After much procrastination as to where and how to make a start I finally finished my first assignment. WOW what an achievement only 10 or so more to go!!!!!!My hat goes off to all the librarians out there, I now have a better understanding of their role and the challenges they face. When I told my friends I was doing a masters in Librarianship they all said what a great job hiding out in the library reading books all day, some even made comment at how easy the librarians job is as they do not do much!!! One could safely say they have not read the Librarians job/role description. It seems to be the age old debate of professionalism, a fight I have personally fought before when I was a nurse.
The first assignment really opened my eyes to the librarians world and throughout the assignment I constantly questioned myself...can I do this, can I create an Information literate school community. I was fascinated by the skills attributes and role the librarian plays in creating such a community and how underrated the librarian is by certain people. I am gaining insight into the TLs world and I feel there is light at the end of the tunnel a real AH UM moment. If I know what is expected of me I will find it easier to learn, develop skills and strive to be the ideal TL. Part A of the assignment was to describe the role of the TL in an ILSC, as easy as it sounds I found this rather difficult due to the vast role a TL has. I summarised the following standards of a TL according to the ASLA. The TL will possess: 1-Professional Knowledge which will encompass the principles and understanding of lifelong learners, have knowledge of teaching and learning across curriculum areas, understand the school community and curriculum and have a solid foundation of information, resources, technology used in library management. 2- Professional Practice where the TL creates information rich learning environments, access to information resources, collaborates and plans units of work with other teachers to ensure that programs are accessible to the needs of the learners and monitor and evaluate learning to improve outcomes. 3- Professional Commitment outlines the TL’s ability to empower the school community to become life long learners, show a commitment to promoting the profession and literate community, show leadership by collaboration and sharing of knowledge and information services.
These are only the standards that a TL will possess and a small detail in the TLs role, the skills and attributes they will posses. With all these qualities schools should be utilising the TL to foster collaboration and promote life long learners in their schools. Those that do not are wasting a valuable resource. As I say that many Principals are not effectively using the T'L's contributions. Part B of the assignment was focused on the obstacles the TL faces in creating an ILSC. I chose the obstacle of lack of Principal support and as Oberg (2006 pg 14) suggests, the number one challenge faced by TL’s is the school administrators. I do not mean to bag out the principal (nor generalise as their are some brilliant principals who run amazing schools) however they are the control centre for the school and are responsible for the running of the school. If the principal has poor management skills and does not utilise his/her staff the their full potential then the school is not going to be tailored to promoting life long learners or information literate schools. The assignment was a real learning curve I hope I was on the right track, wrote the right things and answered the right questions. For now can not worry about that, must continue reading, blogging and concentrate on assignment 2.
