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 by Carolyn Lott | ||
| Defining the School Librarian's Teaching Role Teaching of information literacy skills should consume about one-third of your school library teaching assignments according to Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs, standards developed by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. However, the other two areas of responsibilities dictated by Information Power overlap with teaching: the information specialist's role indicates that library media specialists know where and how to find information that would best meet the needs of students; the instructional consultant's role mandates working with faculty and administrators to plan for the most effective way for students to learn information literacy. All these roles ensure that no longer does the school librarian function as a support to the curriculum but as an integral part of the total teaching-learning process. Students need a systematic method for learning information literacy skills: finding, evaluating and using information resources. The school librarian, working in collaboration with the classroom teacher, holds primary responsibility for teaching these skills and developing all students' abilities in determining what they need to know, what resources might best meet that need, and how to select and use those resources. Both manual and electronic search strategies, skills to use the equipment necessary to access all formats, and thinking skills that require students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate for restructuring information are all among the broad curriculum goals for the school librarian. Learning facts and concepts has been superseded by information skills used as tools for inquiry. Information literacy means students transfer their media skills across all disciplines and from the classroom enclosures to "real-life" situations. Library skills taught in isolation do not make lifetime independent users of these skills. Therefore, even though primary responsibility for systematically teaching media skills rests with the school librarian, classroom teachers and school librarians must work together to give the students a context for appreciating the many resources available in the library. Inherent in this process is planning time for the teacher and school librarian collaboratively to build instructional units that best meet the needs of all students. Administrators need to be aware of the importance of that planning time to the success of any goals of the library curriculum and make planning arrangements a scheduling priority of the school day. Do not try to reinvent the wheel for the matrix of what media skills to teach when. A good place to start is The Montana Library and Information Skill Model Curriculum Guide. With its sample mission statement, its models of the collaborative planning and problem-solving processes, and the components of a literacy program, you cannot have a better guide to an initial library media program. In addition, many school districts have developed more specific library scope and sequence curriculum guides that they will share for minimal costs. Contact the school librarians in neighboring districts or in larger districts that have curriculum specialists for copies of their library curriculum plans. [You may also download the Montana Office of Public Instruction's Content Standards for Library Media (draft) as a PDF document --ed.] And, most importantly, especially if the person responsible for teaching these media skills is not an endorsed media specialist, set up a direct line to contact the best school librarian you know to serve as a mentor. The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) curriculum specialist or university library science faculty can direct you to a successful school librarian who might be willing to serve as a distant mentor to an emerging library program. A sample matrix or scope and sequence of media skills might include the following divisions and levels of information access skills. Please note that other guides listed in the bibliography of helpful resources may have other ways of organizing information literacy skills and/or more specific details. However, more grade level specificity restricts rather than broadens the skills curriculum since resources may vary greatly among school library media centers. Sample Matrix
I. Orientation A. Skills 1. Student conduct in a library setting 2. Appropriate library personnel who can help 3. Appreciation of information formats and resulting responsibility for taking care of the resources 4. Circulation processes B. All orientation skills introduced in kindergarten and reinforced throughout rest of K-12 experiences C. School librarian primarily responsible for teaching II. Organization and utilization of resources A. Skills 1. Location of resources including electronic resources introduced in kindergarten and continually stressed in all other grades 2. Alphabetic and numerical arrangements of resources introduced in second grade and reinforced in subsequent grades 3. Manual and electronic catalog use including conducting subject heading searches manually, browsing, hierarchical and Boolean searching techniques for electronic resources, and non- linear thinking necessary for interactive media, introduced by second grade and developed continually throughout other grades 4. Care and operation of equipment introduced in kindergarten and other grades in progres- sive levels of sophistication B. School librarian responsible for introduction, but development and reinforcement shared with classroom teacher III. Research and study skills A. The following approach for teaching research and study skills uses the Big Six model by Michael Eisenberg and Robert Berkowitz (See bibliography) 1. Task definition: determining problem and identi- fying information requirements of problem 2. Information seeking strategies: determining possible sources and prioritizing those that best meet problem needs 3. Location and access: locating sources both with- in and outside of library setting and information within sources 4. Information use: read, view, etc., information in sources and extract information from sources. 5. Synthesis: organize information from multiple sources and present information (in appropriate format, i.e., paper, multi-media product, speech) 6. Evaluation: judge product effectiveness and process efficiency B. For K-2 grades, above process simplified into PDR: Plan (#'s 1 and 2), Do (#'s 3 and 4), and Review (#'s 5 and 6) C. Ethical use of information including respect for copyright and intellectual freedom (diversity of opinions) introduced at kindergarten, reinforced and developed throughout all grades D. All above skills taught cooperatively and collabor- atively with classroom teacher using content appropriate at specific grade levels; process be- comes progressively more sophisticated as students use it E. Assisting students in production of products appro- priate for the assignment may include instruction in the use of multi-media hardware and software. Technology instruction must be in conjunction with a specific assignment IV. Reading Guidance and Literacy A. Appreciation and enjoyment of literary genres in various formats 1. Picture books 2. Traditional literature 3. Modern fantasy 4. Realistic fiction 5. Historical fiction 6. Biographical and non-fiction information sources 7. Poetry 8. Other B. Appreciation of award-winning literature 1. Caldecott and Newbery Awards 2. Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes 3. Children's Choice Awards 4. Multicultural and genre awards, i.e., Coretta Scott King Award, Scott O'Dell Award, Obis Award C. All appreciation and enjoyment skills introduced in kindergarten and developed throughout all grades in collaboration with classroom teacher Realizing that review of all media skills may be necessary at times, the school librarian needs to keep in mind that students will meet the level of expectation: once you have taught a skill, build on it and expect students to use it. As a teacher, the school librarian knows developmental levels of students and when to move from concrete to abstract ideas and skills. As a teacher, also, the school librarian uses a variety of teaching methods: large group, small group, and individual approaches to meeting the instructional needs of students. The best use of teaching time is not always the one-on-one student approach; using an opportune moment to inservice a fellow teacher about the existence of a resource, how to use it, and where it might fit into the existing curriculum may result in better designed assignments and more significant dissemination of that information. As you can tell from the skills outlined in the above matrix, students will need an atmosphere in the library setting that allows for individual and cooperative group learning. Since teaching of these skills is integrated across the curriculum and not confined to a limited time within the library, scheduling of the facility needs to be as flexible as possible. Students need unrestricted access to the library and the school librarian whenever they require resources or help. The school librarian and classroom teacher work together to develop the best learning situations for all students, from the inception of the teaching plan, through building of lesson objectives, to deciding responsibilities for each of the tasks, to evaluating the product and the process. Existing themes and topics explored in the classroom can be redesigned to ensure that information literacy skills are integral parts of the units and not added to the units. Classroom teachers may resent what they perceive as more content, so make sure that information skills that make learning their content better and easier are infused in the learning objectives of the units. The school librarian must be a partner with the teacher in all aspects including planning, implementing, and evaluating. When students have opportunities to locate, interpret, analyze, evaluate, and communicate ideas and information integrated throughout the curriculum, they will learn to apply these strategies to problem-solving situations for life-long learning. Of major concern to the teacher-school librarian is that the students have access to the library and that all students are systematically taught library skills. Therefore, information literacy skills must be accounted for by the library curriculum. A matrix of when skills are taught to each student or class as well as an evaluation of the mastery of those skills by individuals or classes can help to ensure equity for all students. The teacher-school librarian will need to be highly organized to assure this equity. Teachers who are not endorsed as school librarians but responsible for teaching library skills should first seek help from a school librarian colleague who can serve as a mentor. This lifeline to daily questions about content and implementation is essential for the success of the curriculum as well as a significantly less stressful situation for the teacher. Carolyn Lott ( cjlott@selway.umt.edu ) currently teaches in the Library Media Program of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education at The University of Montana. Formerly, Dr. Lott was a high school English teacher and high school librarian. American Library Association. Book Links. May be purchased for $22/year from, 434 W. Downer, Aurora, IL 60506. For elementary and middle school librarians; bibliographies and teaching activities for integrating literature into all areas of the curriculum. A description of the school library media program written in "library-ese" but helpful for an overview of what a media center needs to be in an information age. A journal published six times per year with practical tips, ideas, and articles for all aspects of the library program; one issue per year usually devoted to the theme of teaching library skills. A fleshed-out explanation of the research model briefly given above with examples of how it can be integrated across the curriculum. Listserv accessed via online services consisting of topics of concern to practicing library media specialists as well as others interested in school libraries; resource for almost immediate responses to everyday questions. An essential resource containing more information on library programming, teaching collaboratively, and research skills developed by Montana school librarians. A model for teaching information literacy with sample lessons and activities. An activities-oriented journal that gives many "how-to" articles on teaching of information literacy. A detailed description of the skills taught in a library curriculum developed by practicing school librarians in Wisconsin.  Error processing SSI file The address of this page is http://www.lib.umwestern.edu/Academics/library/libabout/patchwork/skills.html | Error processing SSI file||