ETL401 Mod5

Collaboration 

The role of the teacher librarian is fulfilled in a school that believes in collaborative practice and where teachers are leaders. But many teachers see working with other teachers as a major challenge. In fact they might fight against this.

I would not say that I am one to ‘fight’ collaborative practices as a teacher however I generally have not enjoyed the experience. I have not collaborated with a teacher librarian before which may be different. I tend to go out of my way to help and end up feeling like a doormat with the entire work load.

 In such circumstances what would be an appropriate response from the TL?

Step back. It is not worth getting into a fight with a teacher who doesn't want your help there will be plenty of teachers in the school who do want it.

Speak up. If the teacher librarian is to be a leader they need be able to speak up in staff meetings. I wanted to be taken more seriously by the principals so I joined committee meetings where I had an interest (student wellbeing) and offered input and my services when needed. I was then made more visible to these leaders.

Listen and be interested. First take an interest in what a staff member is teaching, by being interested and listening to them during lunch breaks you can drop tips or resource ideas before formal collaboration has begun. After this relationship has developed new found trust and respect for the librarian may lead to collaboration.

Start small. Start with one or two collaborative partnerships only, then display the success of the partnership and teaching unit at a staff personal development workshop or meeting. I liked how Charlie Parker summed this up in this in ELT401 forum 6, group 6.

Can we use the readings to build a convincing argument for collaboration between the TL, principal and teachers at the school?

I feel like I have addressed this issue a few times now (blog task 1: principal support, assignment 1, and other mods). We know that the principal is the key to making collaboration happen in schools. They need to model collaboration, encourage it, and allocate time in teacher schedules for it to occur. The principal should be our target when presenting the research. We can see through the research that:

·         Teacher collaboration with the teacher librarian leads to improved student achievement.

·         Teacher’s expectations for student learning are greater.

·         Lessons taught are of a higher quality and have a deeper learning experience than could have been created solely by a teacher.

·         Collaboration creates uniformity across the school for teaching information literacy skills.

·         Team teaching allows for a second set of eyes. This helps to gather a greater understanding of the needs of the class.

Bean, R. (2011). Literacy leadership in a culture of collaboration, in Bean, R (Ed.) Best practices of literacy leaders: keys to school improvement, New York : Guilford Press

Haycock, K. (2007). Collaboration: Critical success factors for student learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 25-35.

King, M. (2010). Collaboration. Community & Junior College Libraries, 16 (4), 229-234

Montiel-Overall, P. (2005). A theoretical understanding of teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC). School Libraries Worldwide, 11(2) 24-48

Todd, R. (2008). The dynamics of classroom teacher and teacher librarian instructional collaborations. Scan 27(2) 10-28