Where the ISTE standards provide guidelines for teachers, administrators, coaches, and computer science educators as they prepare students for productive and efficient roles in the digital age, AASL standards are for school librarians. While there are certainly differences, ultimately “both sets focus on acquiring the skills to pursue knowledge”. (Dotson & Dotson-Blake, 2015,) and this is where one must focus as one prepares for and designs the role of the school librarian.
As a school librarian, especially one in a middle or high school with a flexible schedule (no scheduled classes), it it crucial to carve out one’s role and responsibilities with the students’ pursuit of knowledge at the forefront of one’s days (the absence of this focus will relegate you to the laminator or poster maker and soon your school will come to see a PTO volunteer as capable as you at the cold lamination!). Providing both a physical space as well as a suitable environment within the media center for students to inquire, explore, and engage (foundations of the AASL standards) is essential, and the media center can offer the student-centered view that is called for within the ISTE standard - the student as patron inquiring and exploring with appropriate guidance from their librarian. With that guidance from the librarian, the student gains the ISTE-level empowerment.
Collaboration is a common element in both sets of standards, and this collaboration can take place between librarian and student, but should also be modeled for the student between librarian and classroom teacher as well as administration. As the librarian, one should seek out teachers and work with them to design and implement lessons with and for the students, lessons that use the tools within the library and showcase the skills acquired with library resources.
Standing on the foundations of the AASL standards and considering the common goal of the AASL and ISTE standards (a critical, analytical, engaged and productive member of the digital and global community), the school librarian will play an integral role in her or her community.
Dotson, K. D., & Dotson-Blake, K. (2015). Factors of engagement: Professional standards and the library science internship. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 59(3), 54-63.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI like how you discuss the importance of creating a "physical space" that is conducive to implementing and using the ISTE and AASL standards. I agree with you that without a supportive environment, students cannot begin to collaborate and innovate. While I have fond memories of my school library and its stacks and stacks of books, how much did the physical space (including the appropriate voice level) allow for me to explore and collaborate?
While there are a number of ways to collaborate online (Google Docs/Slides, Padlet, etc.), nothing beats the experience of working together...side by side on solving a problem. How many librarians still "shush" their students when the students are working on a legitimate project? Thanks for the great observation.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI also focused on Dotson and Dotson-Blake's idea of integrating the standards as a way of acquiring the skills to pursue knowledge vs. simply acquiring the knowledge or being given the knowledge. I feel that this goes back to the old adage of teaching a man to fish. Give a man a fish and he eats for one day, teach a man to fish and he is set for life. I also like your ideas about collaboration not being only between librarian and student but also including the teacher. What is your thinking about the section of the Dotson study that referred to the anxiety of interns collaborating with educators that have more experiences and seniority?
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
-Frances Watson
I think that the anxiety of interns is a result of the change in parenting and teaching styles of the younger generations. We are in the age of participation trophies and never clearly telling a student they are wrong('you are close.. good thought, but try something different') and as a result, the students coming out of programs have both inflated senses of what they DO know, and a lack of coping skills for hearing they have work to do or something yet still to learn.
DeleteAmen! So often at the middle school in which I work, teachers and some administrators neglect to see the teacher librarian as what he is first and foremost-a teacher! Not only a teacher fresh out of undergrad, but a SPECIALIST with a masters degree in LIS and literacy as well as, in his case, National Board Certification for the second time. They see out role at times as the ID card makers, the news show producers, the news letter writers, and, in my case as an aide, a substitute teacher who covers classes. The teachers who do use the library regularly bringing their classes down or scheduling courses with our teacher librarian are usually NOT ELA teachers, but social studies or science teachers preparing their students for a science and health fair or National History Day.
ReplyDeleteGreer Kelley