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LIBE 467: Assignment 2: Collaborate and Elevate!

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Overview:

One of the most important “competencies for reference services librarians [is] collaborat[ing] with colleagues to provide service to users” (ALA, 2017, as cited in Riedling, 2019, p. 9). This paper will focus on work I have done with two teachers to help them evolve their practice with respect to effective use of reference resources. Because mentorship is a lot like teaching, it is important to “meet teachers where they are” (WSU, 2015), so I will start a description of the colleagues’ context, give my assessment of their stage of concern based on the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Fig. 1), and then outline the strategy I implemented to move their practice to the next level.

Fig. 1 (Elish-Piper, 2015)

Teacher A: “Eva”

 When I worked with Eva, she was in her second year of teaching. She began her career as we were undergoing the shift to the current BC curriculum and was therefore adapting from a more traditional “stand and deliver and test” approach to teaching, to our current competency-based curriculum delivered through a focus on inquiry.

She approached me for assistance in designing an inquiry project for her grade 8 Social Studies class. In particular, she asked about how to help her students find information once they had drafted their own driving questions. She stated that she did not know how to help them move beyond extracting information from the text book or learning from her lessons. As we have a small reference section in our library, she knew they would be looking to digital sources and she was unsure how to help them in this process.

Because Eva’s stated needs focused on her, I assessed her stage of concern in the first three tiers. Based on her need to understand how to effectively use digital reference sources with her students, she was at the “Informational” stage of concern. Because she was actively looking to co-design an inquiry, her level of use was “II: Preparation”; she had “definite plans to begin using the innovation” (Hord, 1987, as cited in WSU, 2015). My role would therefore be to help her learn more about the effective use of digital resources and show her how to start with her learners. An important part of the TL job acknowledges that “Learners also need to ‘learn how to learn’ through deliberate design of opportunities (CLA, 2014, p. 15).

Effective mentorship looks a lot like good teaching. Thus in collaborating with teachers, TLs are “facilitators… designers, and coaches” (WSU, 2015). When people are taking on a new challenge, it helps to feel supported and encouraged. I therefore reacted enthusiastically when she asked for help and communicated that I was looking forward to working with her and her students. With Eva, my strategy was to demonstrate what she was asking me about with her and her students. In so doing, I was able to provide clear and accurate information through my design of a learning activity for the students. I created a slideshow lesson that I felt would be appropriate given my own experience with learners at this stage about conducting online searches and assessing reliability of information. Not only were her students learning, but she was as well. After the lesson, together we then worked with the students as they applied the learning they had just done and engaged in searches for information, coaching and answering questions as a team. In working together with her class on her project, my goal was to help her relate my instruction to her current practices.

From our collaborative experience, Eva gained greater understanding of effective use of reference resources in her teaching, thus moving her to the next level of concern: Personal, where she will investigate her role in gaining comfort and proficiency with this part of her practice. Of course as her TL, I continue to be available to answer “questions [she is] asking when [she is] asking them” (WSU, 2015).

Teacher B: “Will”

When I worked with Will, he had been teaching for approximately six years and was (is) an innovator constantly looking to push his practice. As such, he was actively engaged in using inquiry in his pedagogy. 

As we were kindred spirits philosophically, we were naturally drawn to collaborate together. In terms of his use of reference services, he expressed to me a desire to help students be more discerning users of information. He was looking beyond just at a simple “should I trust this,” but towards helping his students broaden their perspective. My response to him was that I would help him by focussing on designing learning activities so his students could develop such information literacy skills as identifying bias, considering different perspectives and voices, and examining context. Because Will was asking about the “it” (information literacy) and working towards mastery, I see him as in the “Task” stages of concern. Will was asking for aspects of Management in that he was asking specific practical questions about information pedagogy (“I need help with x”). Furthermore, he needed help with the specific management problem of curating exemplar resources to dive meaningfully into this aspect of information literacy, and as a busy teacher, felt building this lesson overwhelming in terms of his time. This is why it is important for “school librarians to invest a great deal of time and energy in learning which resources are of most importance” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105). However, Will was also thinking in terms of “Consequence” and the impact of his effective use of resources in his teaching. The fact that he was focussed on “the students” (WSU, 2015) with his desire for them to be functionally (information) literate, shows him moving to the upper tier with his concerns. 

If we think in terms of the “bridge”- the process of mentoring and coaching in order to move people through understanding to independently implementing- this stage for Will was consequential. With my support, he was able to “continue to grow”and not have “implementation problems … overwhelm [him].” The task management support allowed him to take the risk he was looking to take and my help with the lesson development allowed him to progress in his pursuit of innovative practices (WSU, 2015). My experience with him was a key representation of my goal as a TL to see “improved student achievement through the refining of instruction for … research and inquiry … skills (CLA, 2014, p. 13). 

Conclusion:

In my work with Eva and Will, I was able to meet each of these colleagues where they were and provide the support necessary to move their use of information resources forward. Taking steps forward can be daunting, so positive feedback, encouragement, and guidance are an integral part of making the crossing of the bridge “safe” and “positive” (WSU, 2015) contributing to a positive culture of “collaborative engagement” in the school to “cultivate and empower a community of learners” (CLA, 2014, p. 10)

References

LIBE 467: Out with the Old and In with the New

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I have arthritis in my shoulder; consequently, investigating the reference section of my school library proved hazardous to my health.

Riedling (2019) defines a good reference source as “one that serves to answer questions and a bad reference source is one that fails to answer the questions” (p. 21). If a book is too heavy for a student to even lift, chances are, they’re not going to use it to answer their questions. 

In my investigation of my school references section, I selected the behemoth below:
*Pop can for scale

Anecdotally, I began my assessment of this resource by showing it to some students in the library and asked them if they would use it as a resource. The most generous response I received was, “If my teacher made me.”  The least generous response I received was laughter. I interpreted that as an emphatic “No.”

I created the attached rubric and will use it to evaluate the resources:

Purpose: This category addresses how a resource would be used. What goals does it help us meet? In determining if a resource will be purposeful for instruction in the school, it is valuable to work in a collaborative role with the teachers in the school (Asselin, 2003, p. 24). Teachers in different subject areas  have the expertise to judge the accuracy of a resource and assess what purpose it fills in their teaching goals (Riedling, 2019, p. 17).

In consultation with Social Studies teachers at my school, their response was that this set is “minimally useful”  due to its age and layout. Their intention as teachers would be to include it in their “continuum of skills” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105), particularly in engaging students in inquiry. Part of their teaching includes helping students build  base knowledge as well as developing students’ information literacy skills (Asselin, 2003, p. 26). They judged it as not useful in meeting these key  goals, as it is not student-friendly and is outdated.

There is value in print resources  for students who find the graphical layout of websites overwhelming and benefit from simplicity (Beaudry, 2024). This resource, however, has dense text and few images. It would therefore be more overwhelming than most digital resources. 

Relevancy: This category addresses the resource from the lens of meeting the students’ needs. I have specifically separated the diversity of student needs from the information needs. The needs of diverse learners overlap with the intended purposes of teachers. Those who prefer print because of its simplicity, would not find that with this print resource (Department of Education, 2008, pp. 10-11). Relevancy also includes student interest (is the source relevant to their lives?), and this old, dense, text-heavy artifact is downright off-putting to students. 

A considerable disadvantage for this resource (and other print resources) is that students’ information needs go beyond the walls of the school (Asselin, 2003, p. 32) and this resource can only be accessed Monday-Friday, 8:30-3:30.

An important part of the selection process is understanding the community needs and preferences (Riedling, 2019, p. 107) and how users of the library seek information. Our community is an affluent one with good access to technology, both in school and at home. Furthermore, we are home to an iPad-based program, so the learners in our school are very much technology-oriented and prefer digital options to meet their learning needs.

The aesthetic value also matters (Department of Education, 2008, p. 10). Just look at that thing!

Click here

Currency: Riedling (2019) makes recommendations for optimal “shelf lives” for different focus areas. She says 15 years is when a Social Studies resource becomes outdated (p. 18). This resource was published in 1988, 36 years ago. Our perspective on history and culture has evolved considerably. In fact, there is no section on Residential Schools!!!

Curricular Connections: This category looks to consider how well this resource serves the school in terms of the provincial curriculum and how many students might have opportunity to engage with or need of this resource (Department of Education, 2008, p. 5). Because this resource is useful for Social Studies at all levels , and it is mandatory for four years of high school, this kind of  resource would be useful for the curricular needs of all students. However, because it is so outdated, as described above, this particular resource does not support the curriculum well. 

Collection Considerations: This category acknowledges the budgetary reality of libraries and looks to balance ⚖️  the value of a resource versus its hit to a limited budget. This is where print resources like this one lose out. They are really expensive, and considering how less likely students are to use print resources, it feels hard to justify the expense. It is nice to have a “one-stop shop” resource of Canadiana; however, that shop ought to be appealing and current. Otherwise it’s just a dust collector using space that could be more appropriately used.

The Canadian Encyclopedia was revolutionary when it was introduced in 1985. It “plays an essential role in providing Canadians and others with accurate, updated information about our people and country” and “a bilingual, national edition produced by, for and about the people of a single country, charting its events, culture, history and landscape, remains rare” (Historic Canada, 2024). However, as an accurate document of our culture, the decision to go digital in 2001 made sense. 

So that is my choice to replace this dinosaur of a resource. I would recommend replacing the Canadian Encyclopedia (dead tree 1988 version) with The Canadian Encyclopedia (online constantly updated version). Not only is this a tremendous upgrade (see rubric below), but it is FREE!

Purpose: Not only would my Social Studies teachers use it, they do use it! Whereas the print version misses the mark as a tool for developing students’ inquiry capabilities, they stated that this resource is very useful: it is easy to navigate, the layout is clean and simple, and the articles are accessible for most readers- reasonably chunked and interspersed with images. Furthermore, students who need it, can use adaptive technology to have the articles read to them. Plus, within the articles, there are links to allow students to explore related topics with a simple click and go deeper with their understanding of a topic.

Relevancy: As outlined, this source meets the learning needs of diverse students; it is so much easier to use. Students can either browse 👀 the helpful topics or input their subject of query into the search function. Furthermore, it is in line with the community preference for digital tools. It allows students to look for information how they actually look for information. Finally, the digital platform has allowed The Canadian Encyclopedia to continually expand, and it now hosts over 25 000 articles, meaning it conceivably offers information on whatever our students are looking for. The website also allows for regular feature updates to reflect current areas of interest and highlight diverse sections of the resource. For example, there is currently a curated section honouring Black History Month. 

Currency: It’s constantly updated. 

No more gaping holes in our collective history:

Curricular Connections: This maintains the “every student learns Canadian history, geography and culture in Social Studies” advantage, while shedding the “how can I teach Canadian history with no mention of Residential Schools” problems.

Collection Considerations: This resource, when included in the purposely curated school digital learning commons, adds tremendous value. It gives students that reliable “one stop shop”  for Canadiana, updated, and AT NO COST- just some TL time to add it to the LibGuides and promote its use.

Needless to say, it is beyond time to get rid of this artifact of a bygone era and a bygone Canada. No one uses it. And why would they?

I used this set when I was in high school. And as I said, I’m now old enough to have arthritis. 

References