"Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won - you earn
it and win it in every generation." - Coretta Scott King
Mrs. King could have directed this piece of wisdom to the collaborative work
of teacher-librarians. In our case, we must earn our role as instructional
partners with every classroom teacher, year after year.
I taught in a K-8 classroom teacher preparation program for 2.5 years. As
someone who served for 12 years as a teacher-librarian, I was dedicated to
helping preservice classroom teachers learn how to collaborate with one
another and to seek collaboration with their teacher-librarian colleagues.
You can read some of these students' testimonials regarding
classroom-library collaboration taken after their student teaching
experience at:
http://storytrail.com/IRLS/TwoHeadsTestimonials.htm
On the whole, these K-8 student teachers found it difficult to connect with
teacher-librarians for various reasons - fixed scheduling, cooperating
teacher bias/attitudes, time, librarian's expertise or perception of own
role, and personality of librarian. (These educators are just completing
their first year of classroom teaching - more data is forthcoming.)
Teacher-librarians, who are committed to collaboration, MUST get out of the
library and perform evangelistic outreach - particularly at the high school
level where learning is divided into perceived-to-be-distinct disciplines.
At the elementary level, classroom teachers practice interdisciplinary
teaching, which is more compatible with the learning that takes place in the
library setting.
At the high school level, fewer classroom teachers practice
interdisciplinary teaching.
In both of these settings where I have had first-hand experience, building a
culture of collaboration requires continuous, fearless, and professional
outreach - attending grade-level and disciplinary team meetings, listening,
AND bringing ideas to the table, taking a leadership role in school-wide
committees and initiatives, building a collaborative relationship with
administrators, developing new skills and bringing them to colleagues
through workshops, and on and on...
The end of the year is a critical time for reflecting. We can ask ourselves:
What can WE do differently next year?
Perhaps a review of Gary Hartzell's book: Building Influence for the School
Librarian (Linworth, 1994) - still timely - will give us food for thought.
Best,
Judi
Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D.
Literacies and Libraries Consultant
Author: <http://tinyurl.com/yzvy5g> Collaborative Strategies for Teaching
Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact
<http://storytrail.com/> http://storytrail.com
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