Vision of the Future Project for Special Topics in Teacher Librarianship

Background

When the BCTF won the Supreme Court ruling last year, my school district was obliged to reinstate teacher librarians in its elementary school libraries after an absence of more than 15 years.  A lack of internal and external applicants with appropriate credentials resulted in Human Resources inviting expressions of interest from internal candidates with relevant experience.  As a learning assistance teacher with over 20 years' experience in promoting literacy and a masters degree in reading and language, I decided to throw my name into the ring.  I was surprised and more than a little scared when I was awarded a position and assigned to two large French Immersion school libraries.  

Thanks to the Supreme Court and to all BC Teachers for my Awesome New Job!

It was an incredibly busy year of learning about school library learning commons, building relationships with colleagues, and collaborating in a wide variety of subject areas. Looking back on Year 1 I can see how much I accomplished; and yet, I fell short of the Leading Learning (2014) "Fostering Literacies" standard that states,the teacher librarian leads the school community in the design of information literacy learning strategies and processes in order to empower independent learners.  In some cases, I was able to collaborate with teachers to infuse information literacy instruction in learning experiences to ensure deep understanding of content as the standards recommend (Leading Learning, 2014); however, these successes were hit and miss.  

Leading Learning:  Information Literacy Standards in the "Fostering Literacies" Theme

Because I wanted my instruction to become more systematic and comprehensive in order to ensure that all students acquired vital skills for engaging successfully with a variety of information media, I turned to my estimable colleague, Tracy Richards.  A high school teacher librarian at Mark R. Isfeld Secondary in Courtenay, BC,  Tracy heads up a thriving learning commons offering a wide range of technology opportunities to students. Tracy was interested in the idea of creating a scope and sequence for information literacy skills to help guide her own practice and that of other teacher librarians in the district--especially the elementary teacher librarians, a number of whom were, like me, lacking in experience and credentials.

A snapshot of the scope and sequence document

Tracy completed a draft of the scope and sequence in April when I was completely immersed in curriculum support and had no time to consider its contents or provide feedback.  In June, as the school year began to wind down and I contemplated goals for the coming year, I became so keen to delve into the document that I selected it for my vision of the future project for LIBE 477.  You can view the original scope and sequence Tracy created, and the latest version with my edits and additions in my Vision of the Future Reflective Blog Post #2.  Here's a link to the Word document. You will be able to make a copy and edit it as you see fit.

Have we got it right?

It's challenging to select themes and skills for information literacy instruction when, despite the key role of technology in every aspect of our lives, there is a dearth of formalized documents guiding K-7 technology integration.  In their article Untangling Binaries: Where Canada Sits in the "21st Century Debate", authors Gallagher and Roswell state that British Columbia was one of the first provinces to "pick up the gauntlet" (p. 398) in terms of creating standards for information literacy instruction.  The British Columbia Digital Learning Framework (n.d.) describes information literacy as "the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriate use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate,analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others".  The framework is based on International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards and is designed to guide educators in integrating information literacy activities into their classroom practice.  The framework references core competencies in communication, thinking and personal and social profiles.  Key aspects of the British Columbia Digital Learning Framework:

• General Knowledge and Functional Skills: Knows the basics of digital technology, selects the most applicable technology for a variety of purposes and explores emerging technologies as part of lifelong learning.

• Information Literacy:  defined as using the Internet and associated technology to gather and assess relevant digital information. 

• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making:  using digital technology to plan and manage activities, develop solutions and complete projects.

• Creativity and Innovation: using ICT to develop innovative processes and products.

• Digital Citizenship:  includes Internet safety, privacy, risks and benefits of online relationships, cyberbullying, digital footprint.

• Legal and Ethical Aspects:  ownership of digital creations, fair use of others' work.

• Balanced Attitude Towards Technology:  integrating technology into every day activities while avoiding technology-related health problems.

Our home-grown scope and sequence themes reflect most of the BC Digital Framework standards with the exception of addressing technology-related threats to well-being:

As teacher librarians, when we really want the straight goods on something, academic journals are great but nothing beats a visit to Barbara Braxton's 500 Hats blog.  Braxton  writes about the many roles of the teacher librarian, covering the gamut of topics relevant to our practice.  Of scope and sequence documents, Braxton (2017) writes, Media and information literacy recognizes the primary role of technology in our everyday lives.  It lies at the core of freedom of expression and information since it empowers citizens to understand the functions of media and other information providers, to critically evaluate their content, and to make informed decisions as users and producers of information and media contexts. 

Braxton advocates looking to the UNESCO 5 Laws of Media and Information Literacy and considering what each law might look like at each grade level.  She places particular emphasis on Law 5, which states that "media and information literacy is not acquired all at once.  It is a lived and dynamic experience and process".  

Braxton raises additional questions and consideration about scope and sequence documents, such as:

• Will the document be driven by big-picture ideas for lifelong learning such as “Students will learn to use ideas, information and images ethically” or will it be more piecemeal such as “Students will learn to cite sources using title and author”?  

• Mine falls somewhere in between these two dichotomies.  As I use the document to guide my practice, I will steer it toward more big-picture ideas expressed as measurable outcomes for students.

• Will the document be a living one acknowledging that the role of the  TL within any given school is unique?   

• While my district's scope and sequence is available for all TLs to use, there is no expectation that all TLs shall adopt it.

• Braxton asserts that technology learning is not linear but recursive, and questions how a traditional matrix would reflect this.  

• Tracy had the idea of using a cycle of Introducing, Reinforcing, Progression and Mastery to reflect the ongoing nature of information literacy.  We saw a similar model in the Peace River SD 60 document and adopted it.

• Braxton wonders if a lock-step curriculum will impede differentiation, and limit the opportunities for students "to grow their own understanding at their own rate because of a lock-step approach".  

• I maintain that information literacy is the height in personalization when we develop access points for all students and set additional challenges for students who are ready for more.  Moreover, accessibility tools such as speech-to-text remove barriers for many students, as does the capacity to use images, sounds and other non-print media to create a message.  Follett supports this notion and places Personalized Student Learning at the heart of its "Future Ready" model:

• Braxton wonders if a scope and sequence promotes the perception that information literacy is a discrete set of skills that is taught and learned in isolation.

• This was something I grappled with when I first began.  UNESCO's Media and Information Literacy Law 5 had an important impact on my thinking about this and I came to an understanding that I would embed information literacy within curriculum collaborations with colleagues.

• Braxton questioned how a scope and sequence focus might limit the conversations and collaboration between TL and classroom-based teachers:  "the TL has a syllabus to teach and should just get on with it".
• I questioned this also, and decided to turn the talk over to teachers during my presentation so that they could advise me how to best implement information literacy skills  within their grade level specializations.  

I think of my scope and sequence as a working document that can change, adapt and grow  as befits the needs of my school, my growing understanding of the TL role, and the best practices as communicated by Follett, the Canadian Library Association (Leading Learning) and UNESCO.  I will consider my project an ongoing inquiry into student learning and the teacher practises that make information literacy possible.  

Below is the Visme presentation I prepared to support my introduction of the scope and sequence to colleagues at our August staff meeting.  (I selected Visme as I was weary of always using PowerPoint and Prezi, but I was not happy with my results and wouldn't recommend it at this time.)

Scope and Sequence Activity: https://my.visme.co/index.php Notes that you have to click on the little suitcase icon to see the brief presentation notes.

And a Powtoon that walks teachers through accessing my calendar along with the online sign-ups for the computer labs and iPads:

And lastly, a video I made with Jing to share specifics about adding an item to any of the online calendars.

I will conclude here today with a mention that I have struggled with the Leading Learning statement that "strong leadership for the learning commons is vital to ensure sustainability and attainment of school, district and provincial/territorial student learning goals and outcomes"(p. 13). It has been difficult for me to imagine just how I would insert a information literacy scope and sequence into my colleagues' preferences for school goals that center around social emotional well-being, self-regulation and outdoor learning.  My thinking has been transformed such that I can see how the information literacy scope and sequence will in  fact uphold any school goal.  For example, outdoor learning and iPads seems like a natural fit thanks to the many apps that support plant identification, photography with annotation and even water quality testing.  At our June staff meeting, administration wryly reminded us that a school should likely have academic goals, as well, and at that moment I could clearly see my "in".

In the theme of Advancing the Learning Community to achieve school goals, the Canadian Library Association (2014) challenges the learning commons leadership team to "develop 
and implement school improvement initiatives that are a model for future-oriented learning."   The next phase in the cycle of inquiry we began together in 477 will be to put concrete measures in place toward this ideal.

Wish me luck!

References

Alliance for Excellent Education (2018). Future Ready Librarians [Online image].  Retrieved from https://1gu04j2l2i9n1b0wor2zmgua-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Library_flyer_download.pdf

Braxton, B. (2017, February 8). The scope-and-sequence hat [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://500hats.edublogs.org/2017/02/08/the-scope-and-sequence-hat/

Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). BC’s Digital Literacy Framework. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy-framework.pdf.

Building a Future Vision (Digital Image). (2012, May 5).  Retrieved from 

https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/05/opinion/bubble-room/building-a-future-vision/#_ 

Canadian   Library Association   (CLA).   (2014).  Leading   Learning: Standards   of   practice for   school   library learning   commons   in

Canada.   Ottawa, ON: Canadian   Library Association. Retrieved from   http:/ clatoolbox.ca/ casl/ slic/ llsop.html  

Celebrating One Year(Digital Image). (2017, November 9).  Retrieved from https://twitter.com/bctf/status/928655606457626624

Gallagher, T. & Rowsell, J. (2017).  Untangling binaries: 

Where Canada sits in the “21st Century debate”. McGill Journal of Education, 52(2), 383–407. doi:10.7202/1044472ar 

Thompson, T. et al (2010).  K-5 digital literacy scope and sequence.  Retrieved from http://www.prn.bc.ca/ss/k5DL/.  

UNESCO. (2016). 5 Laws of Media and Information Literacy [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/Events/mil_five_laws_english.png