Putting the Pieces Together: Creating a

Sustainable Future for School Libraries

Dr Ross J Todd

Director, Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries

Professor, School of Communication & Information

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

rtodd@rutgers.edu

www.cissl.rutgers.edu

www.twitter.com/RossJTodd

www.facebook.com/RossJTodd

• Antoine Comte de

Guiche: Windmills,

remember, if you fight

with them... ...may

swing round their huge

arms and cast you

down into the mire!

• Cyrano de Bergerac: Or

up, among the stars!

Central Ideas

• The future starts now: we construct the path by walking

it

• Define the school library concept: vision and action

• Evidence: national, regional, local – take matters into

our own hands: we are either part of the steamroller or

part of the road

• Access to libraries does not imply that students will

learn: integrated part of the pedagogy of the school

• Systematic and explicit interventions to maximize the

information environment for learning

• It’s about knowledge development, not information –

redefining capabilities

• Intellectual engagement and intellectual agency

• Pedagogical teams

• Conviction, courage, community, content, confirmation

The Essential Pieces

Dhinawan: Learning as a Beautiful Thing

• Never neglect our children

• Our country is the children that we work with

• Recognize their footprints – intervene early

• Help them become the strong tree that can sway in the wind

• Listen to the beat of their drums; tap into the rhythm of their lives

Vision, Intervention, Engagement, Sustainability

Foundations of the Vision

• the complexity and diversity of student learning in an

increasingly globalised and technological world and the

importance of responding innovatively to the needs of learners

• intellectual quality as a key learning outcome, underpinned by

authentic and powerful pedagogy

• the development and integration of disciplinary knowledge and

skills that enable critical thinking, problem-solving,

communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation

• the development of social, cultural and personal agency of our

young people

• the importance of connected, collaborative learning

• the centrality of a dynamic technology and media-suffused

environment

• the importance of digital agency

• quality teachers and quality teaching as the most important

influence on student learning

Do we really need a library?

• Availability of information technology

• Access to vast quantities of information on the Internet

• Costly infrastructure; increasing cost of print material

• Cost of personnel

• Students using libraries less since they first began using internet research tools

• Search engines are primary starting point for information searching

“blatantly obvious …

that libraries will

continue into the

21st, 22nd, 23rd, etc

centuries”

Information to Knowledge

• Privilege only digital

information - denies the reality

of the information landscape

• Using, not just accessing

quality information is the

foundation of deep learning:

school libraries must go

beyond being linked to quality

information in all formats

• Instruction in the

transformation of information

to knowledge remains a key

challenge of education

worldwide, and central to the

vision of school libraries

Do we need a school library?

“With the school library literally the heart of the educational program, the students of the school have their best chance to become capable and enthusiastic readers, informed about the world around them, and alive to the limitless possibilities of tomorrow.” Mary Gaver, 1958

50 years of evidence

Gaver, M. Every child needs a school

library. Chicago, ALA, 1958

Gaver, M. Effectiveness of Centralized

Library Service in Elementary Schools.

Rutgers University, 1963

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY ….

What is a School Library?

the school’s physical and virtual information-to-knowledge commons where reading, literacy, inquiry, thinking, imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to

students’ learning and knowledge development in all curriculums, and learning for work and

life in a global, increasingly digital world

FOSTERING INQUIRY AND

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

Library defined by outcomes, not input or processes or facility

Todd 1 and Todd 2

Singapore Airlines A380

Panama Canal

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

What was Nicolae Ceaușescu thinking?

Vatnajokull Icecap, Iceland

“We set sail on this sea because there is knowledge

to be gained” (J. F. Kennedy)

Library as Information Place

Library as Intellectual Agency

School Libraries 21C

• School Libraries Futures Project

• Commissioned by the Director, Curriculum K–12, NSW Department of Education and Training (DET NSW (Australia) in June 2009.

• Gather diverse range of viewpoints and perspectives on status and future of school libraries with a view to identifying directions, challenges, and support for the continuous improvement of the information landscape in NSW government schools.

• The online discussion took place from June 1 to August 5, 2009. 225 sustained responses

• Blog discussion was guided by Lyn Hay at Charles Sturt University, NSW and Dr Ross Todd at Rutgers University

VISION, ENGAGEMENT, EVIDENCE

1. The future of school libraries

(1a) Do we need a school library in 21st century schools?

(1b) How, if at all, do current school libraries impact on student learning?

2. The school library of the future

(2a) What would a school library of the future look like?

(2b) What would be its primary responsibilities and functions to meet the learning goals of schools?

(2c) What would be the essential work of the teacher librarian?

(2d) What would be its key impacts on student learning?

3. What will it take to get there?

(3a) Identify strategies / initiatives / support at the practitioner level

(3b) Identify strategies / initiatives / support at the school level

(3c) Identify strategies / initiatives / support at the NSW Department of Education level

Get over it and move on

• Don't waste any of your

precious energy

beating yourself, or

anyone else, up. Your

power to change your

life is in the present,

regardless of your past.

• Dr. Christiane Northrup

• http://www.drnorthrup.com

The Future of School Library

The school library is an important part of school life

• A common information grounds for supporting learning across the school: direct connection to curriculum

• school library as a knowledge commons or a learning commons – a common place, „a shared space for all students and the community‟

• Knowledge-centered outcomes: the provision of accessible resources, inquiry-based instruction, instructional teams.

• Emphasis of library as intellectual agency, rather than that of information collection and skills of finding information

Learning Commons

• Common place across the school for investigating and experimenting with information and IT, examining multiple perspectives and developing deep knowledge

• Opportunity for teams engaging in pedagogical experimentation to access and use information and web tools to empower learning through creativity, discovery, inquiry, cooperation, and collaboration

• Environment - students are guided by professionals to effectively utilize information and the most appropriate technology tools to support knowledge development - values and ethics

Learning Commons

• SL as a zone of intervention and socialization for

learning how to function effectively in the complex

informational and technological world beyond school.

• Balance and equity are essential dynamics: providing

for a common, equitable and stable information

access to all, regardless of socio-economic status,

and regardless of access to information technologies

out of school

• Central, safe place in school that removes barriers and

constraints to learning with information technology,

system, network, and time barriers, as well as local

constraints such as scheduling barriers.

Dynamic Learning Space

• School library as a flexible and dynamic learning

space: the learning intersection between digital and

print information in and beyond school

• Development of expertise of learning with and

through information and IT tools to create

knowledge

• 24/7 environment: support the knowledge building

process out of school – central portal for knowledge

development: tools, techniques, processes, help

• Center for inquiry, discovery, creativity, innovation

• Instruction: the primary action of the school library

Turning on the Lights

• Educational Leadership (March 2008, Vol 65, No. 6)

• Marc Prensky “Turning on the Lights” P. 40 - 45

• Powering down in school – not just devices, but brains

• “It’s their after-school education, not their school education, that’s preparing our kids for their 21st

century lives – and they know it” (p. 41)

• “When kids come to school, they leave behind the intellectual light of their everyday lives and walk into the darkness of the old fashioned classroom” (p. 42)

Re-Imagine School Libraries: Example

• Data/Info Commons - the reference collection, building background knowledge, both physical and virtual reference

• Knowledge Commons – in-depth resources targeted to deep learning across the curriculum (flexible collection)

• Leisure Commons – diverse free-choice reading, listening stations, iPod zone, e-zines and e-books

• Networking Commons – collaborative spaces students to discuss, create, share, compare, display

• Tech Commons – for small and large group instruction, information searching

• Production Commons – for creating and representing new knowledge

• Collective Commons – flexible discussion group spaces

• Café Commons eg Chelmsford HS Friday Java

The Evidence

Our claim

School libraries are

an integral part of

education reform

and leaning.

The reality?

“Occupational Invisibility” (Hartzell)

Others often do not see depth, breadth and importance

of what School Librarians contribute to learning in

schools

Teaching Role of the School Library

Meta-analyses of educational research shows that the

most significant impacts on achievement are:

- the role of teacher and quality of instruction;

- developing a supportive learning environment;

- engaging students in discovery, inquiry, thinking and

knowledge building

SL research suggests that instructional collaborations

between school librarians and classroom teachers is low

What did you do at school today?

Willms, J. D., Friesen, S. & Milton, P. (2009).

What did you do in school today? Transforming

classrooms through social, academic, and

intellectual engagement. (First National Report)

Toronto: Canadian Education Association.

© Canadian Education Association 2009

Dimensions of Engagement

Engagement?

Intellectual Engagement

STUDENTS

• Primary focus school library is on building capacity for critical engagement – giving emphasis to thinking creatively, critically and reflectively with information and using tools in the process of building knowledge and understanding.

• Primary instructional role: moving from “finding information” to “doing something with the found information” inquiry to knowledge creation

FACULTY

• A centre of learning innovation where teachers and school librarians are involved in creatively designing learning experiences by way of testing, trialling, and experimenting with information and tools to bring about the best knowledge outcomes for students.

Knowledge Outcomes

The Matter of Evidence

Outcomes Of Quality Teaching

Evidences of these learning outcomes are how we talk about the school library

• Intellectual Agency

• Personal Agency

• Social and Cultural Agency

Invisible Evidence Syndrome

• Problem of specifying evidence

• Implied evidence: outcomes

supposedly implied because

“This is what I do” “A school

librarian can make a great

difference to student learning,

especially if they develop

relevant online resources to

support students based on the

specific needs and abilities of

their own community of students

• Evidence / advocacy focus when

jobs are on the line

OUTCOMES

Intellectual Quality

Intellectual AgencyDeep knowledge

Deep understanding

Problematic knowledge

Higher order thinking

Meta-language

Substantive communication

Personal AgencySelf Confidence

Willingness to take risks

Trying new ideas and practices

Independence

Autonomy

Social and Cultural AgencyRespect for different values, cultural knowledges and viewpoints

Team building, collaboration, negotiation and decision making:

inclusivity

Knowledge integration: conceptual coherence and integration

Connect with current and future lives

Social and ethical values

Core capabilities to be developed

• Resource-based capabilities: These are abilities and dispositions related to seeking, accessing and evaluating resources in a variety of formats, including people and cultural artefacts as sources. They also include using information technology tools to seek out, access and evaluate these sources, and the development of digital and print-based literacies.

• Thinking-based capabilities: These are abilities and dispositions that focus on substantive engagement with data and information, the processes of higher order thinking and critical analysis that lead to the creation of representations/products that demonstrate deep knowledge and deep understanding.

• Knowledge-based capabilities: These are the abilities and dispositions that focus on the creation, construction and sharing the products of knowledge that demonstrate deep knowledge and understanding.

Core capabilities to be developed

• Reading to learn capabilities: These are the abilities and

dispositions related to the transformation,

communication and dissemination of text in its multiple

forms and modes to enable the development of meaning

and understanding.

• Personal and interpersonal capabilities: These are the

abilities and dispositions related to the social and

personal aspects of leaning about self as a learner, and

the social and cultural participation in inquiry learning.

• Learning management capabilities: These are the abilities

and dispositions that enable students to prepare for, plan

and successfully undertake a curriculum-based inquiry

unit.

Examples of claims

• Following an inquiry-based unit of work, 70% students showed improved ability in formulating essential questions that directed their inquiry as compared to their previous research task

• As a result of instructional interventions focusing on the development of arguments, students showed stronger ability to identify claims, provide supporting evidence and to identify rebuttals

• Students’ final products showed improved ability to analyze and synthesize information

• Students’ research reports showed improved ability to draw conclusions and state implications of their findings

• Students’ presentations showed ability to present different viewpoints and to provide a strong and supported case for their own position

• 83 % of the class show improved ability in thoughtfully analyzing and evaluating major alternative points of view

Example of Claims

• 93% of the students showed mastery of strategies for evaluating websites for misinformation and bias

• Following instructional interventions that focused on establishing the quality of websites, 100% of the students’ bibliographies showed use of high quality websites

• Based on a pre-test of initial and final knowledge of the Grade 8 science curriculum topic, students knowledge of their topics changed form descriptive and random listing of facts to statements that showed explanations, conflicting knowledge and making predictions

• The analysis of the final bibliographies submitted by the students compared to the initial research plans of the students showed a change from generalist background information to specialist, detailed, information sources

• Students; products showed increasing complexity of language used to describe their knowledge, and the ordering of this knowledge into conceptually coherent units

Shared Learning Teams

• Take advantage of varied experiences and expertises that exist in a school community

• “Occupational Invisibility” (Hartzell) Do not see depth, breadth and importance of what school librarians contribute

flexible team approach; alliances for shared learning

- Alliances within / outside school

- Instructional expertise

- Subject expertise

- Technical expertise

- Reading / Literacy expertise

- Student expertise

- Community expertise

Creating a Sustainable Future

• Re-imagining school

libraries

• From Information to

knowledge

• Evidence-based

practice

• Building teams and

partnerships

• Engaging Web 2.0

tools to develop

deep inquiry

• Without 21C vision, you walk

in darkness

• Without focus on developing

knowledge, there is no reason

for school libraries

• Without evidence, it is just

another opinion

• Without teams, there is limited

capacity for change

• Without Web 2.0, missed

opportunity for situating

learning in the real world of

kids

Björk “New Worlds”

“If living is seeing

I‟m holding my

breath

In wonder – I wonder

What happens next?

A new world, a new

day to see”

“New Worlds” in

“Selmasongs” album

“It is hard to set in

motion what is still, or

to stop what is in

motion”

Cobham Brewer 1810–1897

Dictionary of Phrase and

Fable