COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP

Presented by Claire DeRose and Katie ArtesCollection Development

What is Collaboration?

Collaboration is based on shared goals, a shared vision, and a climate of trust and respect (Muronago & Harada, 1999).

The teacher brings to the partnership knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses, attitudes and interests of the students, and of the content to be taught. The media specialist adds a thorough understanding of information skills and methods to integrate them, helping the teacher to develop resource-based units that broaden the use of resources and promote information literacy (Doiron & Davies, 1998). 

What is Collaborative Leadership?

As the Media Specialist, it is your responsibility to facilitate and direct the collaboration between yourself and the teacher.  

The Media Specialist’s Role In the past, the school library was used

as a resource, but the Media Specialist was not seen as a teacher.

Now, Media Specialists have a bigger role and responsibility for the success of each student.

Not only can the Media Center be used as a resource, it can be beneficial to curricular instruction, skill development, and literacy.

“Effective collaborations with teachers helps to create a vibrant and engaged community of learners, strengthens the whole school program as well as the library media program, and develops support for the school library media program throughout the whole school” (p. 51). - Information power: Building partnerships for learning (1998)

Why is Collaboration Important?

Why are some teachers hesitant to collaborate with Media Specialists?

Teachers lack experience with cooperative planning

Teachers have limited planning time to cooperatively plan

Teachers have administrative and curricular demands

Teachers do not view Media Specialists as an equal partner in teaching classes

Teachers are not aware of the knowledge and resources available to them from the Media Specialist

Successful Collaboration Occurs when there is…

Mutual respect Trust Willingness to share

power Flexibility and

creativity Willingness to learn

from each other Open communication Initial formal

planning

Knowledge of best practices, information literacy strategies

Knowledge of curriculum and standards

Unified approach to classroom management

Technology skills Documentation of

successes and failures Reflective evaluation

COLLABORATIVE PLANNING TAXONOMY

Dr. David Loertscher, Professor at San Jose State University

http://www.edcollab.org/LibraryMedia/Collaboration/sld006.htm

Collaborative Planning Taxonomy

1. Self contained teaching: No perceived need for Library Media Center resources.

2. Teaching with a borrowed collection: Teacher plans unit and checks out resources.

Collaborative Planning Taxonomy

3. Using the Library Media Specialist as Enrichment: Teacher brings class to Library Media Center to hear story or book talk and check out materials.

4. Utilizing the Library Media Specialist Out of Context: Instruction and learning are disjointed. Library Media Specialist teaches information skills out of the curriculum context.

Collaborative Planning Taxonomy

5. Using Library Resources as Part of a Unit: Teachers require students to use library resources without prior planning. Library Media Specialist is placed in a reactive role.

6. Collaborative Planning for Instruction: Teacher and Library Media Specialist identify skills and objectives to be taught and resources needed. Together, responsibilities of teacher, students, and Library Media Specialist are clearly defined.

Collaborative Planning Taxonomy

7. Collaborative Planning for Curriculum Development: Teachers and Library Media Specialist work as a team to develop a curriculum, make decisions for acquiring resources, plan activities and strategies to facilitate successful implementation.

Ideal!

Collaboration Experiences: Movie

1. Each group will receive a scenario about a Media Specialist collaborating with a teacher.

2. In your group, discuss what the Media Specialist should do to effectively collaborate with that teacher.

3. Write down your group’s strategy so you are ready to share when we come back together.

Scenario Activity Directions

Scenario One You are working with a teacher in the first year of

teaching third grade, who previously taught kindergarten. She has a class filled with behavioral and emotionally challenged children. She is overwhelmed with learning and teaching the new curriculum and teaching these older students. Thus far, all of your interactions have been when she drops her students off and leaves them for the entire class period. You have asked for information for what curricular content she is currently teaching, but you have gotten little response. You want to teach beginning research skills, and would like to make it a meaningful project connected to something the kids are currently learning. How would you best approach this teacher to collaborate?

Scenario Two A teacher consistently emails you a list of books

he wants to include in his classroom library for a period of time to enhance whatever unit he is currently teaching. You emailed back the first time he asked for books, offering to collaborate using more of the libraries resources to expand on the students’ understanding, but he did not take you up on your offer. While the teacher is extremely competent, he is unwilling to relinquish control. How do you approach this teacher to collaborate?

Scenario Three It is March, and after reviewing the Media Center

schedule, you notice that one first year 6th grade Language Arts teacher has yet to bring his classes into the Media Center for a lesson or project. Once realizing this, you send him an email inviting him to bring his classes in or communicate any projects he is working on that you could assist with, however, he does not respond to the email. You understand that as a new teacher, he is very overwhelmed with teaching, but you want to make sure that his students do not miss out on using the Media Center and its resources. What is your next step in working towards collaboration with this teacher?

Scenario Four You are a Media Specialist at an urban middle school,

and you are frustrated with an 8th grade Language Arts teacher who frequently either gives you last minute notice about needing to come into the Media Center, or cancels at the last minute. You know that the students at this school do not have many opportunities to read and use the resources the Media Center has to offer, so you want to allow them as much time as possible, but you are tired of letting the teacher disregard the regulations you enforce for using the Media Center. What action will you take to improve your collaboration with this teacher?

Scenario Five You are working with an experienced 11th grade

American Literature teacher who brings his classes in to do their first term paper each year. He has not modified his unit since he first started teaching, even when technology has changed the research process. You want to integrate research skills using databases and online sources, but through the way he teaches his classes, it is apparent he is uncomfortable with using technology. With some of the students’ topics, they are struggling to find print resources in the library, and you want to prepare the students for researching in college. How would you best approach this teacher to collaborate?

Scenario Six You are working with a teacher who, you know

from past experiences, does not hold the same discipline standards as yourself. You have scheduled an author of a book her 10th grade students just read in class, but you are concerned about the appropriateness of their behavior during this opportunity. You also would like them to be prepared with appropriate questions that facilitate meaningful discussion with the author. How do you initiate a conversation with this teacher for this collaborative project to be successful?

We hope you now have a better understanding of the possibilities of collaboration within school library media, and how to navigate and avoid some of the challenges that present themselves.

Conclusion

“ALONE WE CAN DO SO LITTLE; TOGETHER WE CAN DO SO MUCH.” – HELEN KELLER