Final Thoughts

Throughout this course I have had one big idea nagging at the back of my mind, and that is the need for my school to receive training/pro-d in inquiry. Before this course I was frustrated by the fact that the new curriculum is being pushed on us from the top down, yet teachers are struggling to navigate what it means. Working in the library this year I have seen that many teachers misunderstand inquiry, and are essentially just rehashing old research projects. I also see other teachers trying for real inquiry, but struggling to guide the inquiry by asking the “right” questions, or locating good resources. A quote from Sharon Coatney’s Zeroing in on Inquiry (2013) really struck me, “teachers and administrators were not taught to teach (or learn) in this way” (p. 7), so someone has to teach them how to do inquiry. As a result of this course, I feel more confident to help guide teachers, both on an individual level, and as a group. I feel inspired to facilitate inquiry opportunities with my colleagues, while also helping those teachers who come to me for assistance with more than just creating resource lists. Often I feel underutilised in the library and I know that it is up to me to change how I am seen by teachers and to generate my own opportunities, but sometimes it is difficult in a new role and at a new school. However, I feel like as a result of this course I have gained confidence in sharing what I know about inquiry and helping teachers implement new ideas in their classrooms.

That being said, the biggest thing I want to do for my school is to facilitate a pro-d session on inquiry which shows how teachers can “nudge” what they are already doing towards inquiry. Through the readings and the modules I feel that I have the skills to take the knowledge I have gained to create a workshop which will help teachers at my school. It would be easy for me to simply purchase resources and share readings, but I know how busy teachers are, and these will just go unread. I want to take what I have learned, make it relatable for each department, and accessible and concise. Concise is probably the most important part. I need to take the most salient points from the readings and share these with my colleagues. I know that this would be a big undertaking as a project, but I feel that it is in the best interest of my school, and in the best interest for me as a TL. By showing my colleagues what I know and how I can help them implement inquiry in their classroom, I am showing my value and will hopefully be able to put my new found skills to good use. And once again, as Sharon Coatney said in Essential Questions and Answers for Implementing Inquiry (2015), it is imperative that teachers are provided with pro-d in the form of face-to-face workshops, and that they are given concrete examples of inquiry lessons (p.12).

I also feel like it is beneficial for me to become more confident in my understand of the new B.C curriculum so that I can generate pathfinders for courses and come up with some sample project ideas/ essential questions. It is my dream to have packages available at the first staff meeting of the year which outline how I can help classes in all subject areas with their inquiries, but I am not sure I will be able to manage this for September 2017… so perhaps that is a goal for 2018. I particularly enjoyed creating a pathfinder on Sqworl and think that at the very least I need to update my resource lists on my TL blog with Sqworls, as these are so much more visually enticing and user friendly than the boring lists with links I am currently using. I particularly liked Sqworl because you are able to annotate the resource with helpful hints or what can be found in that resource, without it looking bulky.

However, through this course the one area where I still feel I have a lot more to learn is about specific tech tools that can be used for inquiry output. Though there were numerous helpful ideas and lists throughout the modules, the condensed nature of this course did not permit me the time to really play around with them or explore them in depth. This is an area where I really need to strive for improvement as I think that this is one place where I can really help teachers move away from typical research style projects, into something more innovative and twenty-first century. And this relates to my original guiding question:

How can inquiry projects in high school Humanities classes differ from a research project?

This comes with some sub-questions:

• What can the TL do to ensure there is a difference?

• Does giving voice and choice in topic and end format of the assignment = inquiry?

• How can a project to be scaffolded to ensure that it is more than just a research project?

• Does using technology make the project more impactful/inquiry based?

At the end of the day, I think this course made it clear that inquiry cannot have yes or no answers, that it needs to be student driven and that it needs to be riddled with formative assessment. I think that the formative piece is one of the key things I have been missing during the inquiry projects I have involved myself in, because as the TL, I have not checked in with students throughout the project in a meaningful way. By doing so, I believe that I can eliminate some of this factual regurgitation that happens. I also think that tech tools once again are key. Something about Power Points inspires students to simply copy and paste, but other tools are designed in such a way where students cannot regurgitate, they must truly create something new and in depth.

Though I think creating good essential questions is key to an inquiry project, good research papers or research assignments can have inquiry style questions, and still result in copying and pasting, with a little bit of analysis or reflection built-in. Again, I think that check-in points are key to ensuring that this isn’t what is happening, and having more hands on deck (ie). a collaboration between a teacher and the TL to perform formative assessment) is integral.

I am sure that as I delve deeper into inquiry and gain more hands-on experience I will be able to further answer my questions, and all of the new ones that develop, but at the end of the day, this course has inspired me to dive into inquiry. I am already planning how to include some inquiry into my classroom this summer when I teach summer school. More than anything, however it will likely be more of a critical literacy approach to inquiry, as lab and library time is limited in the summer, but this is a start, and I am excited.

Inquiry Unit

My inquiry unit is available via Google Docs.

The assignment also has two appendices:

• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2

 

Assignment 2: Resource Curation

Topic/ Rationale:

This list of resources is intended to be used in an English 10 classroom during a poetry unit, specifically one that focuses on identity. The librarian will collaborate with the classroom teacher, and help provide students with access to poems both in print and online. This resource guide is intended to help students find poems that speak to them, either through text, video, and/or audio, and which represent their identity .While poetry is consistently taught in English classrooms, this approach puts the onus into the hands of the student, asking  them to find poems that ‘speak’ to them, and who they are. The aim is to eliminate the stigma that poetry is old and stuffy and boring, and to show that it can be contemporary and exciting as well.

The resources selected focus on modern poetry in order to appeal to students and to make the texts relatable, which will hopefully inspire deeper text-world connections. As this unit will be taught at my school Alpha Secondary in Burnaby, British Columbia, I have selected the textual resources from those actually available in the library. The online resources have been selected for their pedagogical strength, their searchability, and their accessibility from anywhere. While the websites focus on textual resources, some audio and video options are also available for those students who are more visual learners, or who are newer to English. However, as the websites are extensive, the difficulty of the poems ranges and therefore students will be able to find poems that are at their level. A number of the websites also offer teacher resources which could help the teacher design the rest of his/her poetry unit, as well as to choose poems to teach more deeply in class.

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Prescribed Learning Outcomes:

The new (draft) English 10 curriculum outlines the following learning standards:

Students will,

• Think critically, creatively, and reflectively to explore ideas within, between, and beyond texts.
• Recognize personal, social, and cultural contexts, as well as values and perspectives in texts, including race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, place.
• Construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world.
• Respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways.
• Evaluate how literary elements, techniques, and devices enhance and shape meaning and impact.

The draft English 10 curriculum also states the following “Big Idea”:

• The exploration of text and story deepens our understanding of diverse, complex ideas about identity, others, and the world.

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Search Strategy:

As my intended inquiry is not a typical ‘research’ style inquiry, I used the internet at large, rather than any specific databases. This is because the databases my school has access to would help with performing research on an author, but would not allow students to locate poems for their own study. As a result, I utilized my previous knowledge from having worked as an English teacher combined with resources which had been curated by other librarians in my district, as a starting point. One such list I used was on Burnaby South’s library blog.

I was aware of the poetry website Poetry Foundation as a strong resource for teaching poetry, and one that is often used by teachers. From there I searched their ‘learning resources’ and selected some of their recommended websites. I also visited Poetry.org’s teaching resources another well-known site in English poetry education, and visited some of their recommended sites.

When selecting resources I looked for their coverage of contemporary poetry as well as their searchability by mood or topic, in order for students to easily access poems that related to their lives and their identity. When poems could only be searched by author or year, it makes it more difficult and time consuming for students to locate texts that represent them, and therefore I kept these to a minimum. In addition, websites which offered audio and/ or video recordings of poems were chosen, in order to increase accessibility to students. If students are not strong readers, they would be able to hear a poem, while they were reading, in order to increase comprehension.

I also searched for sites which would have modern appeal, specifically databases which focus on spoken word poetry, as these often focus on personal identity and contemporary issues which students could relate to. Spoken word poets also focus on performance and therefore these websites often have videos, increasing their multi-modal appeal.

When selecting the final list of websites, I chose those which were generated by reputable organizations which focus on poetry and or poetry education. Most were put together by educational institutions, or in conjunction with educational institutions and therefore are well curated, organized and frequently updated.

Search terms I used to locate websites were

• poetry and contemporary
• poetry and high school students
• poetry and secondary school
• poetry and spoken word
• poetry and Canada/Canadian
• poetry and First Nations
• poetry and Aboriginal
• poetry and identity

Unfortunately a website which focuses on North American aboriginal poetry does not currently exist, and therefore the resources selected offer minimal access to aboriginal writers. This could perhaps be remedied with hard copy resources. In addition, Canadian specific resources were minimally available and therefore only one website was located with a specifically Canadian context.

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Selected Resources:

The online resources I have curated are available via my poetry unit’s pathfinder @ Sqworl

The curated textual resources are available on my school’s library website in a ‘Resource List’ pathfinder entitled: Poetry.

I would also suggest to students to get the free Poetry Foundation mobile App.

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Annotated Bibliography:

Academy of American Poets. (2017, June 07). Poets.org. Retrieved from https://www.poets.org/

This website is compiled by The Academy of American Poets and allows readers to browse poems based on occasions, themes, forms and poetic movements. Most poems are accompanied by an audio-recording, enabling the poem to come to life for the reader. The site also offers ‘materials for teachers’ including links to American Poets Magazine, and National Poetry Month. A video is also available which highlights all of the additional pedagogical possibilities of poets.org. Unfortunately the site does have an American focus, and therefore poets from other countries are largely ignored.  However their coverage of contemporary American poetry is extensive, and easy to search, making it unparalleled on the web.

Bleakney, E. (2009). Poem in your pocket: 200 poems to read and carry. New York, NY: Amulet Books.

This book provides access to 200 poems which have been vetted by The Academy of American Poets. The poems are all one page or less, making them accessible to students of both low and high reading levels. Poems are subdivided by themes including Myself, Love & Rockets, and City My City. The book covers a wide variety of poetic styles and includes poems translated from other languages in addition to poems by authors of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Fishouse Poems. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.fishousepoems.org/

Fishouse is a not-for-profit organization in the United States which promotes the oral tradition of poetry. This website highlights ’emerging poets’ which they define as “poets with fewer than two published books of poetry at the time of submission”. As such, this website provides access to extremely contemporary poetry, as well as lesser known authors. As the website is constantly being updated it is an extremely current look at American poetry, making it appeal to young audiences. Each poem can be accessed both in text, and in audio with bibliographic information also available for each author. Unfortunately the collection is not searchable by theme, and therefore poems must be accessed via each author’s page. While this lack of searchability isn’t ideal, the spotlight being placed on lesser known contemporary poets is what makes this site beneficial for students.

Koyczan, S. (2017). Shane Koyczan. Retrieved from http://shanekoyczan.com/

This is Canadian spoken word poet Shane Koyczan’s website. As his poetry is very personal and identity driven, this resource was selected as an access point for students in order to inspire their inquiry and to show them how relevant poetry can be. Koyczan is world famous, spoke at the 2010 Olympic games and a number of his poems have been turned into books and short videos. Students may know his work “To This Day”, a graphic short film of one of his most famous poems, making his work, and poetry at large, more relatable. Shane’s website houses a collection of his poems which could be used by students or teachers, in addition to audio and video versions of his poems which make his work accessible and contemporary for young adults.

Paschen, E. (2010). Poetry speaks who I am. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.

This poetry anthology was created specifically for teenagers, with poems selected for their appeal to young people and what is important to them. Edited by Elise Paschen, an American poet and the co-founder of Poetry in Motion, poets were asked to contribute original work, in addition to selecting poems that meant something to them as young people. Classic texts are included, in addition to more contemporary pieces, specifically highlighting a number of authors of Aboriginal and African American decent. Accompanying the book is a c.d., with each poem being read by the author, or performed by another poet. This c.d. brings the words of the poems off the page and breathes life into them for the reader, while also increasing access to those who may struggle with reading comprehension.

 

Poetry Foundation. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

The Poetry Foundation publishes Poetry magazine, and “exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience”. Poems can be browsed by numerous sub-categories including subjects, occasions, poetic terms, poetic region, and more. The site also features podcasts on poetry, videos of poems and poetic readings, links to articles from Poetry magazine, and an extensive resource list for teachers and students. Though this website has a predominantly American focus, its breadth of topics and genres is extensive and provides one of the most comprehensive collections of poetry on the internet.

Poetry Foundation. (2016). POETRY from the poetry foundation (2.20160915). [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from the App Store.

This mobile app is free to download and makes searching for poems incredibly easy and accessible from anywhere. Poems can be searched based on themes, or users can simply “spin” and read a new poem, chosen at random. Students can also search for poems by combining pre-chosen search terms on a dial. The ability to mix and max search terms makes finding poems easy for students, and the interface is fun and easy to use. A number of the poems also include audio recordings. Poems can also be saved to favourites, so that users can manage poems they find, and access them again with ease.

Poetry in Voice. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.poetryinvoice.com/

Poetry in Voice is a Canadian website which promotes the teaching of poetry in the classroom. This site offers extensive resources for teachers on how to improve their classroom instruction of poetry. Access to lessons requires you to sign-up, but is free. The site also offers an extensive database of poems, which can be retrieved by grade level appropriateness, length, or author. A fun feature is the “poetry roulette” where students can select their mood and a poem will appear at random which reflects those feelings. Videos and instructional documents are also available for teaching poetry recitation, along with a listing of poetic terms and forms, along with sample poems for each. Included on the site is also a 4 week writing workshop, to help students with the creation of their own poetry.

University of Toronto Libraries. (2000). Canadian poetry online. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from https://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/

This website generated by the libraries at the University of Toronto, fills the need for a collection of Canadian-specific poetry on the web. Poems are subdivided into two categories: contemporary and 19th century, or the entire collection can be searched.  Over 4,800 poems are available in both English and in French, and can be accessed by author, title, form and date. Unfortunately the database is not easily searchable by theme or genre, nor can poems be easily accessed at random. A nice feature of the site however is that poems can be accessed by location using a map of Canada with clickable links. In addition there is a useful timeline for teachers which highlights significant poetic events in history an an extensive glossary of important poetic terms.

Vancouver Poetry House. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/

This website was chosen for its local appeal as it advertises poetry events, contests, authors and texts from in and around Vancouver, B.C. Perhaps one of the most relevant aspects of the website is its section entitled Wordplay, where teachers/ librarians can book local spoken word poets to come to their schools/classrooms. Bringing a contemporary poet into the classroom would be a great hook to a poetry unit, while also supporting local culture and artists. Biographies of local spoken word poets are also available, giving students and teachers a jumping off point for finding more work from local authors, including those who are LGBTQ+ and/or aboriginal.

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Works Cited:

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (June 2016). Focused literary studies 10: Draft curriculum. Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/10-12/english-language-0arts/en_ela_10_fls.pdf

English 12 Poetry Project [Web log post]. (2016, February 4). Retrieved from http://blogs.sd41.bc.ca/south-library/eng-12-poetry-project/

 

 

 

Critical Literacy

With a background in teaching English prior to becoming a Teacher Librarian, critical literacies really make sense to me. Module 11’s readings are helping guide me during the creation of my inquiry unit, specifically because it has an English Language Arts focus which requires students to engage deeply with a historically significant text.

I think that there is often so much focus on twenty-first century skills and technological literacy when discussing inquiry based learning, that learning more about incorporating  “traditional literacy” skills into inquiry was refreshing. At the end of the day, there are still concrete skills that students need to develop (in the humanities specifically) becuase reading and writing skills are still emphasized. I really connected with the quote in the module from Deb Brandt’s Literacy in American Lives (2001), “A high level of literacy is central to academic, economic, and social success.” I couldn’t agree more. Though today’s world is more technological than ever, students still need to be able to read and to think analytically, in order to breakdown the information overload that is out there.  And as the readings really emphasize, students will become more literate, and more successful, if it is not just about right and wrong, but about thinking deeply.

I enjoy how the Stripling (2003) article showed how simple it can be to nudge your classes towards inquiry through pre-reading activities and questioning techniques. Time and time again, this class has shown that inquiry needs to be scaffolded and led by the teacher. Inquiry doesn’t just mean, come up with a question and let students run with it. The teacher needs to be involved every step of the way, to guide student learning and to make sure that tasks can be accomplished, while still being challenging and this was shown very clearly in the video.

The Discovering Voice: Mantle of the Expert and Stranger in Role video specifically spoke to me because of my background in teaching both English and Drama. Critical literacy to me, once again, is an integral part of the unit I am designing as it deals with social justice and examining the failings of society in order to grow and learn. For me, critical literacy is all about asking students the tough questions, and also teaching them to ask themselves and others tough questions as well. By doing so, they are able to think critically, while also learning to respect opinions and reasoning that may be different from their own. I can see how critical literacy may make some people nervous, as students may ask questions that are really difficult, or even inappropriate, but how else will they learn, especially in a world that is so complex, and diverse and polarizing? I also think that critical literacy is integral to relating the past to the future, something that school is all about. As Jeffrey Wilhelm is quoted in Module 11 as saying, critical literacies “move us from the past to an immersion in the problems of the present” (p.97). As a teacher, this is what I strive to do.

So in terms of the video, I think it does a great job of exemplifying how powerful learning can be when students are allowed to ask difficult questions, and comment on each others thinking, in a respectful environment. The children in the video stated time and time again how valuable it was to learn through discussion and to feel that the teacher was talking to them/with them, not at them. I loved the idea of students being “cast as experts”, and the idea that doing so empowers students to feel stronger and smarter and more able to express their opinions and challenge other people’s thinking. Or in other words, to think critically. As a former Drama teacher, I know how powerful dramatic inquiry can be, and how students are able to make connections to past experiences and learning, through play. The video also really highlights the importance of students collaborating (through discussion) to generate well formed thoughts and opinions. I also really appreciated that the teacher rephrased what students were saying at the end to ensure that the main points were hitting home, without seeming preachy, or lecturey.

Something that I didn’t love about the video however was that, from a drama education perspective, what they were doing wasn’t really all that drama-y. Though the teacher put on a bit of an accent, and students changed their name tags, at the end of the day, they were simply just sitting around and discussing topics they would have been discussing regardless of the “drama”. Though this might have just been the way the clips of the video seemed, I think that the “entering the drama” could have been more explicit, so that the students were actually taking on a more dramatic role. Perhaps this is nit-picky, and clearly the students found the experience valuable, but I just didn’t really find the activity to be all that “dramatic”. I do however see the point that even the idea of being in a role made students feel as though they had more authority to speak, and that their opinions mattered. I can also see how a teacher taking on a non-traditional “dramatic” role, made the environment seem warm and inviting, making it easier for students to speak. The video also clearly highlighted the need for students to take on a critical stance, to challenge each other’s thinking and to develop collaborative life skills, all things integral to learning, inquiry, and critical literacy.

Questioning

From Concept Categories to Essential Questions for the Topic of Nutrition, based on figures by McTighe and Wiggins (2013).

Essential Questions Derived from Desired Understandings. Chart based on figures by McTighe and Wiggins (2013). Desired Understandings taken directly from the new BC curriculum.

This week’s readings on creating essential questions was very helpful for me in terms of deriving my own essential questions for units, but also in helping students create their own questions. I have had one-on-one meetings with students performing inquiry, and discussed their questions, but aside from advising on a topic being closed vs. open, or too large or too small, I found myself unable to effectively assist in the creation of questions. However, now I have skills in this area that I can put to use.

I really liked how Wilhelm (2012) described the necessity of creating an essential question which “frames a unit of study as a problem to be solved” (p. 25). This is such an effective way of seeing a unit, but also makes creating inquiry questions seem manageable. Why not phrase what you want students to learn as a question, instead of a statement. Not only does this add buy in, but it also makes something potentially mundane, much more exciting. It also opens up the floor for students to *gasp* disagree with what you are saying, which could generate some great teachable moments.

I also found that Wilhelm’s “Learning to love the questions” put making essential questions in a manageable how to, even simplifying it so far as to use the “typical queries that newspaper articles address” (p. 38) ie) Who? What? Why? and How? and the need to focus on impact: “effect/affect, how, why, if etc.” (p.38) These are pieces of wisdom that I can easily pass on to my fellow teachers and my students to help them create or improve their questions, where before I didn’t really know what to say. I was sort of in the boat of “I know a good question when I hear one”… but I couldn’t actually explain what that meant.

Learning Commons

The readings about creating a Library Learning Commons really struck home for me, as I am in the midst of dealing with the creation of a new library at my school. While I am overjoyed that within about a year I will be getting a brand new space, my understanding of what a Learning Commons should be greatly differs from the architect’s aesthetic ideals. It feels like I am constantly fighting battles trying to explain the need for the library to provide spaces for tech and collaboration, but that it also still needs to be a place for storing books. But more than anything, that it needs to be multi-functional with moveable parts.

In the current design iterations, book shelves are scattered amongst affixed computer banks, making it so that even with moving shelves, the space cannot be opened up to collaboration, or events. The computer banks also do not provide space for collaboration or teaching, as computers simply face each other in a row. In addition, the copious amounts of floor to ceiling windows are beautiful, and airy, but they make it difficult to keep books together. While I understand that a Learning Commons is about spaces for students to work together, print resources are still an important part of the library space, and keeping books organized is integral, in my opinion to a Learning Commons or a library.

What I do like about the design is that my Principal is open to having breakout rooms, and turning one into a Makerspace. He is very technology forward and is excited for all the new technology we can bring into the library. There is also a projected “flexible” teaching area with furniture that can easily be moved to alter the flow and function of this specific space, so that interesting work can be done. I met with the District Librarian on Monday to formulate our plan for the new library, using the elements that were included in their original design, but in a different arrangement. I think that this new space will foster inquiry much better as it offers places for learning, participation, technology, but also for books and quiet as well.

It seems to me that space is so important to a school’s ability to truly embrace inquiry. Spaces for collaboration, spaces for technology and Makerspaces all require an openness that stereotypical schools and libraries do not always offer. As our schools and classrooms embrace inquiry, it seems to me that money needs to be put into creating more open, creative and collaborative spaces in schools to help move this educational revolution forward. I look forward to seeing how the new spaces at my school will impact the learning and the practices of both students and teachers alike.

 

My Question

At the end of week 1, I decided to delve more deeply into what makes an inquiry project different from a simple research project. Module 7 has provided me with a lot of insight into this idea and I have summed it up in the following points:

• planning is collaborative (team of 3 is deemed optimal by some)
• creation is collaborative (students need to work together)
• feedback is collaborative (peer feedback is important)
• does not have to have a clearly defined output (can offer students choice)
• should be interdisciplinary whenever possible
• independent, but structured (more student-centered)
• connect to things/people outside of the school (needs to relate to real life/the real world)
• formative and summative assessment throughout
• use of technology
• reflection throughout (learning logs?)
• integrates skills throughout the process (not just one off bibliography lessons)

While a number of these things can and are being integrated into research projects, the things I see as really different is the need for collaboration and peer input throughout the process. It is also clear that inquiry is meant to be flexible and that it can be structured, but that it cannot not clearly defined at the outset. In many ways, you never know where students will end up, and that is part of the fun.

Though teachers at my school have attempted inquiry, a number of their projects still don’t seem to alleviate the possibility that students can just copy and paste instead of really learning… I am not sure exactly how to remedy this, as a number of the projects I have seen do include many of the elements listed above. Perhaps more formative assessment could help, as checking in throughout the process can allow intervention or guidance when needed and reframing if necessary.

I keep thinking about how interesting it would be do to a project in English class which asked students to delve into why Shakespeare is still so popular today. Though this would be the overarching unit question, students would be able to delve more deeply into different sub-areas of this idea. However, I am not sure if this would be too prescriptive for inquiry… though I do think that it would provide students with a way to connect something that is often archaic, into something meaningful, relatable and tangible.

Challenged Books

I felt compelled to respond to the prompt from Module 5 related to Challenged Books as it is an area I am extremely passionate about. Despite having been a TL for almost a year now, I was unaware that my district would have a policy surrounding resource curation and book challenges . Since I began my job, I was essentially told that it was up to my discretion what I purchased, which is true, but it’s nice to know that there might be an actual document to back me up in case there is ever an issue. After listening to the podcast panel discussion in Module 5, and being told how necessary it was to understand my school or district’s policy I went searching for it. To be honest, I thought we might not have one, as I felt it was strange to have never been told about it. But with a very very quick Google search I realized that there is an entire district policy manual with a section on libraries and selecting learning resources . Good to know! After listening to the podcast I can see how important it is to know what policies and supports are in place for TLs to fight censorhip in their schools.

Thankfully my district is very supportive of librarians and I feel lucky to work in Burnaby. Reading the policies on selecting learning resources confirmed for me how much autonomy I have in my role and I feel very supported by my administration and school board to select resources as I see fit. I thankfully have not encountered any complaints myself, nor have I heard of other secondary librarians dealing with this problem in my district, but it is always a fear. Though, as Richard Beaudry says in the podcast “If you attack one library in Canada you attack them all”, and I know that censorship issues in other districts have happened and will continue to happen and that this can impact the work that I do.

It is impossible to vet all resources we select for our libraries or for projects we do with classes and I worry that one day I will do something wrong. Hearing the stories in the podcast was disheartening, especially given the idea that administration or PTAs with no background in libraries feel that they know best in terms of culling a library collection. Though much of what was “levelled” in the example in the podcast was the fiction, as a former Language Arts teacher, fiction is still a great jumping off point for inquiry… and more than that, it is what gets used most in my library. If everything in the library had to have a curriculum connection, I feel like we would be left with almost nothing. This way of thinking about libraries and schools totally eliminates the importance of reading for pleasure, or reading to expand your world, even if it doesn’t directly relate to your school work. It would also rely on very few people’s ideas of what is and should be taught in classes. I have a quote on my bulletin board in my library, and I cannot remember where I found it, but it says “Through books, children can imagine what it might be like to be in someone else’s shoes. This is surely where empathy starts”. This quote, for me, exemplifies why an extensive and diverse fiction collection is important in a library.

When purchasing books I have often wondered what a library would be like if the librarian was not very progressive or open-minded. A collection could become so one-note and closed-minded if the librarian didn’t believe in the importance of” provid[ing] balance to the collection, representing various points of view on controversial issues”, as is stated in the Burnaby policy manual section 6.55.01.02.g. I have made it my goal this year to expand both our aboriginal and LGBTQ+ collections, specifically focusing on residential schools and transgender teens.  Some of the books I have purchased push the boundaries, but really, isn’t that what all good literature does? And in the case of inquiry, these types of books can generate amazing jumping off points for questioning and discovery. If students don’t have access to a wide array of resources with varying view points, how can they actually inquire into a topic?

At my school:

This year I did a large display on “banned books” and one for International Day Against Transphobia and Homophobia. It was important to be to shed light on these issues and to show students that it is important not to be censored.

While I try to pick books that are “appropriate” for my students, I also believe that at the secondary level I refuse to level books, or to tell students what they can and cannot take. As young adults, these students can go to Chapters to purchase any book they see fit, or to the public library. And in my MLIS courses, we have been told that as librarians we cannot censor, but we can warn patrons, if we believe the content they are selecting isn’t age appropriate or may have triggers in it.

If anything, I think that the displays I have made could be great jumping off points for inquiry projects. Unfortunately as it stands, I put up the displays, a few books get taken out and that’s it. I have even had one of the LSS teachers ask me more than once “Well, now what?” in regard to the displays. I think that tough and controversial subjects are the exact kind of things that students need to be exploring in school, in order to make them more open-minded and well rounded students. Listening to the podcast also made me realize that I shouldn’t be afraid when selecting materials. That should a complaint be made, I have an administration that will support me, I have a mentor librarian that will support me, and I have a district librarian who will support me. Knowing that there is support behind you should a complaint be made, makes it so much easier to feel strong in your choices and convictions and to delve deeply into inquiry topics that may be controversial to some.

 

Copyright

Module 5 also got me thinking about Copyright and how difficult it is to explain to teachers and students why breaking Copyright isn’t okay, even in educational settings. As I perused the Copyright matters! (4th edition), and with some background in the Copyright Modernization Act, I can see how confusing it can be for teachers. I still have teachers coming up to me all the time asking if we have purchased the rights to show a DVD in class, when really, we can show any purchased DVD in class when it is for educational purposes. Unfortunately, I see people break Copyright all the time, using Netflix in class, putting pictures in their presentations without citations etc. etc. etc. but if teachers don’t model good citation behaviour, how can students learn? But at the same time, funding for public schools isn’t great, and how unfortunate is it that students can’t gain access to certain materials because of Copyright. This is especially frustrating when say a teacher or the librarian has access to online resources through a public library where they are a member, but the students are not.

One thing I wasn’t aware of before was FIPPA and how this can impact education in BC. I never once thought about the issues surrounding students’ information being stored on international servers and that if we ask a student to sign up for an online program/resource that we should get their parents permission first. This is good to know given that I have a large interest in using more technology in my inquiry practice, but I need to be cognizant of the programs I am asking students to use, and what kind of information those programs are asking students for.

 

 

 

 

Essential Question

My essential question for the course so far relates to how I have seen inquiry being used in the high school classroom so far in my school. A number of teachers have used me, and the library to do inquiry projects, but at the end of the day, it is difficult to tell these assignments apart from research projects of the past. These teachers are often Humanities based: Social Studies, English, Psychology, etc. and as this is where my background lies, I would like to focus on this area of education. At the end of the day, most “inquiry” projects I have seen end in a poster or a power point and this just doesn’t seem all that exciting for students, and I think this needs to change. So the following is my question:

How can inquiry projects in high school Humanities classes differ from a research project?

This comes with some sub-question:

• What can the TL do to ensure there is a difference?
• Does giving voice and choice in topic and end format of the assignment = inquiry?
• How can a project to be scaffolded to ensure that it is more than just a research project?
• Does using technology make the project more impactful/inquiry based?

Initial Thoughts

When I start thinking about a new topic, I often like to mind-map. It is a good way for me to visualize my ideas and to just get them all out on paper. Below are my initial thoughts on inquiry, as related to the log question in Module 1: What challenges have you experienced or might you anticipate experiencing in using the inquiry approach in your teaching?

As you can see, I have a number of thoughts about the issues inquiry brings to teaching, and despite this, it is still something that I want to be involved in within my TL role at my high school.

Lack of Experience

The way it currently stands, my main opposition to approaching teachers to do inquiry, is that I do not feel well enough versed in the subject, nor do I have any personal experience in using inquiry in my academic classroom (I did teach Drama for awhile and feel that this is largely inquiry based, but electives feel like an entirely different ‘type’ of class to me). So my main challenge at this time is myself, and my feelings of inadequacy, and that is why I am here taking LLED 469. I was involved in a few “inquiry” projects this year with ELL teachers and Social Studies teachers, but my contribution felt very minor and insignificant, and I want to find a way to change this so that my input and participation is more integral to the process. I want to feel as though I am helping both teachers and students in a meaningful way, rather than just spouting off about bibliographies and the CRAAP test, over and over and over again. I also think that finding more concrete examples/templates of secondary level inquiry projects that have worked in other schools/districts will help to increase both my, and other teachers’ confidence with inquiry. So far it seems that a lot of what we have seen in our readings has an elementary focus, and while this is great for learning, it’s not something I can put into practice. But with the new curriculum being so so new, sometimes it is nice to follow along with someone else’s plan first… and then tweek and change it for your own classroom/schools/needs as you go forward.

Teachers

This brings me to one of the next biggest challenges I think I face as a TL in implementing inquiry at my school and that is the teachers themselves. Everyone is busy, people are set in their ways, and I have yet to see pro-d at my school related to inquiry (perhaps this is a niche I can fill in the future, but I need more experience and confidence first). While there are some young teachers at my school who seem keen to do inquiry, collaborating seems to be an offhand, one off “here’s what I want to do” and then we go our separate ways. As I mentioned in this week’s discussion board, I think I need to simply create some inquiry plans this summer and just present them to teachers and collaborate from there. I cannot expect teachers to come to me, so I need to go to them. While time is still an issue, at least this will get the ball rolling. That being said, a lot of the readings in this course, and others I have come across before, really show how inquiry works in an elementary school classroom or a at a middle school, where cross-curricular projects have always been a thing, and where one or two teachers have the students all day and teach all the core content. In secondary school, most teachers are floating alone in the sea of their specific subject areas, and implementing projects that relate to multiple subjects becomes even more difficult (again that pesky time thing … and class schedules as well). I truly believe that inquiry works best when it is cross-curricular, but I am at a loss for how this can be done in my current school, with its current schedule, courses, and climate.

The Students

Though the readings this week clearly iterate how inquiry makes learning powerful, and that student lead education is incredibly meaningful, students may not fully buy-in just yet (at the secondary level anyway). Unfortunately by the time I meet students, they have been in the same old school system for years, and many have had their creativity killed as Robinson (2016) mentions in his TEDTalk. I have heard students constantly complaining about their inquiry projects, and doing research because writing an essay or taking a test is “easier”. And while this may be true, as the readings show us, that type of assessment is not as rewarding or as long lasting. I imagine that things will continue to shift as education continues to change, and the new curriculum gets implemented even more, but until then, I see the benefit of starting small. At my school there were grade 10s doing large scale “inquiry” projects in 3 of their 4 classes at once. This sounded exhausting even to me, and I think that making inquiry in the classroom more bite sized, than simply implementing a of 2 or 3 week project will benefit students more and keep them from stressing out about all the research they have to do in their classes at the same time. This again is the trouble with secondary school, in that teachers are often not aware of what other teachers are doing, or what their students’ work loads are. I also think that we (or I) have a tendency to think of inquiry as these giant large scale research projects, but this just doesn’t have to be the case, and I need to learn more about turning simpler classroom activities in inquiry.

Resources

I am interested in looking into a resource that was mentioned on the discussion board this week: iWonder 8: An Inquiry-Based Anthology as it appears to make inquiry small and manageable. As I mentioned above (and on the discussion board), I feel like inquiry often becomes synonymous with “research project” at the secondary level, and I want to understand more about small scale inquiry. I also feel more comfort in designing inquiry projects that are related to English Language Arts as that is where my background lies, so this seems like a good resource for me to use as a jumping off point for my inquiry work as a TL.

Another resource I have found useful that relates to my section on lack of experience, is Library Supported Inquiry which was created by some secondary librarians in the Surrey School District. They have included worksheets and sample assignments, though these are all very ‘research heavy’ projects, but a good helpful website nonetheless. The good thing about the site is that they are always updating it as they design and try out new projects. This website also bases a lot of their approach on the book Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School by Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes & Ann Caspari, which may also act as a useful resource in the future.