Executive Reports - Leading edge

Is it time to stop advocating for teacher librarians?

Access, Vol. 25, issue 4, 2011, p.3.

By ASLA President, Isobel Williams

What is it that parents, principals and teachers are really interested in? It is not how good we are at our jobs, not how good we are at managing or even finding information. What these groups are really interested in is the progress their children and students are making. Are the students improving? Are their understandings, skills and knowledge increasing? Are their educational outcomes getting better? It is time we stopped advocating for ourselves and started advocating for our students.

We know we can make a difference to our students. We all have stories about students who have increased skills, become readers or understood some aspect of a subject. We need to capture these stories but we need to collect the data that will go beyond the stories.

All principals are interested in school improvement. There are many competing interests in a school pushing for their particular area to be the one that will do this. If you don’t have the data to show that the library can make a difference then you need to find a way to collect it. Reflect on what you are doing. Can you point to anything that has increased student outcomes? Can you measure this? Principals respond to data-driven research and action. They are beyond 'feel good' and 'motherhood' statements; they want the facts and the data that will push the agenda of school improvement.

What you do in the library must be driven by being able to pull out the data and show that what you are doing is important to student outcomes.

What data do you have? NAPLAN, circulation statistics, number of lessons with collaboration, number of reference enquiries, students coming in at lunchtime? How have you used this data? Can you show that any of this has made a difference to your students?

This is not easy. Educating young people is a very complex business. What all teachers do is complex.

Stop telling the principal you need a job and start telling them what the students need. Look at what your students require and advocate for that. Students need a place to read, study, ask questions, navigate the information, learn about the scams and misinformation on the Internet, find out about the world they live in, socialise in a safe environment, a place to learn and a place to open the doors to the world. What is your library doing to provide a learning and social environment for your students? Are you looking to what is needed for 21st century learners? Can your school provide an environment to help students navigate the incredible variety of technologies available today? Are you up to date with what is available and able to provide guidance on digital information literacy skills, knowledge and behaviours? Have you looked at the National Curriculum and thought about where your skills are placed in this framework? Can you see where you fit in the AITSL standards?

It is time to start thinking about what we are doing to improve the outcomes of our students and advocate for them.