Collaborative Instruction
Course
The Two People You Need on Your Side [6:40]
Without the support of the principal and the library assistant it is very difficult for the librarian to venture forth with collaboration and the flexible schedule.
Start by sharing research with him or her on the effects of collaboration and student achievement. The librarian needs to fully understand any research that is shared so that the principal feels assured that the librarian can answer any questions that come up. The principal will have many questions that need answered prior to embarking upon this new delivery method of library services. In Chapter 2 of the Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit questions that a principal might have are addressed with answers from the point of view of a current administrator.
The main issue that will need to be addressed is the impact that this will have upon students and teachers. Other more peripheral concerns might be: making sure each class has time in the library, the effectiveness of the teaching ability of the librarian, the role of the administrative team in this new method, communication to the parents regarding this method, and the amount of planning time for teachers as mandated by teacher contracts.
Another issue that the librarian needs to resolve is: what is the particular vision for this method of library services, will there be collaboration only or collaboration and a flexible schedule, will there be one grade level involved or multiple grade levels, which grade levels will be involved. It is always best to have a starting point to begin planning the transition. Arranging for the administrator to observe a lesson that will be collaboratively planned, taught, and assessed by a librarian and a teacher team will further help build the picture of what collaboration could look like for the principal. If there is time after the observation, a debriefing session with the librarian and teacher team would help answer all of the principal's immediate questions.
Once the principal is onboard with this new idea, he or she can help the librarian to determine how to proceed with the school staff. Some principals prefer to have a hands off approach to the roll out of collaboration and the flexible schedule since this should be the librarian's area of expertise, while other principals prefer to help manage the transition.
The library assistant is the very next person that needs to become involved in the planning process of building a collaborative library program. Whether the library assistant is part time or full time, he or she will directly become involved with the success of the transition to this new mode of services. Sit down with the assistant and share with him or her the vision for a collaborative library with a flexible schedule. Allow the assistant to ask any questions or voice any concerns. Determine together how he or she will become part of the process and what training might be needed for the assistant to feel comfortable and successful. Training could happen in the form of reading material related to how this method works, observations of the librarian in action with the teachers, or attendance at workshop trainings. Clear expectations should be created by the librarian and the library assistant for any new duties that might occur.
Respect the library assistant's needs and listen to his or her ideas. Sometimes the assistant has a totally different viewpoint from the librarian and this different perspective could spur on new ideas that the librarian might never have considered. Collaboration and the flexible library schedule will be a relatively new idea for the assistant, however, he or she can become an integral part of this new method of library services with the coaching and support of the librarian. If there is only a part time library assistant, the librarian and the principal should discuss the best ways to maximize the actual time that the library assistant is scheduled to work.
Two schedules often arise with a part time library assistant. The librarian and the assistant could work opposite days and times because they are each part time employees or the part time assistant could work several hours or days with the full time librarian. The part time library assistant's schedule determines how involved he or she will become. See Chapter 6 from the Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit for more advice on how to best utilize the part time assistant's time.
While it is considerably more difficult to be a collaborative librarian with a flexible schedule when there's no library assistant, it is possible to do so. The librarian has to be more focused in determining his or her priorities. The administrator can help sharpen this focus with input regarding the administrative priorities for the library. Once the librarian has determined what the priorities are, then he or she can determine how to collaborate and what parts of the schedule could be flexible.
This next step could be for a librarian to start to advocate for the school system to have library assistant positions. To prepare for that step read Activism and the School Librarian: Tools for Advocacy and Survival by Deborah Levitov. The best advice that I can offer on behalf of starting to advocate is to always tie the need for a library assistant to student achievement because policymakers are always going to ask why does hiring a library assistant make a difference to student achievement.
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Donnelly, Andria C. "Collaborative Instruction. The Two People You Need on Your Side [6:40]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, September 2016, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1995735?learningModuleId=1995731&topicCenterId=2247903.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1995735?learningModuleId=1995731&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 1995735