Advocacy: The Big Picture

Course

What Is Advocacy? An Overview [5:18]

Our first lesson provides an overview, and addresses the question "What is advocacy?"

Our first lesson provides an overview, and addresses the question "What is advocacy?" Let's start with a basic definition and consider some guiding principles to keep in mind. The good old Miriam Webster Dictionary definition of advocacy is, "The act of process of supporting a cause or proposal." And in the case of school librarians, that is certainly true. When it comes to advocacy for the critical need for effective school library programs, and certified school librarians, we are on the advocacy case 24/7, 365. But advocacy goes beyond our personal responsibility, to advocate for our programming services. It also includes the need for us to create additional advocates, who understand and support our work, and are willing to speak up for it.

With that in mind, let's talk about some guiding principles to consider, as we develop an advocacy strategy. Our work is grounded in being proactive versus reactive. We don't focus on problems, we focus on solutions. Our work must also be positive, not negative. We don't want to whine or assign blame. We want to look for partners and be viewed as team players. We also want to look to the future instead of the past. We don't want to dwell on what was, we want to consider what needs to be. And our interactions with others are always two way versus one way, an open versus closed. We don't want to just talk at stakeholders, and would be allies, we want to invite their participation and we want to reflect on their contributions to improve things. And finally, we want to develop a strongly themed versus scattered messages. We want to make sure that we demonstrate that we are clearly focused on what has to be done.

Let's explore our anchor reasons for advocacy. Why do this? We do this, because we know that school librarians and effective programs and services can help transform learning and community. They can also provide access to resources that help to level the playing field, and close the literacy and digital divide. They impact student achievement. And we also do this because we recognize that the work we do and are involved with is a business and we are accountable to our stakeholders. Our target audiences of constituents, clients, customers, expect us to produce results.

So who are the audiences with whom we need to connect?

Well, they are both internal and external. I want you to think about how a pyramid is constructed, at the base of the pyramid, we want to look at school board members, parents and communities as the solid base that provide the resources and policies and protocols that are needed in every school. Next, the superintendent and district level personnel disperse the resources and implement policies. Support staff and volunteers are also there to help with implementation, as are the next level, which includes principals and other building level administrators, who support the instructional and intervention efforts of teachers and specialists, who design, deliver instructional efforts and assess student achievement. Students are at the top of the pyramid. The beneficiaries of all those responsible for their learning.

In shouldering our part of the effort, we need to concentrate on an alignment of agendas and ensure that we are aware of what our audiences want to know, so that we can then customize our messages and our efforts to satisfy them.

Let's think about what the community wants to know. Remember community being made up of school board, parents, local officials and alike. The first thing they are concerned with is safety. They want to make sure that students are safe in coming to our schools. Another consideration for them, are teacher qualifications. Highly qualified teachers are at the top of their list. They are also concerned with performance indicators, test scores, promotion rates. And they don't want or care about the context of that. No excuses as far as they are concerned. They don't care about how socioeconomics and learning styles and learning differences impact results. All they want are positive results for their children. They are also concerned with comparison data to a fixed standard at the local, state, national and international level, and how time is spent in school. Whereas students and educator audiences have different interests. Students are interested in how we can help them with their learning and with exploring their own interests. Teachers are concerned about how we help them with their teaching. And administrators, somewhat like parents and school board members and community members, are looking at per pupil spending, resource distribution and demographics. However, unlike the community, they do care about the context of performance indicators. Those test scores and promotion rates, they want to know how a socio economic and learning styles and differences impact them.

Reflect on Advocacy

Context:

Advocacy is an ongoing, reflective, and intentional process for school librarians. Guiding principles for advocacy efforts include being proactive, solution-oriented, and positive. Relationships among school librarians and stakeholders (including various school staff and community members) should be two-way and open, with active participation encouraged in accordance with a strong, consistent message about what the library program is and does. Advocacy is directed toward the outcome of facilitating the school library program's impact on student learning and achievement; to attain this multi-layered goal, advocacy strategies must consider and align agendas of diverse audiences.

Instructions:

This exercise is a self-reflection. After viewing the Introduction and Lesson 1, consider your current beliefs and practices pertaining to advocacy. Write a brief self-reflection, with these questions as possible prompts for your writing: What does advocacy look like to you? What is one reason advocacy is a worthwhile venture? What advocacy efforts have you taken on recently? Who are your current partners in advocating for the library program? Who would you like to see as partners in the near future? What concerns or obstacles do you foresee in building advocacy for the library program? What is a question you have about advocacy?

MLA Citation

Morris, Rebecca J. "Advocacy: The Big Picture: Reflect on Advocacy." School Library Connection, September 2017, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987465?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903.

Entry ID: 2128116

Additional Resources

Annotated Bibliography
Words from the Wise: Advocacy Quotables.

About the Author

Susan D. Ballard, MS, is vice president of the National Collaborative for Digital Equity and a past president of AASL. She served on the Editorial Board for the AASL Standards and Guidelines Editorial Board, responsible for writing the National School Library Standards for Learners, Librarians and School Libraries. She is a current a member of the AASL CAEP Coordinating Committee involved in revision of the Standards for Preparation of School Librarians. Follow her on Twitter @nholb or email her at sdballard@comcast.net or sdballard@digitalequity.us.

MLA Citation

Ballard, Susan D. "Advocacy: The Big Picture. What Is Advocacy? An Overview [5:18]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2015, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987465?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903.

View all citation styles

https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987465?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903

Entry ID: 1987465