By Lila Armstrong
I suppose that I never really considered that I might lose my position as teacher librarian (TL). Although changing schools is always possibility, I had all the ducks lined up to continue my work in the library, including starting a MLIS. It was only as the staffing season rolled out last June that I found myself entering the process as a hopeful teacher, and not a TL. I was fortunate to be re-hired at the same school, moving into grade 8/9 humanities and French.
Was it karma? Perhaps. I have often been up on my soapbox talking about how teachers benefit from changing roles and being in that uncomfortable learning zone and here I was forced to take my own advice. Although the prospect of going back to teaching was at times daunting, it was also an amazing opportunity to “start fresh,” “be in the trenches,” and “see what it’s really like these days” after being in the learning commons. There is a certain part of being a specialist teacher that others you from colleagues (no report cards and classroom management being number one and two on that list), but I knew I was making this move with the support of colleagues and friends in the school where I had already spent two years – a boost that I appreciated.
Once I knew what my assignment was going to be, I began to consider how my skills as a TL would lend themselves to my prior teaching practice, and I was excited about what a new challenge could mean for me. When I moved from an elementary school learning commons up to high school, I felt the same kind of subtle anxiety as I waited on the starting line of my new job. Once I got going, it was exhilarating, and I knew that it had been a good leap. As Dr. Daniel Pink writes in The Power of Regret, “Over time, we are much more likely to regret the chances we didn’t take than the chances we did”.
If anything, this move forced me to reconsider myself as a professional and walking away from my carefully laid plans moved me quite solidly into the uncomfortable growth zone.
I spent the first two weeks of summer break researching and planning out my courses. I made outlines for each course, and my OneDrive became a thing of beauty – colour coded folders for each course with resources ready to go. My web folders mirrored my OneDrive and boasted the curation skills that I had formerly applied to my work in the library. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that teachers don’t know how to find good resources, but it gave me confidence that I was going to be okay and had not forgotten how to plan a course. One of the most exciting parts of this new fork in the road was going to be that I was teaching a new grade 8 elective in Digital Literacy – I had a safe place and administration who trusted me to make it my own! Another novel piece was going to be the ability to integrate research skills and media literacy into my lessons over the course of a year – and out of the silo.
According to Trevor Mackenzie, in his article Classroom Inquiry’s Secret Weapon: the Teacher-Librarian,
“Because of their [TLs’] training, they have a knack of offering up just the right support in ways that lift up or elevate my teaching practice. They complement my instruction with their own when working with students to assist in the research phase of inquiry. TL’s employ their unique expertise as they walk students through the learning library and demonstrate how to navigate databases and locate resources. They also sharpen research skills by helping students understand the validity of information and evaluate it by recognizing bias and persuasion in various sources.”
CSL Journal 3(1), Winter 2019
I would be my own secret weapon.
The nature of teacher-librarianship is the ability to adapt and to adopt: adapt to the changing landscape of information, students, technology and education; and adopt new skills, new methods and strategies to successfully implement programs, integrate technology and involve students in the processes.
These skills came in handy for Alanna King, former TL, and a longtime CSL contributor and researcher. Due to a complex array of factors, Alanna, an inspiring professional in the library world, came to find herself facing a career change. With an M.Ed (library focus) already in her pocket, Alanna decided to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design. Her prior work writing courses for the Ministry of Education in Ontario, and her work teaching online made this a natural fit. But she did not stop there. She was seconded by TVO to curate and manage their collection with the goal of creating a scale for educational value in the TVO catalogue. Alanna continued this work to create resources for journalists to consider the representation of disability in the media, which is now being trialed at Carleton University. Being able to use her growth mindset and ability to pivot kept doors open as she engaged with professional endeavours and created new opportunities for herself.
Although her heart is in the library learning commons, and she would love to return to a position there, Alanna reflects thoughtfully: “Being a teacher-librarian has taught me many ways to be an agent of change. This is my raison d’être…Students come first. I don’t know if this is a specific tool of TLs but I do know it has helped me to see clearly where my energy needs to go.” Alanna currently teaches online and strives to find way to support and encourage her learners.
Without reducing the impact that TLs have in the physical learning commons space, it is perhaps taking this new skill set back to students of my own that continues to make this move exciting for me. Not being afraid of failing a lesson, or having the technology explode when you need it most are just two examples of this! The maker in me can handle the mess of learning and I enjoy empowering students with new skills that come out the other side. Having the time to build relationships with multiple classes of students has been so rewarding, even in just two months. Finding ways to share what I see in students and seeing the changes that come day to day reminds me of the joy I found teaching Kindergarten. If there was even an age where you can see students growing, it is there.
at TMC6 in 2020.
Teaching Kindergarten is where we can now find Beth Lyons, former Ontario School Library Association President and frequent CSL contributor/project lead. When I asked Beth why she elected to journey back to the classroom, she said that she believes that too much time away from the classroom can erode your practice as a teacher. Teaching in the library is not the same has having a class of your own. For some, this is an attractive part of being a TL; for others, it becomes a reminder that we still love the classroom environment and miss it.
Beth has taken her inquiry-based learning practice from the library and incorporated many aspects into her daily routines. Soft starts, loose parts, games, maker space materials and reading nooks create a welcoming learning environment for her students. Beth reflects on her own growth and change as she incorporates this pedagogical approach: “It allow[s] students to explore a variety of relationships based on mutual interests and I was able to meet with individual students for assessment or to differentiate learning needs. I also have become more skilled at recognizing the value in using conversations as assessment. Students are eager and excited to share their learning and connections. When we slow down and find time to listen to students as they play, make or explore, they are engaging with the curriculum and it’s our job to observe, record and question these authentic assessment opportunities.” She has no plans to leave Kindergarten as she is enjoying this new challenge and using her TL skills to see the “learning as it is happening regardless of the lesson.”
Perhaps we will end up back in TL roles. Perhaps we will not. But one thing is certain: we are redirecting our passions to the new opportunities before us, with a skill set that lends itself to innovation and imagination every step of the way.
Lila Armstrong is a TL taking a step back into teaching. As a CSL Director and part of the Leading Learning Team, she gets her fix of library matters that are near and dear to her heart. Lila and her family live on their farm in the beautiful Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island.