4.4 Advocacy
Candidates identify stakeholders within and outside the school community who impact the school library program.
ReflectionWhat if the key to student success and the development of life-long learners is not rigid curricular adherence but rather extension of learning beyond traditional curricular components? So often in the twenty-first century, educators are under intense pressure to maximize every moment of instruction time by strictly following course curricula. Unfortunately, this pressure often leads teachers, many times even at the encouragement of school and county administrators, to teach within their own classroom bubbles, placing collaborative school library components of the students’ education on the back burner.
It has long been noted that the strongest students are the strongest readers. Yet, a minority of high school teachers incorporates outside reading assignments in their classrooms alongside curricular readings. These teachers feel the advantages greatly outweigh any detraction of time from more traditional curricular studies. This is a practice, however, that has often been maligned at the high school level by teachers and supervisors alike as too juvenile for rigorous pre-college level coursework. While most school librarians would be quick to enumerate many benefits of outside reading on students’ likelihood of reading for pleasure, perceived course relevance, and academic success, what the stakeholders within and outside the school community who impact the school library program want is concrete quantitative and qualitative data. The community’s expectation for this data provided the basis of the development of my action research project. This prezi represents a sample of how I would present the findings of my action research project on “Outside Reading and the Curriculum” to colleagues and library stakeholders. The presentation of the findings of my research project has the potential to greatly enhance school improvement efforts in terms of maximizing class time, fostering curricular relevance, and increasing academic success -- all of which are matters of key importance for teachers, administrators, parents, and students alike. My articulation, through this prezi, of the dissemination portion of my action research plan demonstrates a significant culmination of my learning in regards to the breadth of the library stakeholder community. I have clearly identified a wide variety of stakeholders both within and outside of the school community, including students, teachers, administrators, and community members, as well as curricular supervisors, the superintendent, and a state-wide network of colleagues (MASL). Recognizing the differing roles and priorities of the various stakeholder groups, my prezi outlines my specific differentiated plans for disseminating details regarding the progress and results of my action research project. Knowing the importance of keeping the school administrative team informed, I would meet with them on a bimonthly basis during the study and at the conclusion, present a recommended action plan based on the results of the study. My next step would be to prepare and distribute a full written report of my findings for the administrative team, the county library supervisor, and the county superintendent. Acknowledging that other stakeholders might benefit from a more abbreviated summation of the project's finding, I would post a simplified, more reader-friendly version of the formal report in a wiki format for dissemination among other county school library professionals. School faculty members would receive a general overview of findings in prezi format during a regularly scheduled faculty meeting and would have the opportunity to participate in related in-service opportunities. Information would be disseminated to the student body through an advisory lesson, and parents and community members would have access to a one to three page overview of the project through the school website. Desiring to share the finding of the action research project with the extended learning community, I would also plan to give a presentation at MASL and to publish my work in a professional journal. My action research plan would both advocate for the library program (by demonstrating its vitality and necessity) and also assess how the program addresses the needs of students in multiple grades and subject areas. This assignment forced me to factor those library stakeholders outside of the school building itself into the equation. I realized how important it is to make sure that all parties feel they are a valued contributor in shaping the educational practices of our school. I hope one day to carry out the project and use the data collected to inform best practices in secondary education. |
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