School Libraries Give Us Power Turning on the

School Libraries Give Us Power: Turning on the Lights Dr Ross J Todd Director, Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey www. cissl. scils. rutgers. edu rtodd@rutgers. edu www. twitter. com/Ross. JTodd www. facebook. com/Ross. JTodd

Do they?

Key Challenges and Actions From: LIBRARIES GIVE US POWER To: WE GIVE POWER TO LIBRARIES: We turn on the lights Then: LIBRARIES GIVE US POWER

The Power of Libraries Gaver, M. Every child needs a school library. Chicago, ALA, 1958 Gaver, M. Effectiveness of Centralized Library Service in Elementary Schools. Rutgers University, 1963 “With the school library literally the heart of the educational program, the students of the school have their best chance to become capable and enthusiastic readers, informed about the world around them, and alive to the limitless possibilities of tomorrow. ” Mary Gaver, 1958 50 years of evidence

School Libraries Work • Since 2000, 19 USA statewide studies undertaken • Over 10, 000 schools • Elementary, middle and high school libraries serving an estimated 2. 6 million students • Diverse funding authorities: Sate Libraries, Education Dep’ts, Federal; professional school library associations How well do we know the research? 7

The Evidence Says …. In schools with well stocked, well-equipped school libraries, managed by qualified and motivated professional school librarians working with support staff, one can expect: ü Achievement scores tend to be 10 to 20% higher than in schools without this investment; ü Development of capable and avid readers; ü Learners who have a range of information skills to transform information into personal knowledge; ü Teachers who are partnering with school librarians to create high-quality learning experiences based on curriculum standards. 8

The powering down problem Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing, end them.

• Antoine Comte de Guiche: Be so good as to read once more the chapter of the windmills. . . Windmills, remember, if you fight with them. . . may swing round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire! • Cyrano de Bergerac: Or up, among the stars!

Do we really need a library? Turning off the Lights • Availability of information technology • Access to vast quantities of information on the Internet • Costly infrastructure; increasing cost of print material • Cost of personnel • Students using libraries less since they first began using internet research tools • Search engines are primary starting point for information searching

Do not lose hope http: //www. aph. gov. au/house/committee/ee/schoollibraries/report. htm

Information to Knowledge • Accessing and using quality information is the foundation of deep learning: school libraries must go beyond being link to quality information in all formats • Instruction in the transformation of information to knowledge remains a key challenge of education worldwide, and central to the vision of school libraries

The Google Generation: Research tells us • Horizontal information seeking and “power browsing” • Use of simple search strategies, limited information assessment • Squirreling behavior: stockpiling content in the form of downloads • Fact foraging, fact finding, and fact fooling • Superficial effort in knowledge construction: stockpiling of retrieved facts: transport not transformation • Pedagogy of knowledge construction largely absent in context of research tasks – rarely explicitly developed, supported, sustained • Limited engagement with multiple perspectives, interrogating conflicting information, information analysis, developing arguments, positions, conclusions, implications • Focus on product construction rather than knowledge construction • Culture of finding rather than construction: celebrating the found, not the understood

The answer is already there www. schoolsucks. com www. evilhouseofcheat. com www. cheathouse. com http: //www. phuckschool. com The TRANSPORTATION of Information The TRANSFORMATION OF Information

TRANSPORT OF TEXT Presentation Final version Rewriting Printout Interaction Prof Louise Limberg

TRANSPORT OF TEXT ”Get the material from the Net, I read it. Write down some good sentences, make a few changes and read through it again. Making my own, sort of! Then I think Replace here and there. Pick certain words and make my own text by adding new words. I recognise the text if I read it several times. Use those expressions that fit in. ” (Kris) ”I borrowed a book on sharks, picked out words from the book, from the text. I jotted these down in a little notebook as rough notes, then I rewrote it and then I painted a front page and then I put the whole thing into a booklet and the job was done. ” (David) Prof Louise Limberg

What did you do at school today? Willms, J. D. , Friesen, S. & Milton, P. (2009). What did you do in school today? Transforming classrooms through social, academic, and intellectual engagement. (First National Report) Toronto: Canadian Education Association, 2009 Data collected from 32, 322 students in 93 schools from 10 school districts in Canada. The sample included 16, 542 males and 15, 780 females.

YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY

4 Key Challenges / Actions • Re-imagining school libraries Without vision, you walk in darkness • From information to inquiry & knowledge Pedagogy of inquiry: without it there is no reason for SL • Evidence-based practice Without evidence, it is just another opinion • Building teams and partnerships Without teams, there is limited capacity for change JF Kennedy: We set sail on this sea because there is knowledge to be gained

The Essential Pieces

Challenge 1: The vision of a school library What is a School Library? The school’s physical and virtual informationto-knowledge commons where reading, literacy, inquiry, thinking, imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to students’ learning and knowledge development in all curriculums, and learning for work and life in a global, increasingly digital world FOSTERING INQUIRY, LITERACY AND BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

Challenge 1: Creating the Vision The school library is an important part of school life • School library as a knowledge commons or a learning commons – a common place, ‘a shared space for all students and the community’ • A common information grounds for supporting learning across the school through engagement with and transformation of information • Knowledge-centered outcomes: the development of deep knowledge through the provision of accessible resources, inquiry-based instruction, instructional teams. • Emphasis on intellectual agency for developing deep knowledge and understanding, rather than that of information collection and skills of finding information

Learning Commons • Zone of intervention and socialization for learning how to function effectively in the complex informational and technological world beyond school. • Balance and equity are essential dynamics: providing for a common, equitable and stable information access to all, regardless of socio-economic status, and regardless of access to information technologies out of school • Central, safe place in school that removes barriers and constraints to learning with information technology, system, network, and time barriers, as well as local constraints such as scheduling barriers.

Learning Commons • Common place across the school for investigating and experimenting with information and IT, examining multiple perspectives and developing deep knowledge • Teams engaging in pedagogical experimentation to access and use information and web tools to empower learning through creativity, discovery, inquiry, cooperation, and collaboration • Environment where students are guided by professionals to effectively utilize information and the most appropriate technology tools to support knowledge development

Dynamic Learning Space • Flexible and dynamic learning space: the learning intersection between digital and print information in and beyond school • Development of expertise of learning with and through information and IT tools to create, produce and share knowledge • 24/7 environment: support the knowledge building process out of school – central portal for knowledge development: tools, techniques, processes, help

Challenge 2: Pedagogy Centering on Inquiry • It involves students forming their own questions • actively engaged in the process of investigating, processing, organizing, synthesizing, refining and extending their knowledge within a topic • planned, direct and vicarious experiences that enable the information-to-knowledge journey • Opportunities to construct knowledge in creative ways, rather than collecting facts: moving beyond “finding” • Application of knowledge in real-world contexts

Todd 1 and Todd 2

ICELAND

Rapanui and its Moai

Great Minds at work? Information habits Building Effective Inquiry through SLs

School Libraries as Verbs "Libraries are the verbs in the content standards. Wherever verbs such as read, research, analyze, explore, examine, compare, contrast, understand, interpret, investigate, and find appear in the standards, Teacher Librarians and library resources are involved. " (Oxnard Union High School District) http: //www. ouhsd. k 12. ca. us/lmc/ohs/stronglib/Strong. SLMP. ppt

Core inquiry capabilities to be developed • Resource-based capabilities: These are abilities and dispositions related to seeking, accessing and evaluating resources in a variety of formats, including people, IT and cultural artefacts as sources. • Thinking-based capabilities: These are abilities and dispositions that focus on substantive engagement with data and information, the processes of higher order thinking and critical analysis that lead to the creation of representations/products that demonstrate deep knowledge and deep understanding. • Knowledge-based capabilities: These are the abilities and dispositions that focus on the creation, construction and sharing the products of knowledge that demonstrate deep knowledge and understanding.

Core inquiry capabilities to be developed • Reading to learn capabilities: These are the abilities and dispositions related to the transformation, communication and dissemination of text in its multiple forms and modes to enable the development of meaning and understanding. • Personal and interpersonal capabilities: These are the abilities and dispositions related to the social and personal aspects of leaning: working collaboratively, working safely and ethically • Learning management capabilities: These are the abilities and dispositions that enable students to prepare for, plan and successfully undertake a curriculum-based inquiry unit.

Fostering inquiry?

Hall of Fame Research “Greatness” • • Where/when born, died, lived Education/Jobs/Career Challenges overcome Qualities that led to greatness Awards/Commendations Political offices held Best remembered for what Connection to NJ

Critical thinking and Deep Knowledge? Walt Whitman (Camden) Considered by many to be the most influential poet in U. S. history

Stop being an accomplice to mediocrity!!!!

Developing Engagement & Inquiry • • Class blog: personal viewpoint on greatness Creative writing: My dream of greatness Sharing writing on class wiki Class blog: synthesis of responses: what seems to be the idea of “greatness” in the class Matching personal dreams with NJ database Building background knowledge: life and times of people of interest; selecting focus question(s) Creative knowledge building – interventions focus on collection of ideas, analysis, synthesis, skills /tools to represent knowledge Wiki to share final products: group review and reflection

Lonely, Nervous, Brave, Determined, Sassy Daughter of parents who filled their house with music Music must have filled her loneliness when her father died Moved to New York for a better life. Who loved the night magic of Harlem, Who loved the celebrities and begging for autographs with her friends Who really loved singing and scatting Who loved her Aunt that took care of her as a child. Who felt loss, when her mother died Who felt anger when she was put in an orphanage Who felt trapped in those walls but they couldn’t keep her down because she felt the pull of her song and the night magic of Harlem. Who felt nervous and fear at auditions Who feared not being able to sing because she had no one to care for her Who feared dying from diabetes and possibly going blind, Who feared whom she would pass her singing crown down to Who wanted to see someone take over her singing crown Who would have liked to have spent more time with her late parents Who wanted to work with the best bands Who changed the world of jazz and swing Who was very proud of her awards and achievements She was “The First Lady Of Song”; she was “Sassy” and a Legend of Jazz Born in Virginia, grew up in New York, adopted by the world. Ella was great Fitzgerald Ella

Challenge 3: The Matter of Evidence How do our school libraries contribute to Learning, Literacy, and Living

Evidence-Based Practice Gathering evidence in YOUR local school You are able to provide convincing evidence that answers these questions: “What differences do my school library and its learning initiatives make to student learning outcomes? “What are the differences, the tangible learning outcomes and learning benefits of my school library”?

Evidence Knowledge Information o Number of classes in the library o Number of library items borrowed o Number of students using the library at lunch times o Number of items purchased annually o Number of web searches o Number of books lost Understanding how school libraries help kids learn: Learning outcomes in terms of o Knowledge outcomes – deep mastery of content o Critical thinking o Knowledge construction o Information-toknowledge processes o Information technology o Reading comprehension and enrichment o Attitudes and values of information, learning o Self concept and personal agency

Examples of claims • Following an inquiry-based unit of work, 70% students showed improved ability in formulating essential questions that directed their inquiry as compared to their previous research task • As a result of instructional interventions focusing on the development of arguments, students showed stronger ability to identify claims, provide supporting evidence and to identify rebuttals • Students’ final products showed improved ability to analyze and synthesize information • Students’ research reports showed improved ability to draw conclusions and state implications of their findings • Students’ presentations showed ability to present different viewpoints and to provide a strong and supported case for their own position • 83 % of the class show improved ability in thoughtfully analyzing and evaluating major alternative points of view

CISSL WEB SITE • http: //www. cissl. scils. rutgers. edu/impact_studies. html • Student Learning through Inquiry Measure (SLIM) SLIM Handbook • SLIM Reflection Instruments and Scoring Guidelines SLIM Scoring Sheet

Analysis of student bibliographies • Diversity of choice of sources • Depth / levels of knowledge • Accuracy of citations • Relevance to learning task • Use of multiple formats • Engaging with state-of-the art knowledge – recency / accuracy Reasons for choice of source •

Evidence from Reflection / Stories • • • What worked well? What pleased me? How do I know that it was successful? Who can/did I share my success with? What did I do that helped me to: prepare for the task create new ideas practise new skills improve existing skills modify my learning habits find relevant information or materials organize information or materials correctly summarize information understand unfamiliar ideas take relevant notes use my existing knowledge or skills represent information in meaningful ways? • What could I do differently next time? • What factors influenced my ability to learn? • What might help me learn more about this?

DOCUMENT THE STORIES • Before this task, I was very uncomfortable taking notes. After the library lesson on it, I felt that I knew the method but needed practice. Taking notes from multiple books, videos and websites really improved this skill. • You have to concentrate on your reading and topic in order to take the best notes • That making summaries and writing a range of notes before diving straight into the final project helps to eliminate some of those overwhelming and stressed feelings with so much to read. • The lessons we had on note taking were very helpful. Helped me select the different arguments and organize them

Interest and Engagement • I was very interested in my topic, it made me think what life was like back then. I want to read more about my topic. • I came away with many more questions that I am interested to read more about • The thing you have to know before you start researching is if you are interested in the topic of not. And if you are not, you will not make a big effort to find the information you want. So, always choose a topic that you are interested in! The reading will be easier • I learnt that having a choice of topic meant that I had freedom and individuality. You read what interests you. I enjoyed this because I was able to work on something noone else did. More of this type of work would be good.

Multiple Literacies • This project has helped me to acknowledge and use other sources such as documentaries, books and encyclopedias • You just can’t skim read through one source and find your answer • I saw the value of multiple sources to cross check information for reliability and this makes you think more about what you are reading • I learned to become good at many different kinds of sources

Reading and Thinking • That instead of just writing down the facts you also need to elaborate and interpret it. You have to really think about what you read and just not copy sentences that look good • All the steps were very time consuming but I can see how important they are now. You are made to go deep into the sources and not just grab bits here and there

4. Building Partnerships and Teams • Advocated as a high priority for school librarians • Important dynamic in student achievement (eg Lance) • Low levels of collaboration are documented (Callison, 2005, Todd 2005)

Instructional Collaboration Study • CISSL study of school librarian-teacher collaboration, 2004 -2006 • 85 school librarians (65%) and 45 teachers (35%) • To develop a deeper understanding of classroom teacher-school librarian instructional collaborations: - their dynamics, processes, enablers, barriers, impact on learning outcomes - their role in continuous improvement and school change

Intended Outcomes of Collaborations Teachers School Librarians • students to develop knowledge of curriculum content • students to develop a better perception of the library and the librarian • increased information literacy skills; critical thinking; problem solving • Increased depth and better quality of learning • Information Literacy Common Goals? KNOWLEDGE OUTCOMES

Shared Learning Teams • Take advantage of varied experiences and expertises that exist in a school community • “Occupational Invisibility” (Hartzell) Do not see depth, breadth and importance of what TLs contribute flexible team approach; alliances for shared learning - Alliances within / outside school - Instructional expertise - Subject expertise - Technical expertise - Reading / Literacy expertise - Student expertise

Teams - “Don’t Water Rocks” • Principal? • Technology leader? • Maths teacher? Other teachers • Curriculum coordinator? • School counselor? • Literacy / reading specialist • Special needs teacher? • Parent organization? • Community experts? • Public library / museum experts? • Teen social networkers? • Education system leaders?

A TIME OF BOLD ACTION Edna St Vincent Millay 1892 -1950 “Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour Rains from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts, they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun, but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric. ”