Collaborative work between school librarians and educators leads to effective school library programs and the best integration of 21st century skills. Although these partnerships can be welcome at the school level, they can be ignored on a national stage. Governments and national educational groups often develop curricula, standards, and programs and set spending priorities, without inviting school librarian collaborators to the table. A number of projects are currently underway in various parts of the world, including a push for national curricula in the U.S. and Australia.
Invited guest or wedding crasher? School librarians' involvement in national iniatives
1. Invited Guest or Wedding Crasher?
School Librarians’ Involvement
in National Initiatives
Dr. Nancy Everhart
Florida State University
President, American Association of School Librarians
Diversity Challenge Resilience: School Libraries in Action
The 12th Biennial School Library Association of Queensland,
the 39th International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference
incorporating the 14th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship,
Brisbane, QLD Australia, 27 September – 1 October 2010.
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
3. National Initiatives
Australia United States
Hong Kong Germany
Botswana Brazil
France
Norway
Farmer, L.S. & Henri, J. (2008).
Information literacy assessment in K-12
settings. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
4. Hong Kong
The Role of a Teacher-librarian in the New Senior
Secondary (NSS) Curriculum
– Promoting Extensive Reading to Support
Teaching and Learning of Various Subjects
– Developing Information Skills to Create a
“Learning to Learn” Culture
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
6. Australia
School libraries and teacher librarians in
Australian schools
Australian national curriculum
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
7. Similar themes and phrases
U.S. and Australia
Already doing this Expands upon
Building-level Higher-order skills
leadership Models
All students Unique position
Social responsibility Across the curriculum
Reduces barriers Inquiry-based
Aligned, mapped Resources
Differentiated
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
9. Power Base of School Libraries
Power
Legality Legitimacy
Statutes, certification Learning, joy
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
10. Lessons Learned: How College Students
Seek Information in the Digital Age
Google!
Research coaches
Avoid interacting with librarians
Become overwhelmed
(Head & Eisenberg, 2009)
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010
16. What might work?
Formal communication
Comments and feedback
Requests
Guerilla advocacy
Social media
Walking the walk
Brisbane, Australia September 29, 2010