Assignment #2 - Collaborate with a Teacher to Evolve their Practice

Introduction

Let me first introduce the two teachers I will be discussing throughout this assignment:

“Can you find me the books on this list?”

Well-meaning Teacher #1 walked into the library with a heavy binder decorated with construction paper autumn-coloured leaves under her arm. She quickly scanned the tabs and took out a booklist of titles she planned to introduce in her upcoming primary unit on Fall. She had used this list over several years of teaching the unit. Some of the books requested were old or out-of-date and many of them had only been signed-out by her in the all the years they had lived in the library. As evidenced by the size of her binder, this was a well-developed unit, full of activities reaching across many subject areas. She had copies of worksheets and crafts prepared in her binder and assessment sheets to gauge student success throughout the theme. This was clearly an organized teacher who was well-acquainted with this unit. 

Contrast this with Teacher #2 who breezed into the library to ask for any books I might have on Space. She asked for as many books as we both could carry and came back later to ask for more books on the sky and light; “because you never know where our conversations might go!” she exclaimed. One wall of her classroom was completely covered in black paper and she had set out neon-coloured chalk on a nearby table at student height. 

I observed these two teachers, both well-educated and highly professional. Both committed to doing their best and accomplishing the goals of the curriculum. I can’t help but consider the vastly different experiences of the two student groups. In the one, the learning was prescribed, the daily activities pre-ordained and the outcomes (vocabulary, writing activities) specific and clearly measurable. In the other, the classroom was transformed to reflect the theme, and an invitation was set out for the students to interact with the look and shape of the days ahead by contributing to the black space-themed wall and through their questions and conversation. The bookshelves were covered with varied space, sky, light resources as provocations for their explorations, because “you never know where the conversation might go!”. Student learning was motivated by their questions and pursuit of inquiry.

As the days progressed, I continued to observe the diligent, methodical work of the one class and the exuberant, curious, unpredictable work of the other. The final projects proudly displayed in the hallways were fill-in-the-blanks autumn poetry worksheets from the one class and a series of student-invented constellations and legends from the other.

Rationale

As teacher librarians, we are tasked with the work of training both students and teachers to be “effective users of ideas and information” (Riedling, p.9). Riedling exhorts Teacher Librarians to empower learners (teachers and students alike) to become skilled at critical thinking and effective use of information and resources through adequate instruction in information skills, provision of a variety of quality resources and a flexible learning environment (p.9). The teacher librarian is tasked with essential jobs in offering effective reference services to teachers. 

Librarians in effective reference services, according to Riedling (p.4-5) must have a thorough knowledge of the collection, a high degree of communication skills and understanding in how to acquire and assess quality resources. Further, the teacher librarian supports teachers in finding information and teaching them how to use information sources. This involves instruction in critical thinking, the reference process and information seeking. 

However, sometimes, the greatest learning must happen first with the teachers who will be supervising the learning activities. Both of the teachers in these case studies evidence highly professional attitudes toward lesson planning, care for their students, assessment and use of resources. However, professionalism requires a degree of flexibility and openness toward further learning. Every lesson is an opportunity for teachers themselves to learn and grow in their practice – professional development. Teachers, not just students, must become “effective users of ideas and information” (Riedling, p.9). Critical reflection, innovative instruction and collaborative mindset are critical to this evolution. 

Innovation can be challenging, and change is hard

But innovation can be challenging, and change is hard. TheConcerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) offers a healthy perspective on the concerns of professionals as they progress through professional development that brings change to their practice and use of resources. Much like Kuhlthau’s Information Seeking Process with its focus on the emotional component of learning, the CBAM frames the self-concerns of teachers moving into areas of new learning with questions such as: “What is it?”, “How will it affect me?” (Loucks-Horsley, 1996). The concerns-based model acknowledges three important facts: the importance of “attending to where people are” (Loucks-Horsley, 1996) in their professional learning and practice, the long-term nature of professional learning over several years and the importance of critical reflection on how new practices are improving the learning experiences of students.

In a collaborative relationship, the importance of meeting teachers where they are in their professional practice is essential to building a vibrant, respectful instructional partnership.

In a collaborative relationship, the importance of meeting teachers where they are in their professional practice is essential to building a vibrant, respectful instructional partnership. The Standards of Practice for School Librarians in Canada encourages collaboration between classroom teachers and teacher librarians. By attending to the emotional and intellectual concerns of the classroom teacher as a learner, the teacher librarian as co-planner allows space to acknowledge both the needs and contributions of their teacher partner (Leading Learning, p.11) and is “critical” (Loucks-Horsley, 1996) for professional change to occur. 

The SAMR model, while based on the integration of new technologies, offers helpful guidance when conceptually expanded to include other pedagogical concepts such inquiry, Indigenous ways of knowing and resource-based learning. For the purpose of this paper, we will borrow the SAMR definitions as guidelines for teacher integration of innovative pedagogical practices, which includes, but is not limited to, technology. The SAMR model separates integration of innovative practices into four categories. Teachers may find themselves and their integration of new practices anywhere along the spectrum from Substitution or Augmentation through to Modification and full Redefinition. 

In these case studies, we will rely on three key resources to assess and encourage collaboration with a teacher. The underlying framework and fundamental motivation behind the professional partnerships in these case studies is the CLA Leading Learning Standards of Practice for the SchoolLibrary Learning Commons document. This document is built on the premise that learning does not simply happen in the classroom, rather the School Library Learning Commons is the “physical and virtual collaborative learning hub of the school” (CLA, p.5) and the teacher librarian is therefore a key player and partner in all areas of student learning. The Leading Learning document provides a helpful list of questions (CLA, p.29-30) to foster conversations that help school communities to move toward fulfillment of the standards. We will also reference the SAMR spectrum and and the CBAM model to asses how teachers may be emotionally experiencing the process of change. 

Finally, we will also take into account the long-term nature of professional development. Fontichiaro (2009), in her article Re-Envisioning Existing Research Projects suggests that a posture of methodical patience and continued perseverance toward positive change, like Aesop’s tortoise, is the key to “sustained change” and pedagogical transformation (p.18). Therefore, it is important to set reasonable, short-term goals with critical reflection of the practices are their effects on students learning.

Case Study #1

Teacher #1 likes to be well-prepared. She enjoys providing structured learning activities in a highly organized environment. This teacher is committed to integrating multiple subjects in her lesson planning and has developed a solid, if somewhat outdated, list of reference resources for her unit plan. This teacher needs to grow in the areas of collaboration, inquiry and other teaching methods and resource variety. Change may be particularly difficult for this hyper-organized teacher – it requires a willingness to engage unknown outcomes and requires that they source new resources and activities. However, the teacher needs to understand that they are not alone in the process. The rewards of building collaborative partnerships between teachers and librarians means that the burdens of planning, teaching, assessing are shared.

This teacher is firmly grounded in level 0 – Non-use and Awareness of CBAM concern for innovative instructional strategies. This teacher has obviously used the same lesson plans and activities several years in a row. This teacher is aware of Resource-Based Learning but has not expressed interest in expanding their existing resource requests to include alternative sources of information such as media or digital sources. Also, this teacher has not expressed interest in engaging in any changes to their existing plans. This teacher is integrating the instructional strategy of Resource-Based Learning at a basic Substitution level according to the SAMR rubric. Lessons are “teacher centric” (SAMR), resources provide illustrations for teacher-led instruction but do not provide any “real gain” (SAMR) or innovation for student learning.

A year-long goal for this teacher may be to encourage them toward CBAM Level IVB Refinement in which their use of innovative teaching practices moves into the SAMR Modification phase wherein common tasks, usually accomplished in a workbook, are now completed through alternate innovative teaching practices: Inquiry, Technology, the incorporation of varied resources and Indigenous ways of knowing. 

Building a collaborative relationship with this teacher may be formal or informal – over coffee or at a scheduled meeting. Leading Learning offers some helpful conversation starters (see below) for fostering the standards which might be particularly helpful to this scenario (CLA p.29-30). With all questions, gently reach out to the teacher, meet her when she is in her professional journey (Loucks-Horlsey) respectful of her professional capacities and her needs and boundaries. The guiding question for this teacher’s evolution is “How can we expand student learning beyond the binder?”. 

Ask how the TL and the SLLC may be able to support her in planning and instruction and gauge her level of need (Facilitating Collaborative Engagement to Cultivate and Empower a Community of Learners)

• Offer other helpful resource suggestions (apps, relevant community connections, helpful websites to visit…)

• It may be that this teacher simply is unaware of the support available through the SLLC and the TL. Open dialogue with this teacher to show them the many ways references services can be helpful to her planning and implementing – assessing quality resources, considering ways to implement them effectively through the research process

Engage with curiosity ways that technology might be helpful in the unit (Facilitating Collaborative Engagement to Cultivate and Empower a Community of Learners)

• Show-and-tell some apps that students might be able to use in their learning (iNaturalist apps, stop-motion animation to film leaves changing, iMovies of student presentations)

How can the SLLC be an example of innovation and creativity? (Advancing the Learning Community to achieve school goals)

• Provide examples of how the Makerspace, Loose Parts, the SLLC reference collection can provide helpful resources in planning for learning in this unit. Invite the teacher to take advantage of these resources, offer to plan a time together
• Invite the teacher to come and observe a TL-directed inquiry lesson on her chosen theme in the SLLC. Explain how student collaboration and use of varied resources is key in SAMR Redefinition and Modification of authentic learning activities
• Ask about ways the SLLC can partner in expanding the lessons using inquiry, Resource-Based Learning and technology being taught in class around the theme, invite the teacher to participate in planning, teaching or observing as they are able and interested

How can we engage in planning collaborative instruction? (Effective Instructional Design to Co-plan, Teach and Assess Learning)

• Invite the teacher to work with you on planning some collaborative lessons for the unit. Design a collaborative planning form together that empowers the teacher and allows for active co-planning and co-implementation and assessment of strategies

How can we incorporate technologies, resources and spaces to foster teaching and learning opportunities? (Effective Instructional Design to Co-plan, Teach and Assess Learning)

• This teacher uses a narrow list of resources, possibly they are unaware of the broader collection of resources available to them through the SLLC. This is an opportunity to evaluate their current resource list with them using a critical eye to scope, accuracy, presentation and timeliness to aid them in selecting more effective tools for this unit. This is an opportunity to nudge the teacher deeper into SAMR Modification/Redefinition with a new list of resources. Draw the teacher deeper into the Reference Interview and invite her to explore a broader spectrum of resources to help “find the best materials available – in all formats – to support teaching and learning” (Riedling, p.18)

• Brainstorm authentic response activities for students based on a variety of resources and technologies – various models for writing response poetry, Loose Parts oral storytelling about animal hibernation, Makerspace tinkering and hypothetical design of new-and-improved leaf blowers, creating youtube response videos or narrating homemade iMovie/30 Hands/PowerPoint documentaries
• Research and consider First Peoples’ understanding of seasonal changes, solstice, local patterns and understanding of local landscape – perhaps invite and elder or view authentic Indigenous digital/print resources and artifacts on the theme

How can we engage students in real-life learning scenarios? (Fostering Literacy to Empower Life-Long Learners)

• Brainstorm ideas together for science centres or STEAM-inspired activities based on the theme to foster relevancy and real-life applications
• Co-plan/teach mini-lessons on the inquiry process based on Kuhlthau’s Information Seeking Process. Provide step-by-step guidance and assessment so students can learn how to engage the reference process. This may require some prior practice with the teacher so she can gain a degree of comfort with the process!
• Invite a community member to come and discuss the theme with the class with a focus on real-life applications such as vocation, advocacy and hobbies

What new ideas and skills can we develop in students through this area of study? (Fostering Literacy to Empower Life-Long Learners)

• Reframe the narrow theme around more complex curricular big-picture ideas: observing seasonal changes (BC Curriculum), observable patterns and cycles (BC Curriculum). 
• Based on the big-ideas, plan Inquiry activities and model ways of generating student questions and supporting them in finding answers using Kuhlthau’s Information Seeking Process

How can we include participatory learning in this unit? (Designing Learning Environments to Support Participatory Learning)

• Plan opportunities to students to work in groups or with other classes to expand their learning
• Arrange partnerships between students engaged in similar inquiries or find opportunities to share learning from this unit with other classes, Big Buddies or teachers

These ideas may, at first, seem overwhelming to the teacher. However, they do not need to come all at once. Fontichiaro suggests that teachers may be more open to receiving suggestions one at a time rather than “in a bundle” (p.18). Also, it is important to remember that collaboration is fundamentally a relationship and building relationships takes time. Choosing just one or two of these steps may be a good start to creating a solid working relationship in which growth can occur over time.

Case Study #2

The second teacher in this study appears confident with Resource-Based Learning, actively incorporates innovative teaching methods like inquiry and has a greater understanding of the resources available to her through the TL in reference services in the SLLC. This teacher demonstrates a highly evolved professional capacity to learn and try new ways of teaching and learning. She is evidencing CBAM behavioural indicators from level IVB and an emotional indicator of level 4 – Consequence; the teacher is beyond concern for gathering resources, her ability to renovate her classroom to suit the theme of the unit and her openness to a variety of resources indicate that she is actively engaged in making changes to her practice and examining the impact on her students. 

This teacher is a whirlwind of energy and activity. She not only needs to spend time engaging the consequences of her practices through careful reflection, but she also needs a nudge toward coordinating with others (CBAM level V – Integration) and Collaboration (CBAM level 5). Her energy and innovation are lost if hidden within the confines of her classroom; she could be a powerful inspiration and source of learning in her teaching community. 

While she encourages the use of a broad collection of resources for inquiry, her resources are one-dimensional in issue: she requested only text. Therefore, this teacher can grow in the area of increasing her incorporation of relevant technologies and other resources at a Redefinition and Modification level of SAMR. Her use of inquiry is exemplary and she incorporates inquiry at a highly relevant level evidencing Redefinition standards of SAMR in her practice. 

This teacher appears very open to conversation with the TL about Reference Services and is willing to engage new resources, ideas and practices. Reference interviews with this teacher can include conversation around a broader collection of references resources which includes digital and media, and tools for refining her reference collection according to content scope. She may benefit from a conversation about how the resources she selects for her students reflect bias and authority or diversity. Having developed learning habits rooted in critical thinking in her students through inquiry, they may benefit from the challenge of evaluating resources in greater depth. She can also use support in generating deeper reflection on the Information Seeking Process and how her students are emotionally and intellectually engaging both the new information they are discovering and the process itself. 

This teacher requires very little of what Fontichiaro calls “tweaking” (p.18). Likely this motivated teacher will only require “a gentle prod” (Fontichiaro, 2009, p.18) from a trusted colleague collaborator to further engage her in “creating deeper learning experiences for [her] students” (Fontichiaro, 2009, p.18). The guiding question for this teacher’s evolution is “How can we share what you and your students are doing?”.

Some helpful conversation starters from the CLA Leading Learning document may include the following:

·         How do we cultivate a collaborative learning community in a school? (Facilitating Collaborative Engagement to Cultivate and Empower a Community of Learners)

• Invite the teacher to present a lesson in the SLLC and invite other teachers or classes to attend. Perhaps consider offering coverage for a teacher so they can observe Teacher #2 in action.

• Engage with curiosity ways that this teacher may wish to share her ideas with her peers. Perhaps the TL and Teacher #2 could create a professional show-and-share lesson for an upcoming school PD event, a lunch-and-learn event hosted by the SLLC or extend an invitation to another same grade class teacher to co-plan an upcoming unit together (TL+Teacher #2+other teacher)

·         How will the school Library Learning Commons be a model for and leader of innovation and creativity? (Advancing the Learning Community to achieve school goals)

• Consider new ways to share how her students are learning. Think beyond the bulletin board: do a PowerPoint or drama presentation at an upcoming assembly, create a display at the local art centre/public library/city hall, incorporate students and their learning at a district PD event
• Consider opportunities to use the SLLC as a location to display classroom learning – bulletin boards/walls/shelves. Can the SLLC participate in this learning endeavour by incorporating the theme into SLLC learning activities for the whole school?
• Rather than sending resources to the classroom, invite the class into the SLLC to participate in jointly-planned (TL+teacher) inquiry activities, visits from relevant special guests, exploration of resources

·         How can we make the best use of technologies, resources and spaces to support excellence in co-planning, teaching and assessing learning? (Effective Instructional Design to Co-plan, Teach and Assess Learning)

• Brainstorm ways to incorporate technology to redefine project outcomes and learning (SAMR): creating a classroom blog with student stories and images of their work as a way of communicating with parents and the school community, sharing their learning via Skype with their Big Buddies or a class in another school/city/country, create digital brochures of their learning, collaboratively create a ceiling projection in the SLLC of their ‘rewritten’ sky project including their new constellations and give other classes a virtual tour

• Plan mini-lessons to teach the evaluation process to students so they can participate in thinking critically about choosing and using the best resources

·         How do we support both student and teacher growth and success? (Effective Instructional Design to Co-plan, Teach and Assess Learning)

• Co-create a reflection planning sheet with the teacher and plan a time to reflect on student growth through the learning process, effective strategies, points of improvement, critique and ways to further incorporate collaboration between teachers, with the SLLC

This teacher is much farther along the CBAM spectrum of self-concern. She is comfortable with innovation and already engaged in evolving her own practice. Collaboration with a partner like this could be highly fruitful and exciting for a teacher librarian interested to explore similar lines of learning and inquiry!

Conclusion

I feel the irony of these two very different classroom experiences: “Can you find the books on this list?” trained students how to fill in the blanks while, “Get me everything you have on this topic, because you never know where our conversations will go” taught students to reach for the stars (quite literally in this instance)! The later is, I believe, a stronger preparation for students to become what Riedling calls lifelong learners (p.7). Is it possible that only teachers who are themselves lifelong learners can train students to be the same? Modelling by example, willingness to grow and change and fearlessness to allow new pedagogies to redefine one’s teaching practices are essential postures for the teacher who is effectively teaching students to “learn how to learn” (Riedling, p.7).

References

Loucks-Horsley, S. (1996). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM): A Model for Change in Individuals. Retrieved from http://www.nationalacademies.org/rise/backg4a.htm

The SAMR Model. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Retrieved from: http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/llsop.pdf

Fontichiaro, K. (2009). Re-invisioning Existing Research Projects. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=74c2dc4e-0372-4ba7-97bc-f54597e87255%40sdc-v-sessmgr05

Riedling, Ann, Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.