Ray Doiron visited us remotely, by Skype!
Discussing School Libraries 2.0, he fluidly links literacy (literacies!) and libraries. In looking to critically question some long-held tenets and to create a new research-based vision, his purpose for us is to explore the notions of web 2.0, library 2.0 and pedagogy 2.0.
In looking at a new vision for our school libraries, we need to consider co-creation with all active users. Our wariness of new learners as digital natives is an opportunity to journey with them, to travel the digital landscape together. Our physical and virtual space is an open source, open access environment for social construction of new learning.
Ray asserts that we need to create these visions locally, with our active users, but really we need to think locally and act globally, to create a vision for all school libraries!
Visit School Libraries Worldwide and Towards a Transformative Pedagogy for School Libraries for more!
TMC Blog: Our collaborative think tank discussion hub. Continue the conversation from TMC8 2025. Read the papers, review the events!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
re-think, re-frame
Garfield Gini-Newman, professor @ OISE, started us off this morning with a context: An educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.
Going on to quote George Bernard Shaw with ‘What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge and not knowledge in pursuit of the child. ‘, Garfield spoke of four fronts of reforming education.
1. Re-think learning targets: What are we measuring?
2. Put inquiry at the heart of learning : Do we start learning journeys (study units) with inquiry? We use backwards design to plan, but do we inform the students of where the strand is going? Do we make the vision and destination transparent to the students?
3. Re-frame teacher-student relationships: How do we create the climate where all stakeholders contribute to the learning?
4. Assess for thinking: We need to engage students in thinking, deeply, in all that they do. We want to assess for thinking. We need to give them tools for thinking.
Going on to quote George Bernard Shaw with ‘What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge and not knowledge in pursuit of the child. ‘, Garfield spoke of four fronts of reforming education.
1. Re-think learning targets: What are we measuring?
2. Put inquiry at the heart of learning : Do we start learning journeys (study units) with inquiry? We use backwards design to plan, but do we inform the students of where the strand is going? Do we make the vision and destination transparent to the students?
3. Re-frame teacher-student relationships: How do we create the climate where all stakeholders contribute to the learning?
4. Assess for thinking: We need to engage students in thinking, deeply, in all that they do. We want to assess for thinking. We need to give them tools for thinking.
Mire and Stars
Ross Todd quoted Cyrano de Bergerac as a reflection of the critical nexus that we're in at this time, as school libraries.
Antoine: Be so good as to read once more the chapter of the windmills... Windmills, remember, if you fight with them...
Cyrano: My enemies change, then, with every wind?
Antoine: ...may swing round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire!
Cyrano: Or up, among the stars!
Ross asked, “Are we going to plod along in the muck, the mire?” Though there is foreboding in our school libraries world, we are in fact at a watershed time. We must go on to ask strategic questions: "How do we craft and engineer the learning experiences of our students?” In so doing, we must embrace the emphasis on intellectual agency as THE central concept of the Learning Commons. It is upon us to engage in pedagogical experimentation.
The question for us, as individual practitioners, is how we pursue that experimentation. What does that look like in our schools? What vision do we hold for that tenet? Exploring those strategies here today, in our dialogue at TM Canada, our school libraries community is asking you to engage in this exploration.
Tell us what visions you hold for experimentation in your school library. How do you envision the stars?
-
Antoine: Be so good as to read once more the chapter of the windmills... Windmills, remember, if you fight with them...
Cyrano: My enemies change, then, with every wind?
Antoine: ...may swing round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire!
Cyrano: Or up, among the stars!
Ross asked, “Are we going to plod along in the muck, the mire?” Though there is foreboding in our school libraries world, we are in fact at a watershed time. We must go on to ask strategic questions: "How do we craft and engineer the learning experiences of our students?” In so doing, we must embrace the emphasis on intellectual agency as THE central concept of the Learning Commons. It is upon us to engage in pedagogical experimentation.
The question for us, as individual practitioners, is how we pursue that experimentation. What does that look like in our schools? What vision do we hold for that tenet? Exploring those strategies here today, in our dialogue at TM Canada, our school libraries community is asking you to engage in this exploration.
Tell us what visions you hold for experimentation in your school library. How do you envision the stars?
-
Intellectual Initiation
Well, TM Canada got started to tonight!
Once communed over a lovely dinner, David Loertscher initiated the group with the agency to be none of us observers, but everyone of us a contributor, to help build collectively. With the introduction of Ross Todd, the keynote speaker, we were ready to dig in!
Ross shared a global perspective of school libraries, goings on around the world. Making note of patterns on the learning landscape, he spoke of our unprecedented place in education's history. Ross referred to the complexity and diversity of student learning and the importance of responding innovatively. The development of social, cultural and personal agency is our moral purpose as educators. The question for school libraries, at a critical nexus, is how we find the pathway to building intellectual quality. Quality teaching is central to building the pathway.
Ross spoke of three critical issues: evidence, vision and engagement. The quality teaching is central to engagement. Without vision we walk in darkness. Most pointedly, though, he clarified that we must "move beyond the advocacy stance, into evidence-based practice".
David segued from Ross' delivery into an activity of table talk for the development of further questions. In roles, classroom teacher, administrator, student and Teacher-Librarian, we explored the question: What does it take to build an exciting learning environment?
With a bound copy of the research papers in hand, we all left to ruminate over questions and ideas.
More tomorrow!
Once communed over a lovely dinner, David Loertscher initiated the group with the agency to be none of us observers, but everyone of us a contributor, to help build collectively. With the introduction of Ross Todd, the keynote speaker, we were ready to dig in!
Ross shared a global perspective of school libraries, goings on around the world. Making note of patterns on the learning landscape, he spoke of our unprecedented place in education's history. Ross referred to the complexity and diversity of student learning and the importance of responding innovatively. The development of social, cultural and personal agency is our moral purpose as educators. The question for school libraries, at a critical nexus, is how we find the pathway to building intellectual quality. Quality teaching is central to building the pathway.
Ross spoke of three critical issues: evidence, vision and engagement. The quality teaching is central to engagement. Without vision we walk in darkness. Most pointedly, though, he clarified that we must "move beyond the advocacy stance, into evidence-based practice".
David segued from Ross' delivery into an activity of table talk for the development of further questions. In roles, classroom teacher, administrator, student and Teacher-Librarian, we explored the question: What does it take to build an exciting learning environment?
With a bound copy of the research papers in hand, we all left to ruminate over questions and ideas.
More tomorrow!
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