1. Expert learning: It’s essential or
‘Teacher-librarians write new curriculum!’
Mary Manning
School Library Association of Victoria

2. Expert learners
Experts see patterns and meanings not apparent to novices.
Experts have in-depth knowledge of their fields, structured so that it is most useful.
Experts' knowledge is not just a set of facts -- it is structured to be accessible, transferable, and applicable to a variety of situations.
Experts can easily retrieve their knowledge and learn new information in their fields with little effort. (The list above was adapted from "How People Learn," published by the National Research Council in 1999.)
Source:

3. Teacher-librarians have long held the view that it is the generic cross-curricular skills, attributes and behaviours which are vital in the development of the autonomous (or expert) learner

4. Teacher-librarians believe that such skills should:
Be articulated in the curriculum documentation
Be able to be used by students in a range of situations (transferability)
Be interwoven throughout all elements of the curriculum
Be valued, assessed and evaluated
Have identified statewide standards
Have a whole-school approach to the integration into curriculum development

5. Introducing………. The Victorian Essential Learning Standards
A new approach to organising curriculum
A new approach to learning

6. VELS addresses
The economic and social changes associated with the development of our global, knowledge-based world and their implications for schools, and
The growing evidence base about how people learn and its implications for teaching that works

7. A move away from increased content towards:-
A student-centred approach
Developing the learner who can apply their knowledge beyond the classroom to new and different situations
►Expert learners

8. Becoming an expert through an inquiry approach
Inquiry-based learning
Student-centred learning
Focuses on ‘how we know’ rather than ‘what we know’
Develop information processing and problem-solving skills
Students construct their own knowledge
‘SLAV CD ROMs and publications’

9. Purposes of VELS understand the world in which they live
Students will leave school with the capacity to:
manage themselves as individuals and in relation to others
understand the world in which they live
act effectively in that world.

10. Three components
The processes of physical, personal and social development and growth
The branches of learning reflected in the traditional disciplines; and
The interdisciplinary capacities needed for effective functioning within and beyond school
(we like it already!!)

11. Three strands Physical, Personal and Social Learning
Discipline-based Learning
Interdisciplinary Learning

12. Structure of VELS Interdisciplinary learning strand
Discipline-based learning strand
The Humanities
Physical, personal and social learning strand

13. Integration and equality
Knowledge, skills and behaviours in each of the three strands
Together the three strands provide the basis for students to develop deep understanding
An ability to take their learning and apply it to new and different circumstances
The disciplines are related to the other strands in a new and integrated manner

14. Interdisciplinary learning
Students are better able to:
develop
demonstrate
use
discipline-based knowledge and skills when they are able to employ the knowledge, skills and behaviours described in the interdisciplinary domains of Communications, DCT, Thinking Processes and ICT

17. This means that:
Skills that have never been explicitly stated before are now acknowledged and standards stated
Interdisciplinary skills and behaviours are of equal value to discipline skills and knowledge
A whole school approach is necessary for planning
Integration and collaboration required
Focus on what is essential for expert or autonomous learning

18. Some examples from the VELS:
Thinking processes
Our world and the world of the future demand that all students are supported to become effective and skilful thinkers. Thinking validates existing knowledge and enables individuals to create new knowledge and to build ideas and make connections between them. It entails reasoning and inquiry together with processing and evaluating information.
Students develop strategies to find suitable sources of information and learn to distinguish between fact and opinion.
Students increase their repertoire of thinking strategies for gathering and processing information.

19. Thinking Processes Level 1(learning focus)
Students explore a wide variety of familiar contexts. With encouragement and support, they wonder, question and become adventurous in their thinking about these contexts.
They reflect on their thinking (for example, why they think what they think about a text)

20. Thinking Processes
They further develop their skills in using a range of sources of information when investigating selected questions. Level 2
Reasoning, processing and inquiry
At Level 3 students collect and organise ideas from a range of sources to answer their own and others’ questions. They question the validity of sources when appropriate. They apply thinking strategies to organise information and concepts in a variety of contexts.

21. ICT
In their learning of new material, students experiment with some simple ICT tools and techniques for visualising their thinking. They organise and classify information and ideas, and present them in a manner that is meaningful to them.
Students develop an understanding of the importance of checking the accuracy of facts that are going to be processed

22. ICT
They also use simple graphic organisers such as concept maps to provide a framework for visualising thinking. Students reflect on the usefulness of such tools and strategies in new circumstances.
(level 2)
They locate information on an intranet, and use a search engine and limited keywords to locate information from websites. (level 3)

23. ICT Example They use complex search strategies (for example, Boolean) to locate information from the Internet and other sources, and they evaluate the integrity of this information. They organise and store gathered information to enable easy retrieval. They access online interactive e-learning tools to help them to develop knowledge across the curriculum, and explain how these tools differ in supporting learning and whether they assist the development of deeper understanding.

24. Personal learning This domain provides students with
the knowledge, skills and behaviours to be successful learners both at school and throughout their lives.
They need to develop a sense of themselves as learners and develop the knowledge and skills to manage their own learning.
As they do this, they move from being supported learners to autonomous learners.

25. Assessment
Assessment in the areas of personal learning and interdisciplinary learning will be challenging
(Di Peck, DE&T, 2005)
Teacher-librarians can make a very positive contribution in this area

26. Assessment is part of the learning process
Purposeful assessment considers both:
process (how the learning takes place)
product (what was learnt)
Assessment of the VELS requires a mix of:
Summative assessment to determine student achievement
Formative assessment to inform next stage of learning
Assessment must evaluate students’ knowledge, skills and behaviours in an INTEGRATED way.
All teachers can contribute to a student’s assessment.

27. Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is most productive when students are trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the purposes of their learning and grasp what they need to do to achieve
See
The teacher-librarian program P-6
Making a difference: Research guide
Researching together: Engaging minds

28. Assessment as learning
Occurs when students reflect on and monitor their progress to inform their future learning goals
Student-centred approach
Students engaged in their own learning

29. ‘… use a range of question types’
Integrated assessment
Thinking Processes
‘… use a range of question types’
Communications
‘…use the communication conventions, forms and language appropriate to the subject to convey a clear message across a range of presentation forms
Historical reasoning and interpretation, level 5
…students frame key research questions, plan their investigations, and report on their findings. They use a range of primary and secondary sources including visual sources …
Students use a variety of forms to present their understanding. They evaluate historical sources for meaning, point of view, values and attitudes.
... Use a range of appropriate strategies of reasoning and analysis to evaluate evidence and consider their own and others’ points of view

30. ICT for visualising thinking
Integrated assessment
Historical knowledge and understanding, level 5
‘…They demonstrate understanding of key concepts such as …
ICT for visualising thinking
‘…students select and apply ICT tools and editing functions that support the filtering, classifying, representing, describing and organising of concepts, issues and ideas.’

31. Implications for the school library
leadership
auditing
common understandings
collaboration and integration
authentic learning
student-centred inquiry approach
rich ICT and print resources
All within the context of interdisciplinary and personal learning enjoying equal billing!

32. Leadership
At a SLAV conference, Assessing the evidence, assessing the learning, in 2002, Dr. Ross Todd said:
‘Empowerment, connectivity, engagement and interactivity define the actions and practices of the school library, and their outcome is knowledge construction: new meanings, new understandings, new perspectives.’

33. Auditing
Audit your program against the Victorian Essential Learning Standards
This will:
familiarise you further with the concepts and standards
allow you to identify your expertise and where the opportunities arise

34. Common understandings
Information process
A whole school approach to planning
‘Making a difference:
Research guide’

35. Two SLAV resources which will be invaluable in our work with VELS are Making a difference (2003) and Researching together: engaging minds (2005). If you are not familiar with them I encourage you to work your way through them – there are many examples to assist you, and why reinvent the wheel?

36. Integrating thinking skills
Explore concepts and strategies to integrate thinking into classroom activities
Researching together: Engaging minds offers understandings of concepts, interdisciplinary skills and teaching strategies

37. ►authentic learning tasks
R2G offers six research formats that facilitate collaboration focusing on process as well as content.
The teacher-librarian program P-6 offers
Learning outcomes
Evaluation strategies
Templates and practical tools

38. On the researching together CD there are many weblinks, teaching units, and templates in a variety of formats. There is also a staff professional development unit. A good way to familiarize yourself with the resource is to use the site map and the complete list of web sites.

39. ICT for visualising thinking
ICT tools that facilitate visual thinking are ones that allow ideas and information for all areas of learning to be easily and quickly drafted, filtered, reorganised, refined and systematically assessed in order to make meaning for students.
Students use linguistic, and non-linguistic representations, such as graphic organisers, ICT-generated simulations and models and ICT-controlled models to help structure their thinking processes and assist in constructing knowledge.
Source: Making a difference: research guide, SLAV

40. Student centred
Supporting both the VELS and the Principles of learning and teaching, the school library provides a positive and supportive environment for individuals and small groups to discuss, problem-solve and reflect on their learning
Making a Difference and learning styles ’
Making a difference

41. Inquiry-based approach
Jamie McKenzie: ‘The question is the answer’
Acknowledge learning styles and develop rich and challenging questions:
‘Making a difference’
Designing questions matrix

42. Rich ICT and print resources
Collection development
Management of print and virtual resources
Value adding by creative use of resources
‘VELS will require teachers and students to use different learning and teaching practices …. Some of these approaches will include digital multiliteracies.’ (2006)Bronwen Parsons

43. Victorian Education Channel Webquests - retrieved, March 29,

44. Webquests: real-life, authentic, engaging

45. Assessment
Work with teachers to build assessment into their learning activity
A range of assessment tools can be found on the CD ROMs MaD, R2G and TLP, e.g.
Learning journals
Personal management rubrics
Peer evaluation

46. Assessment strategies
Personal learning plans – resource location and use
Rubrics
Observation sheets
Small group reports
Shared correction of units of work – teacher -librarians might correct the research or bibliography or an agreed part of the assignment
Evidence based examples from R2G
Templates and strategies from TLP
Self-assessment templates from MaD
Use of ICT’s in the library
Ocean Grove (Vic.) BPA (2006)

48. The Victorian Essential Learning Standards is a curriculum approach that has long been understood by the teacher-librarian
This reform is an opportunity too good to miss – we must take to initiative and lead the way!

49. Where to start? Find your entry point and then make the links
(John Firth, VCAA 2005)
Visit