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LEARNINGPrinciples and Standards

Librarians as Learning Specialists

2014

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Learning Principles?

• What are principles anyway?

Sorry—that’s a

PRINCIPAL!!!

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Define Principle, then?

• principle, n. 3. a. A fundamental truth or proposition on

which others depend; a general statement or tenet forming the (or a) basis of a system of belief, etc.; a primary assumption forming the basis of a chain of reasoning.

4. a. A general law or rule adopted or professed as a guide to action; a settled ground or basis of conduct or practice; a fundamental motive or reason for action, esp. one consciously recognized and followed.  Often partly coinciding with sense 3a.

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What does that mean in practice?

• We need to be aware of the principles that guide our teaching– Teachers’ assumptions regarding why and how

students learn and what makes effective instruction ultimately determine what takes place in classrooms. Therefore, it is critical for the faculty of a school to articulate together the educational principles that will guide their practice.•

http://murraylib601.org/3Ps.pdf

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What are standards, though??

• standard, n.9. a. The authorized exemplar of a unit of measure or

weight; e.g. a measuring rod of unit length; a vessel of unit capacity, or a mass of metal of unit weight, preserved in the custody of public officers as a permanent evidence of the legally prescribed magnitude of the unit.  original standard: the standard of which the others are copies, and to which the ultimate appeal must be made.

10. a. (Originally fig. from 9.) An authoritative or recognized exemplar of correctness, perfection, or some definite degree of any quality.

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How about learning standards?

• What are Learning Standards?– Learning standards are written statements of

what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education at every grade level. They are also called “Content Standards.” Learning standards describe what teachers are supposed to teach and what students are supposed to learn.

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Link between learning principles and learning standards?

• Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (AASL, 2007)– Download the Standards. – What are the learning principles behind

these 4 Standards?– Are they the same as the nine

“Common Beliefs” outlined in the document?

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Librarians as Learning Specialists

• Are librarians learning specialists?

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What is a learning specialist?

http://certifiedlearningspecialists.com/id28.html

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A non-librarian solution

• – The focus of this position is to help core subject teachers

utilize web 2.0 technologies in the classroom, to create a global and collaborative approach to learning. The design of authentic and engaging international projects which incorporate social networking, blogs, wikis, and podcasts, and whatever comes next, is paramount to the success of this position. The 21st Century Literacy Specialist works in collaboration with the Media Specialist and Technology and Learning Coordinator to ensure a seamless transition between traditional and digital literacy skills.

• 21st Century Literacy Specialist Job DescriptionInternational School Bangkok 21st Century Literacy wiki

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Meet a 21st century literacy specialist!

• Kim Cofino– I see this role as a bridge between

the library and technology, and therefore, a key aspect of this position, which makes it different than a traditional technology facilitation position, is the strength of collaboration between all three teams

• Defining the Role of a 21st Century Literacy Specialist• Ms. Cofino is now Technology and Learning Coach at

Yokohama International School. See her current blog

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Another term

• 21st Century Learning Specialist (21stCLS)– The  21stCLS models and helps (in planned and

unplanned moments) all stakeholders involved understand how learning is changing and the way technology is changing society. He/She is making her own learning transparent in order to teach. He/She creates, maintains and facilitates a learning environment for independent-self directed learners.

• Moving On... 21st Century Learning by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

• Read Tolisano’s blog at http://www.langwitches.org/blog

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Comment to 21stCLS

• Posted by: Jackie Pierson – find it rather interesting that someone feels the need to create

a new educational professional for the 21st century! All the specialists you refer to in your article ALREADY EXIST and serve students of the 21st century!

You state “Her/his primary goal is helping others become self directed learners.” That is EXACTLY the role of the “traditional” school library media specialist! School librarians have ALWAYS been the first professionals in a school to utilize the newest technologies and to teach the process of finding and evaluating information. They promote collaboration between classroom teachers and the technology facilitator.

• Comment to Moving On... 21st Century Learning (comment no longer available online)

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So, are librarians learning specialists?

• Certainly!– . . . library media specialists as learning specialists are

uniquely situated to collaborate in [helping individual students improve learning] through their development and dissemination of resources, curriculum leadership, and participation in professional learning communities. They also possess valuable skills in designing and analyzing instructional activities and assessments tasks, modeling of processes and “best practices,” and coaching of improved staff and student performance.• Reframing the Library Media Specialist as a Learning

Specialist by Allison Zmuda and Violet H. Harada. School Library Media Activities Monthly/Volume XXIV, Number 8/April 2008

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The Development of the Instructional Role of the Media Specialist

• Has it changed much?– It is evident from an analysis of two data sources that

an evolution in the instructional role of the library media specialist did occur from 1950 to 1984. A clear pattern of progressive development of the instructional role has persisted in the standards and the literature. The changes in the library media specialist’s role from study hall monitor to curriculum designer can certainly be termed substantive.

• Craver, K. (1986, Summer). The Changing instructional role of the high school library media specialist, 1950–84: A survey of professional literature, standards, and research studies. School Library Media Quarterly, 14, 4: 183-91. Also available in print in The emerging school library media program. Libraries Unlimited, 1988

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1945 Benchmark

• First set of national standards for school libraries K-12– School Libraries for Today and Tomorrow

published by the American Library Association– These standards linked the quality of school

libraries to the size of book collections and the frequency of classroom teacher use of the library. Further, the school librarian was beginning to be seen as an instructional leader for the “mental, emotional and social growth of young people.”

• Underwood, L. J. (2003). A case study of four school library media specialists’ leadership in Louisiana ,” EDD dissertation, W. VA University, p. 23.

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Tracing the evolution• The Fifties

– The decade between the close of World War II and the mid-fifties was termed by many educators as a decade of American complacency. Americans had emerged victorious from a world war and were exulting in their acknowledged super-power status. School librarians floundered in a wave of anti-intellectualism and the conformity that was precipitated by technological democracy and the Cold War.

– Teaching, despite the noticeable increase in audiovisual services offered by school libraries, was still dominated by the textbook.

• The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Media Specialist

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The advent of the space age

• 1957– The launching of Sputnik in 1957 was the catalyst

that halted America’s complacency and expedited the educational process.

– At this point, federal funds were made available for the purchase of the school library as a resource center, and not merely a depository. By the late 1950s, schools began to focus on learning rather than teaching, and on curriculum methods that permitted a broader instructional role for the school librarian.

• The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Media Specialist

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The decade of ferment• The Sixties

– In school library development and education in general, the 1960s can be described as a decade of ferment. “rhetoric and ideas abounded as to what education would do to solve a number of pressing social issues—from integrating the schools racially to promoting a love of reading among the disadvantaged or disinterested.”

– The school’s new emphasis on “diversified learning materials—both printed and nonprinted—for all subjects and levels of ability” finally brought to school librarians the opportunity for [a] greater instructional role.

• The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Media Specialist

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A new benchmark for the Sixties

• Standards for School Library Programs (American Association for School Librarians, 1960)

– Published in collaboration with the Department of Audiovisual Instruction (DAVI) of National Education Association• School Libraries, Education Encyclopedia

– Specified the collaborative leadership responsibilities of the school librarian with teachers regarding curriculum development and textbook selection. • Underwood, “

A Case Study of Four School Library Media Specialists’ Leadership in Louisiana”

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A major project

• Knapp School Libraries Project (1963-1974)– The Knapp Foundation supported

curricular innovations that included collaborative teaching with the school librarian. For the first time, the role of the school librarian changed from a keeper of materials to an active participant in the academic process. Thus, the Knapp Foundation recognized the importance of the school librarian as an active participant in schools that embraced the new reforms.• Underwood, “

A Case Study of Four School Library Media Specialists’ Leadership in Louisiana”

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Peggy SullivanAs director of the Knapp School

Libraries Project, she helped play an important role in convincing the public of the need for high quality

school library media programs.Newberry.org

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New standards and new title

• Standards for School Media Programs (ALA, 1969)– ALA and the DAVI of NEA publishes Standards for

School Media Programs, national guidelines that unify the roles of librarians and audiovisual personnel under the terminology of library media program and library media specialist.

• School Libraries, Education Encyclopedia

– School library media specialists were now responsible for non-print materials such as tape recorders, records, filmstrips, and film loops, which required expertise in technology.

• Underwood, Case Study

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A time of action• The Seventies

– This period witnessed an actual, rather than merely a proposed, change from passive learning on the part of students to an environment in which students and teachers actively participated together in projects and activities that served to convey information previously provided by a textbook or a teacher.

– Within this environment of change, the school library finally receives assurance that its educational goals and objectives, which in many cases were ahead of the times, were now appropriate.

• The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Media Specialist

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New standards again in 1975

• Media Programs: District and School (AASL and Association for Educational Communications and Technology [DAVI of NEA became AECT in 1971])

– The 1975 standards . . . gave more attention to systematic planning providing guiding principles for both site-level and district-level decision-making. By this point, the school library specialist was seen as an integral part of the total instructional program.

• Program Standards School Library Media Specialist Preparation (AASL and NCATE, 2003), p. 5.

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A mercurial environment• The Eighties

– While the instructional role of the school library media specialist from 1980 to 1984 could be characterized as a period of adjustment concerning the implementation of instructional design activities, the introduction of computers presented library media specialists with a new set of problems.

– There is evidence that more systematic approaches were being followed for instruction and that library media specialists were being urged to consider their educational role within the framework of the total program.

• The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Media Specialist

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Response to A Nation at Risk (1983)

• Alliance for Excellence: Librarians Respond to a Nation at Risk (1984)– Four basic concepts presented:

• Learning begins before schooling. • Good schools require good school libraries. • People in a learning society need libraries throughout

their lives. • Public support of libraries is an investment in people

and communities. – Shirley Fitzgibbons,

School and Public Library Relationships: Essential Ingredients in Implementing Educational Reforms and Improving Student Learning

School Library Media Research Volume 3 (2000)

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The Information Power Era• A major policy document

– The major development in 1988 in terms of standards was the publication of the new school library media guidelines, INFORMATION POWER (AASL & AECT, 1988). This document presents an active, forward-looking role for library media programs based on the library media specialist functioning as information specialist, teacher, and instructional consultant. Discussions of the guidelines are just [in 1989] beginning to appear in the literature; however, the document has already been presented to educators at all levels.

• Trends in Library and Information Science: 1989. ERIC Digest

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Another major project• Library Power (1988-98)– Inspired by the vision of Information Power (1988)– Library Power programs established in 700 schools

in 19 communities nationwide– “Faithful adoption of Library Powers core practices,

along with widespread acceptance of these practices, can lead to permanent change; similarly, as similar policies are implemented elsewhere institutionalization of these practices is more likely.”

• “What Works”: Research You Can Use: The National Library Power ProjectTeacher Librarian, 27 (2) (1999, Nov-Dec).

• See also Library Power Executive Summary: Findings from the National Evaluation of the National Library Power Program and the Full report

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• Affirmed that “Student

Achievement IS the Bottom

Line”

Information Power 2nd ed., 199829

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Information Standards 199830

http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/education/media/InformationLiteracyStandards_final.pdf

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New standards, 200731

http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/learning-standards

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Defines 9 foundational beliefs

• Reading is a window to the world.

• Inquiry provides a framework for learning.

• Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.

• Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs. 

• Equitable access is a key component for education.

• The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.

• The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.

• Learning has a social context.

• School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.

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Four Standards for 2007

• The Standards describe how learners use skills, resources, and tools to1. inquire, think critically, and gain

knowledge;

2. draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge;

3. share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society;

4. pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

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A blueprint for progression34

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Applying the standards• Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action

– This publication from AASL takes an in-depth look at the strands of the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and the indicators within those strands. It also answers such critical questions as How do the strands—the skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies—relate to one another?

– Benchmarks are provided along with examples that show how to put the learning standards into action. This is a practical book with examples of how to maximize the application of the learning standards at different grade levels.

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• Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs– Empowering Learners advances school

library programs to meet the needs of the changing school library environment and is guided by the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action. It builds on a strong history of guidelines published to ensure that school library program planners go beyond the basics to provide goals, priorities, criteria, and general principles for establishing effective library programs.

New Guidelines, 200836

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An online resource

• A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners– With School Library Assessment Rubric– A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners

is a program evaluation, planning, implementation and advocacy tool that will ensure school library program planners go beyond the basics to provide goals, priorities, criteria, and general principles for establishing effective library programs.

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A video for the Planning Guide38

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LEARNING