Embracing Participatory Learning Through LLC Extracurricular Programming
by Jennifer Brown
Designing Learning Environments to Support Participatory Learning is one of the five standards of Leading Learning. In this paper, teacher-librarian Jenn Brown has shared strategies she has introduced toward building a participatory culture at her school Library Learning Commons. Jenn has taken a ‘beyond the timetable’ approach to opening up the LLC environment and has observed not only good attendance at the clubs and activities organized in the LLC but the added benefit of increased student engagement and involvement school wide.
Jennifer Brown is an elementary teacher in the Peel District School Board in Caledon, Ontario. In her current position she is privileged to be in the combined role of teacher librarian and guidance educator at an established K to 8 school in rural Caledon. Since beginning her teaching career in the late 1990s, Jennifer has been committed to social justice & equity in education. Jenn strives to create a learning environment based on student voice, trust and believing in children to guide their learning. As a Librarianship, ESL, Special Education, and Guidance and Career Education specialist, she actively engages in the ongoing study & implementation of innovative pedagogical practices through the school library learning commons to support & mentor fellow educators & foster student success throughout the entire learning community. Jenn has served as the Ontario School Library Association president, and as a contributor to Canadian School Library publications, OSLA’s The Teaching Librarian Magazine and OLA’s online magazine, Open Shelf. Jenn has extensive experience presenting at various library conferences and workshops throughout Ontario and Quebec, including ETFO Summer Academy, guest speaking at York University Librarianship AQs and much more.
Feel free to connect with her and learn more via email jennmacbrown@icloud.com
Social Media accounts for her current school library learning commons can be found on Instagram at @CalCentralLLC
Jenn, thanks for submitting this paper! I spent an inordinate amount of time watching every video in your slide deck (linked on page 3) showing the physical transformation of the space. I'm so glad you captured the before AND after. I wish I remembered to do the "before shots", even when I might not like how it looks prior to changes.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point on page 7 (which actually stopped me from writing a paper based on documenting and examining my school's library recess visit patterns): "extracurriculars are voluntary and not a requirement of the teacher librarian role. While I choose to centre them as part of my daily practice and as an extension of the participatory learning culture we are working to foster through the LLC
programming, I do not want to make other school library professionals feel as if this is the only way to create these opportunities". I've had many a debate with TL friends about the wisdom of making the school library available thanks to "donated labour" of mine. Ideally, it'd be best if school library professionals were exempt from yard duty in lieu of all the bonus supervision time these open recess/outside-instructional-time periods provide, but we don't live in an ideal world.
Re: some of your specific clubs ...
- Caledon Central TV = love the idea of a sound engineer, as a way for students who might not want a "front-facing" role! Are only the broadcasters allowed in the SLLC during the "live TV" times? If not, how do you reduce noise in such an open space? (This is why we started in the library but moved our virtual announcements to a separate room.)
- Book & Cook Club = where does the budget come to pay for ingredients; does it come out of the library budget or elsewhere?
- Rest Zone = this idea feels so revolutionary, yet reminiscent of earlier times in schools (although I like the idea that it's a student choice - no "forced kindergarten nap times" like I had when I was 4!). Do you have any anecdotal evidence from staff about the differences they might see in students who take a rest at this time?
- PALS = I love the idea of the identifying vests and the way the older students help the younger students. With some of your intermediate students coming from two other feeder schools, does this also help them socialize or make friends too?
- Student Librarians = what an amazing way to include younger students! I know that my library helpers runs quite differently from yours (and I admire how you can pedagogically justify all the ways you run it) and it provokes a lot of thought for me
As for your data collection, if sign-up is not required for many clubs, how do you track participation? Not attendance for some, so tallies? How do you manage your data? (I know I use a Google Form for my recess visits.) I also like this statement of yours, as it mirrors one in my "Decades of Data" paper: "It is important to note that high numbers are not the sole or necessarily most effective measure of success in extracurricular offerings" (page 24).
Sorry for my flurry of questions! I look forward to talking with you in person about some of these ideas!
Diana