Cultivating collaboration: the roles of teacher-librarians and administrators






Victoria High students cultivating our school's garden

Chapter 7  of The Collaboration Handbook explores building a culture of collaboration – and specifically the  influence of teacher-librarians and administrators in cultivating it.   The chapter delves into this topic in a direct, forthright way that prompted rich discussions among our March book club group long after school -- and past dinner time!

When one considers the effort it takes to nurture a plant, what it the ideal approach that nurtures the far more challenging task of nurturing collaborative teaching relationships?

In my fifteen years as a teacher-librarian (TL), I perceive the parallels between plants and my teaching experiences.  From my perspective, plants are essential in the library learning commons for adding vibrancy to a learning space just as different teaching styles and levels of experience (from student teacher/novice to the experienced/”master” teacher) add vibrancy to a school’s culture of learning.   Moreover, just as individual plants require unique, specific tending, so do teaching partnerships.

As a TL, I feel lucky to learn from co-teaching with many of my colleagues, or at least at the sidelines, by observing them teach in the library. Still, however, one of the ongoing and central challenges of being a teacher-librarian is growing those collaborative roots and nurturing the offshoots – those inquiry projects that grow and develop over time.  Yet often that growth can be hindered by a high turnover of staff on particular years due to retirement, a teacher's move to another school, or a change in the administrative team.

Chapter 7 of The Collaboration Handbook occasionally affords a rather cynical yet honestly articulated perspective upon the challenges of collaboration, as they pertain to teacher-librarians.  Not only is the chapter titled “Overcoming Roadblocks to Advocacy,” but it also includes a range of pointed assertions from a few TLs about the nature of those roadblocks (p. 90):

• “Our teachers HATE meetings . . .we hate change.  My vision (as a teacher-librarian) of collaboration is change.”
• “About half of the teachers realize that the librarian actually tries to support the classroom learning and reinforce skills taught there.  Any programs initiated by the librarian are met with resistance from half of the teachers and supported by the other half;  resources that are shared by the librarian are used by a few, but only seen as valuable to most if they are recommended by a ‘real’ teacher.”
• “The teachers simply aren’t able to take the time to plan it or willing to give up their ‘unofficial planning period’ to do something collaboratively.  It really isn’t the teachers’ fault;  they are completely overwhelmed.”
• “The real problem is our school culture . . . teachers for some reasons are not willing to use the librarian as a resource. It is the culture of the school and the teachers’ beliefs.”

Our March book club attendees acknowledged the reality of certain "roadblocks" in some of our school settings – namely lack of planning time.  Elementary TLs with and 0.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) certainly lack the time to collaborate in the ways that a middle or high school TL is able to with a 0.6 to 1.0 FTE.  

Nevertheless as a group, we spent more time discussing ways of facilitating collaboration – small steps we are able to take as TLs despite the reality of our individual FTEs – as well as ways in which we might be able to engage administrators in building the culture of collaboration.  Chapter 7 devotes a significant chunk of text to the latter.

First, there are practical, actionable ideas that are working well in our Greater Victoria school libraries. These ideas are being initiated by many of our teacher-librarians.

• Make the teaching visible; be seen “in action” –  a few examples include breakout boxes, a lesson about digital citizenship that a teacher witnessed in the library while passing through the hallway, creating spaces (on our web sites) around the evaluation of news and the 2017 buzzwords “alternative facts”.  It’s far more powerful for colleagues to see the “learning in action” than to talk about it at a staff meeting.
• Articulate collaborative planning around the curriculum goals of “see, think, and do”;  the language of the new curriculum (simultaneously exciting yet daunting) is a natural entry point for TLs with teaching colleagues.
• Take the library lesson to the classroom – student perception matters.
• Connect with student teachers;  make suggestions that can make their teaching lives easier (co-plan, co-teach, co-evaluate).
• Create fun, critical thinking activities to weave as “hooks” into lessons.
• Get added to teachers’ Google Classrooms helps TLs see the day-to-day workings of a class – and to be perceived as a co-teacher within the virtual classroom.
• Have conversations about learning;  the word learning is the hook, and all conversations about student learning (formal and informal) are a valuable form of advocacy.
• Consider aligning next year’s TL book club with a title some of our school administrators are reading in Greater Victoria:  Visible Learning for Teachers by John Hattie.
• Build and develop personal competencies:  The Collaboration Handbook highlights three essential attributes of a TL

1. Knowledgeable and flexible

2. Good interpersonal skills

3. Commitment to integrated information literacy and instruction

Second, however, there is the crucial role of the school's administrative team, particular that of the principal. Essential supports are outlined and illustrated with powerful examples of “winning administrators (p. 84-86), inclusive of school principals and district superintendents.

Essential supports of administrators, as articulated in The Collaboration Handbook, are three-fold:

1.  Articulate a clear school mission for learning -- what ALL students will know and be able 
to do (at least by the time of graduation).
2.   Establish a collaborative culture in the school.
3.   Work with the teacher-librarian to elevate the importance of the library facility and media program.

The last point is not augmented by a step-by-step guide, but is illustrated by concrete examples of administrators who have provided exemplary supports. There is an example of a Massachusetts principal who not only supports a robust budget allowing purchase of current print and electronic resources, but also visibly highlights the value of library research projects by “[making] it known to the teacher that he reviews [the] list (of which teachers use the library) at the end of the year.”

There is an example of a New Hampshire superintendent who includes information literacy, technology, and research skills by providing “the administrative and financial support that has allowed the program to move beyond a solid program of resources and services to one that is involved in instructional design and delivery throughout the district." This superintendent has also focused upon “including the library media staff in the development of the strategic plan and in professional development initiatives for the district, as well as providing high-visibility opportunities for library staff to communicate the role the library media program plays in today’s educational environment.” It's impressive that senior management recognizes and utilizes its teacher-librarians in coordinating the big picture of student learning.

There are certainly examples of strong administrator support within our own school district, and we spent time at our various book club meetings discussing those successes.  What’s clear is that there is no single way for administrators to cultivate or mandate library-based collaboration.  Our schools, teaching colleagues, and school cultures are truly an ongoing exercise in gardening -- finding the right means of nurturing not plants (although I highly encourage their beautiful and calming presence in school libraries) -- but of individual, unique relationships with diverse teaching colleagues and administrators in our schools. Some of this tending must come from the TL, but what's also clear is that other tending must definitely be initiated by the school principal and by senior management in the school district.

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Contributors:  Rebecca Steele, Colleen Pommelet, Geoff Orme, Darinka Popovic, Metthea Maddern, Jane, Spies, Wendy Burleson

Written by:  Wendy Burleson