Are teacher librarians an endangered species?
After watching and reflecting upon Karen Bonanno's speech at the 2011 ASLA Conference I had one main takeaway message, that is that teacher librarians will remain relevant if we make ourselves relevant. We must adapt to the environment around us.
All professionals who wish to be essential to their field and highly employable, must engage in rigorous professional learning and seize all available opportunities to add value to our work places and communities. This is not a phenomenon specific to teacher librarians, therefore, we need to be more positive in our approach towards improvement. I also connected with her view that it is important to use the Australian Curriculum and National Teaching Standards as opportunities to improve and build upon TL practice, rather than restrictive things to complain about.
I appreciated Karen's suggested strategies to do this through the five finger approach to success, particularly about maintaining focus on objectives and about concentrating your efforts on these rather than trying to please everyone.
Strength of character
FOCUS
Brand
Relationships
Little things that matter
School autonomy has impacted the number of teacher librarians working in schools in the ACT. Job opportunities are thin on the ground and employability is almost exclusively linked to the philosophy and attitude of the Principal. I know this going into my TL course and my eyes are wide open. I know that if I want to work in this role and enjoy a long career, that it will be up to me to make it so. It is up to me and my TL colleagues to support the staff and students in our school communities to an extent that makes us essential. It is also up to us to advocate and campaign for our profession at every opportunity to ensure we are not viewed by others as an endangered species.
References
Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2011). A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan. Keynote presentation, Karen Bonanno . Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/31003940