By guest author, Dr Jennie Bales

Do you struggle to find planning time with your teachers? Do you work within a fixed timetable that limits opportunities to work with students and teachers in cooperative information literacy tasks?

The following approach provides alternatives that support cooperative planning, teaching and learning within the confines of a restrictive timetable.

This program evolved over several years as it was adapted to best meet the learning needs of students, the constraints of a fixed timetable that provided teachers with relief from face-to-face teaching and challenges in procuring cooperative planning time with teachers.

The main objectives of the program were to provide opportunities to plan and teach cooperatively with teachers; to ensure that all senior primary students experienced a structured approach to their research that guided them through the steps the information research process; to demonstrate and actively involve teachers in process driven research and to develop teachers’ understanding and application of an information research process in their teaching practice.

Two ‘unallocated’ one-hour periods were included in the weekly library timetable dedicated to senior primary research. The scheduling of these was coordinated with teachers to ensure that classes would be available at those times. In cooperation with teachers a roster was developed so that over the course of the school year each senior class would participate in an intensive inquiry unit delivered collaboratively by the teacher librarian and the classroom teacher. Grade 6 classes were involved in the first half of the year, Grade 5 classes in the second half of the year. The sequence of the delivery ensured that in the following year the incoming Grade 6 classes had participated in an inquiry unit in the latter part of the previous year. This provided opportunity to build on skills acquired and assessed in the previous year. It also set expectations for Grade 6 students for research conducted within the classroom later in the year.

Each class participated in a four-week inquiry unit, with two hours dedicated time in the library in each week. The participating teacher could continue with the unit within the classroom. The practicalities of working with only one teacher at a time facilitated detailed planning with each classroom teacher as multiple units of work did not have to be developed simultaneously.

This provided opportunity to develop a process-orientated unit of work that scaffolded students’ investigations through each stage of the research process with built in evaluations. Assessment tasks were shared between the teacher and the teacher librarian, with the teacher focusing on content and the teacher librarian developing rubrics with the students to assess their own research skills. Collaboration with planning, teaching and assessment built on teachers’ own understandings and provided a model on which to base future independent planning and assessment. Shared delivery of the research task ensured that joint expectations were clearly defined and also provided opportunities both the teacher and teacher librarian to share their different expert knowledge with each other and the students.

The regular and frequent visits to the library built on students’ learning. Timetabling ensured that students had two dedicated sessions each week to work on their research tasks. The students were less likely to forget skills taught in a previous lesson and were able to practice and build on these with minimal need for revision. The frequency of the lessons also helped maintain interest and enthusiasm for the task. Access to two teachers during each lesson increased the amount of individual and small group support that could be provided at point of need.

Just-in-time learning was provided frequently, with the teacher clarifying or exemplifying task orientated matters, and the teacher librarian focusing on research skills such effective web searching, note-taking and referencing. Students’ collaborative construction of the research assessment rubric helped clarify their own and their classroom teacher’s understanding of the information research process.

The use of this strategy over several years had long-term benefits to teachers and students in developing information literacy understandings. When confronted with restrictive timetables and limited planning time this approach provides a proactive and flexible solution.

Brought to you by http://www.schoollibrarymanagement.com

Discover successful school library management tips , reports, advocacy ideas, teaching strategies and education webinars to boost your professional learning as an information specialist.