Commitment

Professional Commitment and Leadership 


Relevant ALSA Standards: Commitment and Leadership
3.2 Commitment (commit to the principles of education and librarianship)
3.2.1 • Are dedicated to excellence in professional service.
3.2.2 • Emphasise a learning and teaching focus in school library programs and services.
3.2.5 • Participate in continuing professional development.
3.3 Leadership (demonstrate leadership within school and professional communities)
3.3.1 • Actively engage in school leadership and participate in key committees.
3.3.2 • Promote and nurture a ‘whole school focus’ on information literacy policy and implementation.
3.3.3 • Build and foster collaborative teams within school and professional communities.
 

Teacher librarian commitment is underpinned by well-conceptualised and current policies and practices. TL commitment is enacted through their own professional practice and by providing professional development for others.

Developing Library Policies

The School Library Association of Queensland provides advice on writing school library policies. The Edna provides a group page on its website where members can share examples of library policies and procedures. Additional information about policies and guidelines governing Queensland state school libraries is available on the Libr@ry Services website. The IFLANet website provides the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines in several languages.

 2008

The school's Resource Centre Guide lists 6 aims.

(a) To offer a full library and resource service to the students of the school.
(b) To give children an opportunity to develop an interest in literature for enjoyment and leisure.
(c) To enable and encourage children to follow up personal interests and hobbies.
(d) To develop in each child the skills necessary to use a resource centre effectively.
(e) To provide a venue and resources as an adjunct to the classroom.
(f) To encourage the use of a library as a display centre of children's work.
(g) To provide a wide range of up-to-date resources.
The library policy is in urgent need of updating.

Leadership: 2009

I am the Smart Classroom Coordinator and OneSchool Administrator for our school. In 2009 and 2010 I was the chair of the Assessment and Reporting Committee and a member of the ICT Committee. In addition I was an Accredited Facilitator responsible for mentoring teachers from other schools as they prepared their Digital Pedagogy Licence portfolios, and our staff as they prepared their ICT Certificate portfolios.

As the Smart Classrooms Coordinator, it was my responsibility to plan the ICT professional development. Example: Semester 2, 2009 ICT PD
As can be seen by the attached Semester 2, 2009 schedule, I offered ICT sessions once or twice a week most weeks. I encouraged other staff members to present sessions in their areas of expertise. This proved a very effective strategy. It helped to develop staff confidence and to raise awareness of the expertise within the school. It also allowed us to offere more variety while cutting down on my preparation workload. 

Professional Development
Over the past three years, I have informed my professional practice by:

  • consulting with school-based colleagues
  • belonging to TL networks
  • using TL discussion lists
  • attending TL conferences such as the EQ TL conference on the PFD
  • viewing sessions from the Classroom 2.0 Online conference
  • attending Alice Training
  • reading professional publications such as INCITE and SCIS Connections

2011

This year has been a year of surprises. I was offered a part-time position as a teacher-librarian at my school working two and a half days a week. I began the year full of enthusiasm. However I found a lack of clear concise library documentation and a limited vision of the library's role within the school.

I spent the first half of this year getting to know the library collection, learning library procedures, promoting student involvement in literacy events, strengthening our links to the nearby Council library, and experimenting with various approaches for library lessons. 

In the second half of the year, I negotiated with other library staff and the school admin team to develop and implement strategies for increasing accountability for and access to school resources through improved library processes.

Plans for next year include advocating for consistent inquiry-based learning approaches within the school and better consultation with teachers about their students' learning needs.

Planning for 2012 Accelerated Reader professional development is underway. To cater for a high staff turnover (new arrivals and changes of year level), intensive professional development will be needed in Semester 1 to promote consistencey of effective practice within each year level and across the school. Consistency is particularly important now that parents/carers can access their children's AR accounts and TOPS reports from home.

An orientation session for new staff will be conducted during the pupil free days. This will be followed by Issues and Solutions workshops. Data collected from these workshops will inform the format and content of sessions in Term 2.

Proposal for Term 1 AR professional development