Creating My Learning Curation Prompt
I am not going to lie, I've been struggling on how/what to focus on for this assignment. This is mainly due to the problem that I have only just been recently picked up by the Delta School District as a TOC, and am not working full-time at any school. As such, there really isn't a school library that I could focus my ideas on and create my recipe for an ideal library learning commons. The previous school I was with in China is thousands of miles away across the ocean and hidden behind The Great Firewall as well - so what should I do?
In the end, I have decided to go for what is realistic versus ideal: I shall focus my attention on the library that I worked with in China. To give a bit more background, I worked at a BC offshore school in China teaching Grades 10-12. The school population has been (and still is) steadily growing ever since I started working there, growing from under 500 to around 650 students in the span of two years. The school library was initially a very small space that was just the size of one classroom, and not ideal for student usage. It was soon remodeled, and now totals the length of 3 classrooms. It is now a popular space for students (especially for those wishing to escape the humid summer heat or the freezing winter chill) and often used by staff as well for collaboration and Pro-D.
In terms of how the school is moving forward, the biggest concerns for staff were the ideas of literacy and inquiry.
How can we use the library more as a learning commons to promote literacy and a love for reading? Despite the welcoming nature of the library, one of the unfortunate downsides of having such a comfortable working space is that students have started using it more and more as a hangout spot during lunch and after school. Due to infrastructure issues, the hallways are not pleasant to be in most months of the year, and classrooms are kept locked for security reasons during non-instructional hours. For students who are confined onto a private school campus during weekdays, this doesn't give them very many other places to go. Dormitories are also locked during school hours, so the library has become one of the few places of refuge that students could use. As such, the proper usage of the library has been debated on by the staff. Due to the sheer number of students occupying it at times, the librarian has been forced to operate it more like a traditional library (quiet work, no talking, etc.) rather than a learning commons. It is starting to have a negative effect on the library as students are associating books and literature with order and discipline because of the oppressive nature of the library. I would love for the library to turn more into a learning commons to promote literacy, learning, and a love for reading, but how can this be accomplished?
How do we help promote a learning culture of inquiry in a culture where inquiry isn't being taught as part of the public curriculum? Hayes lists promoting inquiry-based learning as one of the recipes of success for a LLC. One of the many unfortunate things about Chinese public education is that inquiry is not taught. To be honest, I'm not really sure how students are expected to learn how to do research because there is such a culture of rote memorization for success in China that even teaching secondary students to analyze and interpret texts was difficult. I remember one of the things that surprised me the most when I first started teaching there was the absolute silence from the class whenever I asked them if they have any questions (eventually a few brave souls would venture to put their hand up for a question or two, but those were few and far between). Even when they had to question (for interview projects in Journalism), students surprised me by not asking good questions. How can a TL encourage students to ask questions, inquire, and collaborate in a culture where they aren't taught to do so?
While it is unlikely that I will ever go back there and work with the school again, the time I had spent there is extremely valuable and precious to me, both personally and professionally, and there are definite aspects of the library that I wish to explore and do more research on. I am thankfully still connected with some of the staff who works there (in particular, the teacher-librarian), so I am hoping that I can find some research that will be beneficial for the school even though I am no longer and employee and not obligated to help them because the students there were lovely and I wish to help improve the quality of their education in any way I can.
References:
Hayes, T. (2014, January 23). Library to Learning Commons: A recipe for success. EduCan Network. Retrieved from: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/library-to-learning-commons/ [Accessed September 12, 2018].
I am not going to lie, I've been struggling on how/what to focus on for this assignment. This is mainly due to the problem that I have only just been recently picked up by the Delta School District as a TOC, and am not working full-time at any school. As such, there really isn't a school library that I could focus my ideas on and create my recipe for an ideal library learning commons. The previous school I was with in China is thousands of miles away across the ocean and hidden behind The Great Firewall as well - so what should I do?
In the end, I have decided to go for what is realistic versus ideal: I shall focus my attention on the library that I worked with in China. To give a bit more background, I worked at a BC offshore school in China teaching Grades 10-12. The school population has been (and still is) steadily growing ever since I started working there, growing from under 500 to around 650 students in the span of two years. The school library was initially a very small space that was just the size of one classroom, and not ideal for student usage. It was soon remodeled, and now totals the length of 3 classrooms. It is now a popular space for students (especially for those wishing to escape the humid summer heat or the freezing winter chill) and often used by staff as well for collaboration and Pro-D.
In terms of how the school is moving forward, the biggest concerns for staff were the ideas of literacy and inquiry.
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| Image by CC0 | Canva.com |
While it is unlikely that I will ever go back there and work with the school again, the time I had spent there is extremely valuable and precious to me, both personally and professionally, and there are definite aspects of the library that I wish to explore and do more research on. I am thankfully still connected with some of the staff who works there (in particular, the teacher-librarian), so I am hoping that I can find some research that will be beneficial for the school even though I am no longer and employee and not obligated to help them because the students there were lovely and I wish to help improve the quality of their education in any way I can.
References:
Hayes, T. (2014, January 23). Library to Learning Commons: A recipe for success. EduCan Network. Retrieved from: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/library-to-learning-commons/ [Accessed September 12, 2018].
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