Respect, Inclusion and Diversity
AASL Shared Foundation II. Include
Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity in the learning community.
In speaking with Kelly, genrefying the fiction section of her rural high school library has increased circulation this year. Students have gained confidence in knowing how and where to look for fiction books that interest them. Browsing the shelves by genre has helped broaden their horizon by introducing them to other choices they might not have ever considered. (Kelly, personal communication, November 16, 2020).
One of Kelly’s goals is to start a genre-based book club where the students are reading a book of their choice and take part in regular discussions which would meet AASL Domain of Think and competency:
II.A.3. Differentiating instruction to support learners’ understanding of cultural relevancy and placement within the global learning community (AASL, 2018).
The book club discussions would revolve around empathy and equity. Student choice would also permit for differentiation. This is something she has successfully done at a previous school.
Personally, I think it’s a wonderful idea, especially since it’s hard to coordinate and hold the typical cozy book club sessions due to social distancing. Kelly has set up a book club on Schoology, but she has not received any interest from students. An alternative solution could be to have the book club make quick, individual posts and remarks using the apps Flipgrid or Marco Polo. Since both of our schools are in a rural area with a shortage of access to broadband internet services or unreliable internet signals, a conference call might even be the best option due to the COVID-19 remote learning issue.
Collaboration has been more impromptu than planned. Kelly does ask the teachers who book the library or computers about their lesson objective. Some of the teachers are surprised that the library has reference material to support their unit of study.
One particular Science teacher will approach Kelly and request assistance with resources. The tech savvy teacher recently collaborated with Kelly on a research project about diseases. The summative assessment is an infographic and class presentation. The final presentations fall under the Create domain and would apply when students present their projects and are expected to answer questions about the disease they studied.
II.C.1. School librarians facilitate experiences in which learners exhibit empathy and tolerance for diverse ideas by giving learners opportunities to engage in informed conversation and active debate (AASL, 2018).
Although, Kelly works well with the teachers, full collaborations are still lacking. Like three other librarians that I spoke with, she informs the staff that she is able and willing to collaborate. She reaches out in person when school starts and typically by e-mail throughout the school year. Kelly even takes the time to send exploratory teachers a collaborative lesson ideas and invitations. One major concern of hers is that librarians must collaborate as part of their evaluation process in South Carolina, but the teachers are not required to do so. She also noted that if co-teaching/collaboration is not evident during a school librarian’s observation that can negatively affect their overall ADEPT evaluation.
American Association of School Librarians (2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago: American Library Association.
American Association of School Librarians (2018), AASL standards framework for learners: Include. Chicago: ALA https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SharedFoundations_Include_2017.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment