Literature across the curriculum: a reflection
In learning about the breadth of literature currently available for children, I have recognised that there are gaps in my knowledge of literature, particularly newer genres, formats, and literature for middle to upper primary age children (FitzGerald, 2017), and that this is an area requiring development. This gap is perhaps due to my particular passion for picture books and the fact that I teach younger students from Kindergarten to Year Three. Other professional and personal commitments, also makes it challenging to engage with the breadth of literature and formats required of an effective primary school librarian. However, it is essential that teacher librarians be well informed of what literature is available as well as recently released material to remain current and in front of trends. To improve this area of professional knowledge, I have been engaging with a range of blogs (Children’s Book Council, 2017, p. 1-4; Readings, 17 November, 2017a &b), podcasts, and social media as well as attempting to broaden my own personal reading to include titles for younger readers in the eight to twelve years age group. This knowledge will give me greater confidence and a stronger ability to recommend resources to students for personal reading and teachers for curriculum integration. Knowledge of current literature will be an ongoing priority in my professional learning as a teacher librarian (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011, p. 1-28; Australian School Library Association [ASLA], 2014, p. 1-22).
Learning in this subject has provided a broader appreciation for the role and value of digital literature and resources in the library collection (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p. 577-585). The availability of digital resources such as electronic and audio books, and interactive book apps creates new opportunities to engage reluctant and new language learners, as well as providing differentiation options for students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties or needs. Features such as voice recording, text manipulation and additional content make these resources inclusive, exciting, and widely applicable for independent, small group and at home use. The library collection in my current context has very few digital resources, however, given its obvious value, I will be striving to include a greater amount of digital content in future literature selection.
Having worked for the majority of my career in International Baccalaureate World Schools using Primary Years Programme and the Australian Curriculum, the concept of interdisciplinary teaching and learning (International Baccalaureate, 2014, p. 1-4) to engage curriculum is very familiar to me. As a classroom teacher, I had a well-established practice of using literature to promote rich discussion, and critical thinking (Braid & Finch, 2015, p. 115-122; Turner, 2014, p. 52-61) relevant to subject-specific curriculum. However, it has been my experience that classroom teachers tend to focus only on the teaching and learning of subject content, as this is what is assessed and reported on for mandated student reports, while the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities are largely ignored, with little explicit attention. My learning in this subject has highlighted the opportunity I have as the teacher librarian to broaden the focus of my teaching and learning program. Where gaps exisit, or indeed to support classroom learning, the TL can use literature and information communication technologies (ICT) to engage with the general capabilities and cross-curricular priorities in meaningful ways (Lupton, 2014, p. 8-29; Lupton, 2012, p. 12-18; Turner, 2014, p. 52-61).
The benefits of collaborative planning, teaching and assessment are well documented, with considerable benefits for student learning and teacher professional development (AITSL, 2011, p. 1-28; ASLA, 2014, p. 1-22; Brandtman & Simpson, 1999, p. 13-17). Collaboration for literature and format selection; in particular for students with special needs, development of teaching tools, planning, team teaching, feedback and assessment are all elements where a collaborative approach is advantageous. As opportunities for teacher librarians to plan in person with peers are generally limited, use of digital tools such as G-Suite (Cohen & Burke, 2013, p. 39-43; Dutton, 2016; Izenstark, & Leahy, 2015, p. 1-3) provide an effective method for effective collaboration to take place, thus supporting literature and curriculum learning (Harrison, 2006, p. 18-20). In my current context, I intend to use Google Docs and Google Classroom (Hostrup, 2015, p. 14-18) to collaborate with targeted classroom teaching teams before, during and after literature learning programs throughout the year.
* NOTE - A complete reference list is provided in the original WORD DOC assignment (submitted via EASTS), but is not provided here due to difficulties with formatting.
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