During my reading this week, I learned about the power of the teacher-librarian. It was so amazing to learn about the role that teacher-librarians have in the inquiry learning process. As Trevor MacKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt describe on pg. 109, the library I remember was one where you would quietly grab a book or two of your choice, sign it out from the librarian, and either head back to the classroom to read or find a spot in the library. Then in high school, as our school shifted to an X model, the library changed into a seminar space. This meant that our library was a communal workspace where students would on assignments during our spare blocks. Therefore, the library and all of its resources were essentially overlooked. Additionally, our school librarian only worked two days out of the week. So, the thought of going to the librarian for help would have never crossed my mind.
Now, to learn that teacher-librarians hold so much power in children’s learning process is really inspiring and makes you appreciate how far things have come.
To summarize, Trevor MacKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt claim that teacher-librarians:
- help learners collaborate by teaching them the proper language to do so
- help learners communicate their needs
- help learners become familiar with the library learning space
- can design their space in a way that promotes inquiry
- help nurture learners’ research skills by guiding them through the process
- help fellow teachers find resources and scaffold their teachings
All of this information is from:
MacKenzie, T., & Bathurst-Hunt, R. (2018). Inquiry mindset: Nurturing the dreams, wonders & curiosities of our youngest learners. EdTechTeam Press.
https://www.trevormackenzie.com
http://rebeccabathursthunt.com