Assignment 2 - Collaborate with a Teacher and Evolve their Practice

Assignment 2 – Collaborate with a Teacher and Evolve their Practice.

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Introduction

    Educators must continuously adapt to curriculum changes, societal changes, technological changes, and pedagogical changes (only to name a few). The pace of these changes seems to accelerate as time passes. Some teachers embrace change as an opportunity to learn and improve. Teachers who are not willing to change, adapt, and grow are doing a disservice to those they support. Making changes to one’s teaching practice can be daunting, overwhelming, and intimidating for some. Collaboration is a possible solution to these feelings and offers rich opportunities to evolve teaching practice for the benefit of learners. Louks-Horsley (2005) suggests “people need sustained help along the way if they’re going to fully implement a new idea, and they’ll require different kinds of help as their needs change.” This support through collaboration must be consistent, on-going, and personal in order to effectively bring long-lasting educational change.

Teacher A – Description of their situation, experiences, and methods.

    Teacher A has been teaching at the primary level for 20 years. This year she is currently teaching grade 2/3. She collaborates daily with the other grade 2/3 teachers in all subject areas.  She is reflective and discusses lessons with her colleagues for the purpose of improving and refining her delivery. She is always open to constructive criticism and feedback. She has created an inclusive and learner-centered culture in her classroom. As the third term approaches, Teacher A feels that her students have worked hard throughout terms one and two to develop their reading and writing skills and are ready to put their skills to use with a Social Studies research project. Although teacher A is skilled at using technology to deliver and enhance her lessons, she does not consider incorporating technology for student use to be one of her strengths. Her students’ use of the school laptops is limited to accessing math and reading websites to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. Teacher A has no experience with the digital reference resources available to her through her LLC. She also has no experience teaching students how to use digital reference sources to find information and use it to create a presentation to showcase their learning.

Teacher A – Evaluation of their effective use of reference resources.

    According to the CBAM model in Figure 1, Teacher A is at the Management Stage of Concern. This stage is considered the middle stage which is “focused on mastery of tasks to the point they become routines and are easier to do” (Loucks-Horsley, 2005). Teacher A is ready and willing to learn how to use the laptops to access the digital reference resources and would be located on the “training” side of the bridge in Figure 2. She needs support to develop the skills necessary to use these resources, and to teach young students how to use these resources. If given demonstrations, training, practice during the training, and corrective feedback, Teacher A has the potential to move to the Consequence Stage of Concern (Loucks-Horsley, 2005).

Figure 1 - (Loucks-Horsley, 2005)  

Figure 2 – (Loucks-Horsley, 2005)

    Teacher A is at the Orientation Level of Use shown in Figure 3 because she is willing to learn more about the digital reference resources available to her and is willing to collaborate. With support and mentorship, she will likely move to the Preparation Level of Use.

Figure 3 - (Loucks-Horsley, 2005)

Teacher A – Plan to support their growth

    With support from a teacher librarian and her grade 2/3 colleagues, Teacher A has great potential for growth. According to Loucks-Horsley (2005), “When the participant is in their own setting, trying to independently implement their training and build their mastery to a routine level of task management (Stage of Concern), THAT is when the power of mentoring becomes so critical for participant success. If mentoring is provided at this point, participants CAN progress and continue to grow.” My recommendation for teacher A is to establish a mentorship plan with the teacher librarian and, ideally, a collaboration plan with her grade 2/3 colleagues where they can work together to further their learning in the use of digital reference resources and collaborate to support one another along the way. They could co-create a unit of study in Social Studies where the students use digital reference resources to gather information, that will later be formatted into a presentation. If all of the grade 2/3 teachers are teaching the same unit, they can reflect together about what is working and what is not, plan to make changes, troubleshoot challenges with the technology, and support one another. The teacher-librarian can offer training, demonstrations, in-class support, and possibly professional development opportunities to further their understanding of the digital reference resources. Change does not always happen quickly, and there are often bumps along the way. Loucks-Horsley (2005) state, “We also know that help over time is necessary to work the kinks out and then to reinforce good teaching once use of the new practice smooths out.” I recommend that this mentorship plan and collaboration plan be established for long term period of time, it should go beyond the length of the unit. A long term plan would include the grade 2/3 teachers and the TL using the reference resource again in another subject, or again the following year. Loucks-Horsley (2005) stress “the importance of paying attention to implementation for several years, because it takes at least three years for early concerns to be resolved and later ones to emerge.”

Teacher A – Recommended digital reference resources

    Teacher A (and potentially her grade 2/3 colleagues) would have training sessions with the teacher librarian around the use of these digital reference resources. Teacher A would also be given time to explore these resources independently (or with her colleagues), but the TL would be available to support her should a challenge arise. The TL would support Teacher A in using these resources with her class. At the end of the research project, the TL would meet with Teacher A (and her colleagues) to encourage reflection and plan next steps. These suggestions would all support Teacher A in moving to the Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing Stages of Concern.

World Book Early Learning

World Book Kids

NatGeo Kids

 

Teacher B – Description of situation, experiences, and methods

    Teacher B is an experienced grade 4/5 teacher and is approaching his retirement. He has 2 years left until he retires, and his colleagues often comment that he already has one foot out the door. He is not the least bit interested in professional development, collaborating with colleagues, or making any change to his teaching practice. He does not engage in professional development opportunities unless they are mandatory. It is obvious that his teaching style and pedagogy have not evolved with the passage of time, as he relies heavily on the out-dated Social Studies textbooks in his classroom. He sometimes uses the school laptops with his students to do word processing tasks.  Although Teacher B does not appear to have an interest in personal growth or pedagogical change, he truly cares about his students and their social emotional well-being. He is always available to help is students and works hard to build meaningful relationships with them.

Teacher B – Evaluation of their effective use of reference resources

    Teacher B is at the Non-Use Level of Use shown in Figure 3 because he shows no interest in trying to use new print or digital reference resources. He is content to use out-dated reference sources and does not engage in opportunities to collaborate or learn about new innovations. Teacher B seems to be approaching the Awareness Stage of Concern shown in Figure 1. I am uncertain if he would even be considered at the Awareness Stage as he doesn’t seem interested in alternative reference resources and is satisfied to use outdated sources.

Figure 1 - (Loucks-Horsley, 2005)   

Figure 3 – (Loucks-Horsley, 2005)

Teacher B – Plan to support their growth

    In order to motivate Teacher B to engage in any type of collaboration or professional learning, he will need to feel heard. In the CBAM model, Loucks-Horsley 92005) suggest “attending to where people are and addressing the questions they are asking when they are asking them. Often, we get to the how-to-do-it before addressing self-concerns. We want to focus on student learning before teachers are comfortable with the materials and strategies.”  Appealing to Teacher B’s concern for his students has potential to engage him in making change and move from the Non-Use to Orientation level of use. Sharing information informally at staff meetings, through emails, in conversations, and at professional development about best practice, new pedagogies, information literacy, and reference resources available through his LLC is where I would suggest the TL start. For Teacher B to move from the Awareness Stage of Concern to the Information Stage, the TL must reach out to him, as he is not likely to take the initiative. Incremental change would be the goal for Teacher B.

Recommended reference resources

    I will only recommend 1 print and 1 digital reference resource for Teacher B because he is already reluctant to engage in making change, suggesting more resources might discourage him. I think the best approach with Teacher B is to take small steps forward. I feel it is important to include a digital reference resource. Riedling (2013) states, “The digital information revolution has resulted in the most marked changes in the types of reference sources and services used in the library” (and access to digital reference resources would greatly benefit Teacher B’s students.

National Geographic Kids World Atlas

Kidz Search – a search engine for kids 

Conclusion

    Teacher collaboration is essential to foster growth and promote positive educational change. “Studies indicate that student competence in handling information is mirrored in achievement and is most effectively developed when integrated with classroom instruction through collaborative program planning and team teaching by two equal teaching partners - the classroom teacher and teacher-librarian” (Asselin et al., 2003). Some teachers may be willing to collaborate but often time is a barrier. Administrators and teacher librarians need to work together to provide opportunities for collaboration between classroom teachers and teacher librarians. This belief is supported in the Canadian School Libraries (2020) statement, “The library learning commons plays a key role in cultivating and facilitating collaboration to provide rich experiential learning opportunities.”

 

Works Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds). (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada Links to an external site.. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association & The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada. Retrieved from https://accessola.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2003-AchievingInfoLiteracy.pdf

Canadian School Libraries. (2020). Leading Learning:  Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. Retrieved from http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca

KidzSearch.com. (n.d.). Kids safe search engine. KidzSearch. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.kidzsearch.com/

Loucks-Horsley, S. (2005). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM): A Model for Change in Individuals. Retrieved from Microsoft Word - CBAM.doc (wsu.edu)

National Geographic (2021). National Geographic Kids World Atlas (6^th ed.). National Geographic.  

National Geographic Kids. National Geographic. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Riedling, Ann. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth. 

World Book Online Reference Center: Online Reference Book: Online Encyclopedia. World Book. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/home