INSIGHT School Libraries
Inquiry as an approach to learning I
am pleased to be heading one of the second aims for the next phase of the Great School Libraries campaign. This will be focusing on
Approaching Learning through Inquiry. As such, I am delighted that the Great School Libraries working group has decided to endorse the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) School Library Guidelines (
https://bit.ly/3fiIouw ) as our standard for school libraries which provides us with a concise definition of what a school library is.
“A school library is a school’s physical and digital learning space where reading, inquiry, research, thinking, imagination, and creativity are central to students’ information-to-knowledge journey and to their personal, social, and cultural growth”
This definition provides us with a
clear vision for what our school libraries and librarian should be aspiring to, and the accompanying Guidelines (https://
bit.ly/3f59PrW) and associated workshop materials (
www.ifla.org/node/36978) for implementing them provide us with powerful tools for realising this vision. Central to this definition is inquiry, both as a stance and as a process, which provides a clear link to this Learning through Inquiry aim. Over the next 18 months, we hope to focus on the following:
Research
We are aware, as a group, that there have been many studies carried out about the impact school librarians have when working collaboratively within the curriculum. We intend to try and bring it together, in order to provide evidence of impact for school librarians to share.
Framework for Inquiry In this phase, we will be focusing on Fosil (Framework Of Skills for Inquiry Learning) as a suggested model for school librarians to support inquiry throughout the curriculum. There are other
42 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
frameworks available and wholeheartedly support any school librarian using whatever is best for them. An overview and a brief history of Fosil, along with some other models, may be found on CILIP ILG’s Models & Frameworks page (
https://infolit.org.uk/definitions-models/). We will be working closely with The Fosil Group (
https://fosil.org.uk/) whose website already has over 200 members from across the world including librarians, teachers, educators and academics. Their main aim is to share their knowledge and support each other in creating resources freely shared under CC BY-NC- SA 4.0. We hope that you will find this useful and join in this learning journey with us by signing up to the Fosil forum at
https://fosil.org.uk/forums/.
I wrote in my previous column that the big revolution taking place in libraries is in the social sphere – libraries as place, as the ‘third place’ where people gather, meet their friends, exchange ideas, socialise in ever more flexible spaces where they feel they belong. A place where people can participate in a variety of activities or design their own, giving them a greater sense of belonging and ownership than mere fleeting visits to ‘borrow’ something. We should all work to ensure that this vision does not become fleeting but, in combination with our digital future, will become the ‘new normal’ for libraries.
Training School librarians In collaboration with CILIP SLG and SLA we will be looking at what training is currently on offer to support school librarians who want to start the journey with inquiry across the curriculum. We hope that this work will highlight the vast amount of training already available but also help us to discover areas of training need. This will lead to opportunities to work with our partners to provide courses that will support and encourage relevant CPD. We have already seen the start of online courses and webinars which sprung up during lockdown.
SLT and teachers One of the barriers to school librarians
Elizabeth Hutchinson (@Elizabethutch
ehutchinson44@gmail.com) Is an Independent Adviser and Trainer for school libraries.
www.elizabethahutchinson.com
working within the curriculum is the lack of understanding from senior leaders, so training will also look to include talks to SLT about the role and value of the school librarian. these can either be delivered by school librarians themselves or with support, if needed. We also hope to provide talks that can be used at Inset days to help teachers and librarians work more closely together. This will also include training for teachers in using Fosil too.
Gathering data
It is important that we continue to expand our rich data collection which we have already started through our Library Insights blog www.
greatschoollibraries.org.uk/blog and case studies
www.greatschoollibraries.org.uk/ case-studies. Please consider writing for us. To find out more please email info@
greatschoollibraries.org.uk.
The Future
We hope to provide a future for school librarians with a collective voice. We hope that you will join us on this journey ensuring that school librarians now and in the future have a role to play within our education system, within our schools and within our curriculum. IP
References
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. 2015. IFLA School Library Guidelines.
June-July 2020
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One of the barriers to school librarians working within the curriculum is the lack of understanding from senior leaders.
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