A tip to Barbara's hats

2012 wrapped up the end of my 40th year in education and over that time I’ve learned a few things, theoretical, practical and pragmatic that other TLs may find useful so this is an effort to give back to the profession and the professionals who have given me so much.

Why am I sharing? 
To encapsulate that in a quotable quote is tricky.  But in a nutshell, it was because so many teacher librarian positions were disappearing, depriving students of an essential element in their education, because their role was not seen as valid, valued and valuable by principals, parents and politicians, often because the teacher librarian themselves is locked into a pre-conceived perception of what the job is about. 
It’s a form of advocacy because if the teacher librarian sees the potential and can demonstrate new elements in their day-to-day work, then perhaps that will have a ripple-in-the-pond effect.  
It’s a way of mentoring new teacher librarians who might be so focused on their studies, shaped by course requirements and the passions of their course co-ordinators, that they might not see the full potential of what they can offer students and the privileged position they have in their education because they have the big-picture overview of the whole process, and it’s also a way of giving back to all those who have offered me so much since I became an apprentice teacher librarian in 1998!

Thanks, Barbara!

Filed under: advocacy, professional development, teacher librarians