The Principal-Library Team Dynamic… Powerful partnerships forging information literate school communities Lyn Hay School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga, NSW

are together responsible for establishing environments for effective teaching and learning to take place Principals & teacher librarians

 whole school information policies & ICT plan  benchmarked information competencies & student portfolios  funds for information service provision  members understand TL role as teacher as well as information expert An information literate school community…

 teacher in charge of information services is qualified TL  teachers as learners  information skills across curriculum/in context  process of learning from information – resource based, problem-solving learning  learning contexts varied/wide range of resources  teaching teams encouraged

 student drafts included in assessment  information tasks negotiated with stakeholders  social justice issues considered re use of information process in homework  student feedback encouraged  student records of self-assessment  principal expects TL to meet ‘corporate’ information needs

Creation of an information literate school community

Inhibitors & enablers  analyse school for primary inhibitors & basic enablers  inhibitors – lack of time, confusion of roles, poorly designed assignments  basic enablers  team approach to teaching  understanding of constructivist learning  commitment to lifelong learning  competence developing learning strategies (Kuhlthau, 1993)

Information literacy traits  invention  fluency  support  navigation  searching  selection  questioning  planning  interpretation  deep thinking  commitment (McKenzie, 1998)

If principals and TLs are responsible for establishing environments for effective teaching and learning... what factors are critical to a successful and professional partnership?

Principals....Principals....  understanding of information literacy & encouraged teachers to embrace it  preferred verbal communication  support TLs as a quasi-senior member of staff as long as the TL is credible  identified TLs as ‘natural’ ICT leaders  rely on TL’s professional judgement  not exposed to TL issues at Principals’ conferences & meetings conferences & meetings

 provide TLs with freedom to ‘do their own thing’  allow release to plan/teach collaboratively & undertake professional development  support information literacy via major ICT funding & ongoing support of collection development  are uncertain how to evaluate the success of information literacy programs  place high value on TL qualifications & merit selection for the school’s TL position Principals....

Principals have high expectations....

 TLs being ICT literate & having a vision of the future development of information services in the school  what the TL should achieve in & beyond the library  the TL as information advisor to the Principal They have high expectations of....

 principals gave TLs ‘what they wanted‘ because they believed the TL would only make ‘legitimate’ demands  TLs tended to be ‘conservative’ in their requests – did not abuse the principal’s trust TRUST Principal-TL relationship

SHARED VISION Development of an ILSC could only be achieved through an integrated school library program:  close alignment between the TL’s & principal’s vision was essential  TL had to be credible & act as a change agent  TL needed broad based support & not seen as part of factional politics

understanding & believing in a collaborative school library program understanding & believing in a collaborative school library program recognising the importance of the TL recognising the importance of the TL ensuring collaborative planning time & other program resources ensuring collaborative planning time & other program resources providing appropriate staff development providing appropriate staff development monitoring implementation of a collaborative school library program monitoring implementation of a collaborative school library program Themes of principal support....

measuring perceptions measuring perceptionsperceptions identifying the level of attention given at present & in future identifying the level of attention given at present & in future measuring beliefs measuring beliefs indicate strength of alignment between P & TL indicate strength of alignment between P & TL open-ended questions open-ended questions identify barriers & support, P & TL roles and contributions identify barriers & support, P & TL roles and contributions Level of principal support....

Ps & TLs demonstrated close affinity across perceptions & beliefs Ps & TLs demonstrated close affinity across perceptions & beliefs Ps viewed themselves as spending less time on critical matters than their TLs thought they did Ps viewed themselves as spending less time on critical matters than their TLs thought they did Ps perceived current allocation of time on information literacy support as all they could give Ps perceived current allocation of time on information literacy support as all they could give Ps needed to increase support in 5 areas Ps needed to increase support in 5 areas TLs disagreed with some belief statements TLs disagreed with some belief statements Findings

Ps and TLs differed in 3 beliefs about TL absence, credibility & professional competence Ps and TLs differed in 3 beliefs about TL absence, credibility & professional competence Ps & TLs viewed TL critical contributions to quality teaching & learning as: Ps & TLs viewed TL critical contributions to quality teaching & learning as: professional development of teaching staff professional development of teaching staff collegiality collegiality collection management collection management process orientation process orientation ICT expertise ICT expertise Findings

Ps & TLs strongly agreed barriers hindering IL across curriculum were: Ps & TLs strongly agreed barriers hindering IL across curriculum were: funding funding teacher knowledge & beliefs teacher knowledge & beliefs teachers desire teachers desire planning time planning time credentials credentials TLs saw lack of top-down support as major impediment in ability to influence curriculum TLs saw lack of top-down support as major impediment in ability to influence curriculum Findings

Follow these 8 ‘Guiding Principles’... What do we need to do?

1. Communicate regularly 2. Don’t assume anything. Keep yourself & your partner informed 3. TL must be visible 4. TL must seek alliances 5. Ensure a balance in TL duties 6. Lead by example as information users 7. Work & learn together Guiding principles

emerging  developing  proficient  advanced Indicators  Existence of an information policy  ICT plan in place  Information skills taught & learned in context, across the curriculum  Authentic assessment enabling information skills integration  School-wide appreciation of TL role  Learning contexts varied, available in variety of formats  Mechanisms to support professional development of teachers for information literacy Develop an ILSC blueprint

“We can’t impart something we can’t live, we can’t teach something we don’t know, and we can’t expect something we cannot model. That’s why we need to clearly identify our paradigms and choose principles we want to guide us…

“And it’s also why we can’t afford to leave anyone behind in this process because, if we do, we’ll inevitably do the same with our students.”

The Principal-Library Team Dynamic… Powerful partnerships forging information literate school communities Lyn Hay School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga, NSW