Sunday, January 11, 2009
How others see us....
We've had many conversations in our classes about perceptions our colleagues hold about media specialists. But I don't think we've ever focused on the concept of learning specialists. What does that phrase mean to you? How might use of that label help us achieve our mission in the school?
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When I graduated from college a long time ago, I was a Consumer Information Specialist for Atlanta Gas Light Co. We were formerly called "home economists"! The name change gave a broader perspective to our role. We provided information to consumers about anything related to natural gas, including cooking, but not limited to that.
ReplyDelete"Learning Specialist" focuses on the objective, or mission of schools, which is learning and all that is necessary for learning to take place. It is a broad term to me. It might help media specialists become more actively involved in the academic planning and assessment in a school.
The title "learning specialist" includes the media specialist in the teaching process. It is the research and reference skills that students really struggle with on standardized tests. I think this requires teachers to collaborate with the media specialist to meet student needs. As the learning specialist the ms is able to integrate information literacy skills into the curriculum. The ms can help achieve student success.
ReplyDeleteIn some schools, the media specialist is still viewed by many as a librarian who provides books for students to read. To move beyond that and be seen as a learning specialist would be profound in many ways. In my opinion, the phrase "learning specialist" means that we must know what the teachers are teaching and what the students must learn. We take that information, build our media center instruction around it, and become an essential part of the curriculum. We teach teachers and students. We partner with administrators and other leaders for support and advice. If we are successful, even in a small way, we will move towards our mission of preparing students to function productively in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in regards to school library media specialists, the phrase "learning specialist" combines two of our primary roles: teacher/ instructional partner and information specialist. Zmuda and Harada (P. 24) mention that one characteristic learning specialists have in common - whether they be a reading or math coach, an instructional technology specialist, a school librarian, etc. - is that they usually have no official, full assignment of students. Rather, they have the potential to touch many students in each of the various grade levels within the school. I feel that is the responsibility of the school librarian and many other types of learning specialists to impact the learning of every student within the school.
ReplyDeleteThe label "learning specialist" has great potential in helping school librarians to achieve our school mission. It immediately invokes thoughts of an informed instructor assisting with learning - basically, teaching. This is a role that classroom teachers can certainly identify with. And if they understand that learning specialists have the same goals in mind for their students, I would think that they would gladly jump on board with such a partnership.
I know this may come across as critical, but I just came out of the classroom and I know very well the perspective of many teachers concerning the job and role of the media specialist. For the most part, teachers feel that media specialists (in our school system at least) are individuals who have been out of the classroom for so long that they have lost touch with the realities of teaching or to have the full responsibility of producing acceptable scores on the test. Therefore, I can see many teachers taking great offense to the media specialist having the label of "learning specialist."
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think that if the media specialist/librarian does not become a job that is associated with teaching and learning, it will soon be a job that is cut from many school systems. No longer can this job be about checking in and out book...not with the budget crunches that every system is experiencing. Already systems are looking at using paras to serve the function of checking in/out books and curriculum directors or assistant principals to take over the purchases and bookkeeping of the media center while the computers/equipment are processed and handled by an on-site tech person.
The success of the children in a school is the responsibility of all staff members. I know it will take time for media specialists to revamp their idea of what their job involves and realize that they must become more involved in the teaching process. It will also take time for teachers to feel comfortable sharing their teaching responsibilities with media specialists. And it will take time for administrators and school boards to realize that in order to truly utilize both of these resource personnel, some time and thought has to be given for scheduling and planning.
I think everyone - teachers, media specialists, administrators - love the idea of collaboration and working together to help students achieve academic success. Unfortunately few are uncomfortable with and unsure about taking the initial steps to get the ball rolling.
I love the phrase "learning specialist". I think it describes the most important aspect of my job as a school media specialist. Just yesterday, a student interviewed me for a class project and she asked, "what do you think should be the goal of education?". I think that the goal of education is information literacy. It is my hope that the students I teach will learn how to learn and will learn to become life-long learners. Isn't that what information literacy is all about?
ReplyDeleteI think if we had the title "learning specialist", teachers, parents, and administrators would seek us as resources more often. As it is, I feel that I am constantly trying to prove myself as an educator (maybe this is just because I'm the new media specialist at my school, though). It also helps to create a more collaborative culture within the school.
When comparing media center's from my current and previous schools to what is considered by our state to be an exemplary media center, I truly get knots in my stomach.
ReplyDeleteIf media specialists are to be considered "learning specialists" it is my opinion that they should be way more involved in students' learning. In my opinion, "learning specialists" identify the learning needs of the students within the school, analyze the data, and determine an approach to better meet the needs of these students through the designing, instruction, and evaluation of student learning. As a result, the responsibilities should go far beyond assessments such as A.R. or STAR testing.
Media specialists must take more of an instructional role, which means they MUST collaborate with teachers. They also must be completely aware of the current curriculum. They also may conduct professional developments, serve as a mentor, lead study groups, and serve as a resource specialist.