishing a toolkit of digital technologies that I can use to support classroom teachers in this subject area. I have started thinking about what kinds of tools will do this in the most efficient way, or what will access multiple points of the curriculum in order to maximize instructional time. I began thinking about how Media Arts can be integrated into every area of the curriculum. This is not an area that I have spent a lot of time exploring in the classroom but is something that would add significant value to my TL toolkit. When thinking about the kinds of resources available in my district, possible areas of exploration could include:
- Green screen
- Video editing
- Stop motion animation
- Sound recording
- Photography
Honing my skills in any of these areas would enhance the contributions to co-teaching I could make as a TL.
Works Cited
BC Teacher Librarians’ Association. (2017). From school library to learning commons: A pro-active model for educational change. (M. Ekdahl, & S. Zubke, Eds.). https://bctla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/from-school-library-to-library-learning-commons.pdf
BC Teacher Librarian’s Association & Surrey Teacher’s Association. (2019). What can collaboration with a teacher-librarian look like?. https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/teacher-librarian-infographic-final.pdf