IASL 2001

The 2001 IASL Conference

Auckland, New Zealand, 9-12 July

KEYNOTE PAPER:

Learning-Inspired Connections

DR PENNY MOORE, Consultant, New Zealand

Introduction

Back in March, I watched a BBC World programme that consisted of several stories about animals that had learned behaviours that were out of the ordinary. There were squirrels, bears and badgers that had conquered human attempts to make mammal-proof bird feeders, an octopus that could solve maze problems, dogs that were trained to assist the disabled, and a host of other clever creatures. The programme producers set out to demonstrate something of the nature of learning in non-primates and to my delight it was the NZ Kea that was deemed to be the cleverest of all.

The programme showed the keaıs ability to solve novel problems for food rewards and there was an anecdote about these birds finding their way into the boiler house at a ski field, specifically to dry out and warm up in bad weather. Any of you planning to stay in NZ after the conference for a bit of skiing in the South Island are likely to encounter these engaging and rather destructive parrots.

An entertaining tale perhaps, but what has this to do with our conference? The programmeıs narrator pointed out that the most adaptable animals in a changing environment are those who are sociable, curious and tenacious, those who continue to learn; building on and adapting skills already within their repertoire.

These are also essential attributes of educators and information professionals.

Each of the animals featured in the programme, and particularly the keas, recognised connections between concrete actions and events, then used this knowledge to gain rewards. Most were responding to stimulus-response sequences built up over time, but this practice effect was not apparent with keas. In just 10 minutes, a kea solved a new puzzle that needed different actions at seven points.

In noting consequences of action, the kea was able to combine existing behaviours into a new problem solving routine.

Curiosity, tenacity and constantly recognising, and acting upon, very concrete and immediate connections supported further learning for the kea. A special insight came, however, when one kea, in an encounter with a mirror, slowly, but immediately, raised a wing revealing the reddish feathers underneath, testing that it was indeed looking at itself and not at another bird. This suggests that keas have a basic sense of self awareness and of cause and effect.

These are also key factors in adapting to a changing world, since they contribute to abilities in changing approaches to problems when success is elusive.

Our purposes in examining the connections between learning, libraries and literacies are rather more grand than those of kea indulging curiosity or seeking a meal. Whatever the name of our position in schools, whatever our background qualifications, the most compelling purpose for attending this conference is a concern to improve learning outcomes for students. The presentations by practitioners and researchers have provided a mirror to reflect our self awareness, affirming, questioning and extending our own thinking about our teaching and library practices.

In addition to reflecting on practice, however, we need self awareness to assist in recognition of cause and effect on a bigger scale: that of the strategies applied to attain our common goals. The repertoire of behaviours that needs extending and adapting to meet these challenges is of a different order to that of the kea. The connections are much less apparent and more difficult to act upon once recognised.

Furthermore, for the kea, everything necessary for meeting the challenge of a novel puzzle was immediately available, yet for us as educators, establishment and maintenance of the connections between learning, libraries and literacies on the school or the professional front may be undertaken in less than ideal conditions. A major challenge is to transfer newly gained understandings of those connections and make them work effectively at home within the very different constraints of our countries, schools, libraries and universities.

My focus today is on making progress in improving learning outcomes, even though the connections between learning, libraries and literacies may be bent or broken, or a vital supporting piece may be missing altogether. As part of that, I challenge you to think about the strategies we have been using to reach the goal of improving learning outcomes through use of school libraries.

While considerable success is evident, the overall goal is elusive and the challenge is complex. Is it time for us, like the kea, to revise or add to our strategies?

Libraries in schools

At one time, schools had libraries because they were seen as "a good thing". Norman Beswick described this in terms of a missionary belief, and I suggest that every one of us here shares that belief to a certain extent. Weıre here because we believe that libraries are connected to learning and literacy almost as of right.

However, to non-believers (usually those who donıt often use libraries themselves), libraries may be perceived as expensive, old-fashioned resources that often suffer from under-use. As a consequence, in times of financial constraint, mere belief of educational efficacy is insufficient to sustain the library budget. Belief is also insufficient to ensure that library staff have:

  • opportunities to participate in professional development (made even more essential by technological progress),
  • sufficient hours available to make a difference to students and teachers, and
  • remuneration commensurate with their knowledge and effort.

In fact, the notion has been voiced in some quarters, that now we have information technology in the classroom, we donıt need school libraries or their staff! (Todd, 2001). That notion is countered in other quarters by evident growth of school library collections and their use.

When we reflect on our own learning, we have to admit that learning and literacy do not necessarily rely on libraries, libraries do not necessarily produce learning or literacy, and the range of literacies students now need goes beyond familiar conceptions of libraries and learning.

Moving beyond missionary belief to credibility in terms of demonstrated improvement in student learning outcomes is essential to strengthening the connections between learning, libraries and literacies on a professional level. Develop an evidence-based understanding of the intellectual role of the school library and the effect its use has on learning, and active support for library or information centre development and use across the curriculum is more likely to follow.

Evidence that school libraries make a difference

There is research that demonstrates that simply having a school library makes a difference to academic achievement. However, there is much more research showing that the factor connecting the library to learning is the way library resources are used in education and in supporting teachersı objectives as well as meeting studentsı information needs.

One weakness in the connections we wish to inspire is that teachers and principals are largely unaware of the research literature in this field and consequently are unable to use findings to improve studentsı intellectual access to information. Many teachers do not see a need to search for or read research literature of any kind (Moore, 1998). And to be fair, many are suffering information overload without hunting for more reading matter.

To give an example of that literature: recent studies spanning three states in America have demonstrated that despite dissimilarities in the participating school communities, the existence of a "well-developed" school library programme was correlated with higher studentsı reading achievements as measured by standardised tests, and increases the quantum of student learning (Lance 2000). Those findings held for all grades and schools at all socio-economic levels.

But what is meant by a "well-developed school library programme"? The researchers are referring to situations where there is a full-time library media specialist, support staff and a strong computer network making the libraryıs resources available in the classroom. The number of print volumes per student, the periodical subscriptions and electronic reference titles and overall library media expenditure per student were also correlated with reading performance (Lance, 2000). It is research on correlations between levels of resourcing and academic performance that contributes to the establishment of clear targets for school library development, such as those in the National Library and Australian guidelines discussed at this conference.

The research studies describe the conditions under which widely desired educational goals can be achieved. They illustrate evidence of the intellectual role of the school library in supporting learning and literacy. They could be used as the basis of advocacy for recognition of the essential connections between learning, libraries and literacies with any group of people concerned to improve literacy. But to go beyond advocacy to action the studies need to be examined more critically.

Evaluating a school library programme implies far more than counting resources per student or the number of library visitors. It means examining the kinds of learning activities taking place in the library, the levels of integration of library use into classroom learning activities and testing the extent to which the skills of library media specialists or teacher librarians are critical elements in determining the quality of learning and literacy.

There is evidence from a variety of sources that a "well-developed school library programme" contributes to increased reading and pleasure in reading for students, significantly better performance on tests for basic research skills, better reading comprehension and ability to talk about what was read. Such programmes also have a positive effect on vocabulary development, writing style and oral language (Haycock, 1995).

Examining learning activities has shown that where teaching explicitly addresses information literacy, factors such as self-esteem, self perception, control of learning, mastery of content, task focus and reduction of confusion and frustration are similarly affected positively (Todd 1995).

My own work with 11 and 12 year olds here has demonstrated that tasks that engage students in solving information problems using libraries and a range of resources have enormous potential for the development of metacognition. Furthermore, the research on explicit attempts to foster metacognition has demonstrated improved academic performance that is maintained over time.

These are all factors that promote further learning. Taken together, the results discussed in the literature form a compelling argument for moving the school library, its staff and programme, from the periphery of schooling to the heart of the curriculum and learning.

In the studies referred to, the presence of a trained teacher librarian, or school library media specialist, is taken for granted. Research presented by James Henri at this conference supports the view that this is the preferred situation, since classroom teachers themselves may be no more skilled in information processes than their students, even though they apply more metacognitive ability to solving information problems.

The qualified teacher librarian does bring to learning activity design and learning assessment a depth of knowledge of teaching with and about information that is difficult for many teachers to achieve alone. In fact, their curriculum specialisation is promoting physical and intellectual access to, and critically using, information at all levels of student development. An additional critical ability is to collaborate with classroom teachers to meet the goal common to all educators, that is, improvement in learning outcomes.

For many schools, however, resource levels are not optimal and the presence of a suitably qualified teacher librarian is only to be dreamed of. Here the connection between learning, libraries and literacies is missing a vital part, so a supplementary strategy must be sought to vitalise learning-inspired connections between libraries and a range of literacies.

Possibilities for change

The need for increasing the range of strategies is, however, sometimes difficult to see when one is very close to a problem and some success has been achieved, so let me change the context a little.

This year, through my involvement with IASL, I have come to consider some of the challenges faced where 95% of schools are built of mud and straw, and having glass in the windows of the library is a luxury. Here fewer than 400 books formed a collection to serve not one school, but a whole community of students at a variety of schools. That collection was later reduced by terrorist action. These are schools where the connections between learning, libraries and literacies are based on actually getting and safely storing a few books and learning how to read. The connections are no less important, but the prime intellectual purposes for the school library are functional literacy, developing a passion for reading and connecting students to the wider world of print, albeit in a limited manner. Goals concerning information literacy and information technology are a long way off.

At the other end of the scale, there are schools where the library resources are extensive, even including a video suite, auditorium and computer lab where studentsı information literacy is reflected in high quality presentations using a mixture of video, Powerpoint, and traditional print. Here the emphasis is on reading to learn, constructing knowledge and making effective use of existing connections to the wider information world. There is no sense of having reached a final destination, the connections can still be improved because the level of resources is changing what the students can learn and how they can be taught.

The school library programmes needed to support learning in these two settings are very different, although the overall goal is still to ensure that students have intellectual access to information and become increasingly independent. That the community in Rwanda has no qualified teacher-librarian should not be a barrier to making progress towards that goal, assuming that more books can be obtained and the teachers are themselves fluent readers. The thinking skills underlying information literacy are within reach too; oral language presents opportunities for interrogation and evaluation of sources, as well as the information obtained, and thinking skills needed for organisation of information, communication and presentation can similarly be developed in oral mode. However, cultural perceptions of information and knowledge ownership and dissemination may not mirror those with which we are familiar and progress may be evaluated on a different scale.

So, while there is ample evidence that well-developed school library programmes and dedicated, well-qualified teacher-librarians have a positive effect on student learning outcomes, the kinds of connections between learning, libraries and literacies that can realistically be achieved are dependent on where a school sits on a developmental continuum. Key factors are the resources, skills and training of the people involved and the learning aspirations of the community. The strategies needed for making progress in these diverse situations are very different and even within a single country, although there are similarities, schools do face different challenges. They may share a common goal, but effective implementation strategies will be very different.

While we strive to develop top-down strategies to ensure that as many schools as possible do have qualified teacher librarians, we need to engage in parallel strategies that support learning under different conditions. A first step in that process is to agree on a description of the kinds of connections we wish to forge between learning, libraries and literacies.

We also need to check on the health of the connections that we take for granted. For instance, are they as strong in practice as they may be in theory? Are they Œbentı in some way, is a bit missing, or are the connections invisible to those who should benefit from seeing them? To give an example, teachers in one school told me that children could access the library at any time they needed to. However, I learned from working alongside the children that they were reluctant to enter the library if a class was already there because they would be questioned about their purpose, their right to be there. The theory was fine, but implementation was not working as desired and the barrier was hidden from the staff.

Rather than expecting working connections to leap into being, we must put energy into forging and maintaining the relationships that are most appropriate to the schoolıs community. Past experience suggests that a piecemeal approach to strengthening these vital connections is not very effective, something more concerted is required. For example, many of the issues identified in relation to learning and school libraries in the early 80s are still without resolution and literacy issues are never far from the thoughts of educators in general. Thus an additional link needs to be considered, that between learning, libraries, literacies AND the wider context of their interaction.

Translocating strategies for strong connections

In New Zealand, more than a third of elementary schools have fewer than 100 students (Ministry of Education, 2000). That means they are likely to have a teaching principal and a couple of other teachers. To have an additional dedicated, trained teacher librarian in each of those schools is not financially feasible in the current economic climate, nor are there sufficient qualified people to meet the demand. This situation is not new - weıve been talking about it since at least 1975, when, in the first major study of school librarianship here, Fenwick noted that the absence of full time professional librarians was the most serious defect of all school libraries (p37).

Clearly, if we continue to wait for someone 'out there' to take responsibility for creating better conditions, we'll be waiting a long time and students will be disadvantaged. Progress has been made, as the formation of a national school library association shows, but appeals for recognition of connections between learning, libraries and literacies made on the basis of belief in school libraries are unlikely to attract much action. Appeals that require more resources, that is funding of new positions in schools, as well as the professional training known to be critical, are in competition with similar calls for dedicated ICT specialists in schools and may be unsuccessful.

The goal of having "well-developed school library programmes" and all that implies, cannot be dropped, so like the kea solving a novel problem, we need to supplement our approach with one that stands critical scrutiny and makes extremely effective use of resources to hand. One simple step is to ensure that we each take responsibility for bringing the school librarianship research literature to the attention of those with whom we work.

Overall, it demonstrates how development of a school library programme can be used to reach the educational goals of the Principal and individual teachers, the Board of Trustees and parents, tertiary educators and the Ministry of Education.

Rather than discount the literature because schools in the context of the reported research are resourced differently to our own, we need to critically evaluate how teacher librarians are described as responding to other staff and students. What are they actually doing in their programmes? Ask yourselves the question, what elements in the research context are available in my school? If we act on those, other elements may become available as a consequence.

For instance, Lance and colleagues (2000) report that improved learning outcomes in terms of test scores are evident when library staff

  • spend time explicitly teaching information literacy to students
  • collaboratively plan instructional units with teachers
  • provide in-service training to teachers
  • teach cooperatively with classroom teachers
  • attend to curriculum integration issues.

Other teachers and students would observe teacher librarians modelling information processes and making public the connections between aspects of the curriculum and problem solving. Every delegate here can do some of those things. The challenge is to create conditions in the school that increase these types of behavioural responses in each area of the curriculum using the available resources, and to systematically track effects on student learning.

I would have thought that the more school staff engaged in the activities described by Lance, the stronger the connections between learning, libraries and literacies, with or without a teacher librarian. However, there are barriers that need to be negotiated and again, research literature offers some ways forward.

School improvement and information literacy

One of the researchers who drew attention to the poor information skills of British school leavers in the 80s, has since focused on a wide range of school improvement initiatives. David Hopkins and his colleagues have subsequently concluded that successful, sustained initiatives have several elements in common. The first of these is a focus on an aspect of the learner-teacher relationship and active work to create the conditions that maintain and strengthen that relationship (Hopkins, 1996).

This group of researchers has learned the importance of paying close attention to management and organisational structures, roles and responsibilities and ways that school staff work together. It is these factors that sustain attempts to improve learning outcomes or ensure that efforts are short lived. It is these factors that create the connections between learning, libraries and literacies. For instance, teachersı timetables and the ways teachers normally work together can promote or block attempts by those staffing the library to collaboratively plan and teach instructional units. Perceptions of expertise, roles and responsibilities can stop those with library responsibility providing in-service training to other teachers. School policies may appear to be supportive of the library's intellectual role, but lack of monitoring of implementation may hinder student access (Moore, 1998).

Here the connections between learning libraries and literacies are just a little bent and need straightening out. A well-developed school library programme demands leadership and the energy and support of the principal in a thorough examination of the conditions needed to promote a different way of working.

Hopkins and colleaguesı second conclusion is that initiatives centred on skills that cross curriculum boundaries have huge potential for influencing outcomes for students. (Hopkins, 1996).

An obvious focus here is the concept of information literacy which can be seen as the amalgam of the knowledge and thinking processes powering connections between learning, libraries and literacies. The research cited earlier indicates that information literacy has the potential to provide the purpose and educational rationale for an initiative, to inform practice and provide benchmarks against which learning can be evaluated.

In addition, information literacy has been a central component of the National Curriculum since 1993, although not in those exact words. Each of its elements can be seen to be embedded in the Essential Learning Areas, and developing these is the mandated responsibility of every New Zealand teacher.

There is a third conclusion from Hopkins and colleagues relevant to this discussion. The critical success component of educational initiatives is to design strategies that are tailored to the school communityıs goals and present state of conceptual understanding, and that are achievable given present resources. One size definitely does not fit all as the earlier comparison between schools in developed and developing countries showed.

Some years ago Patricia Brevik (1993) commented that information literacy should be part of every studentıs educational experience. Authors like Phil Candy (1995) and Christina Doyle (1994) have noted that unless teachers include information literacy skills in their own practice, they will be unable to lead the process for others.

We have evidence from several studies, however, that many teachers are themselves uncertain where to begin with information literacy and need assistance in translating a good idea into good classroom practice. This problem is compounded for those who interpret information literacy in terms of technological skills that they personally lack! (see e.g. Bruce, 1997; Moore, 1998, 2000; Henri, 2001)

The level of information literacy that was supported in teachersı initial training even five years ago may have been minimal, and since that training, the information world and educational outcomes expected for students may have changed dramatically. When many of us were at school, only the top stream was likely to have to do "research", now it is required of every student. Hence, although the National Curriculum mandates attention to information literacy, curriculum implementation is unlikely to be even across schools as teachers vary in their conceptual understanding.

So a successful initiative is going to demand that we actively construct some fairly subtle aspects the learning environment before the desired connections between learning, libraries and literacies will function effectively. The more complex the concepts we wish to develop in a learning group (adults or children), the more we have to prepare the environment, because, just like the kea, we have to start with behaviours and concepts that are within the group's repertoire. Furthermore, while the kea solves basic puzzles by tearing them apart, we have to take a more constructive approach. The rewards don't appear until learners recognise and act upon the connections for themselves.

Some solutions

I have endeavoured to put the case that fully functioning connections between learning, libraries and literacies don't just happen. Some strategies may be adopted that are common across education sectors, but others need to be developed that are specific to the type of connections desired in particular schools and the existing strengths of staff.

A variety of strategies need to be implemented simultaneously if we are to improve students' learning outcomes through increasing access to and use of school libraries and all manner of information sources. Some of those strategies appear on the surface to have little direct connection with school library programmes.

The way ahead

Here in New Zealand we donıt have many qualified teacher librarians acting in that role. As Maureen Trebilcock and Margaret Cameron reported, the conditions that support educational initiatives were such that the early cohort of teacher librarians was unable to pursue their area of expertise. So they have adapted to the environment, changing their strategies and applying knowledge in leadership roles as Principals, Deputy Principals and Heads of departments. Similarly, we donıt have the level of resourcing to which we aspire, but let's look at what we have got to build on.

  • We have a national school library service with advisers who are well-versed in information literacy and an active programme of supporting library development in schools.
  • We have a national curriculum that makes all teachers responsible for promoting information literacy.
  • We have a history, particularly at primary school level, of using a wide range of resources in teaching rather than relying on textbooks.
  • We have some very dedicated people in our schools, with a wide range of qualifications and backgrounds, who are passionate about learning, libraries and literacies.
  • We have a young and enthusiastic professional association for school librarianship and
  • We also have a small, but increasing, number of people researching aspects of information literacy in schools.

These are accompanied by a range of government supported initiatives for professional development within the ICT strategy and the proof of concept work that is investigating ways of increasing teachers' information literacy through on-line professional development. There are also some models for developing staff expertise based on grouping schools in clusters -- the resource teachers in learning and behaviour and literacy.

These are the very positive factors that influence the kinds of strategies we can implement to improve studentı intellectual access to information. We can use them to ensure we work together more effectively and to identify the missing links in implementation.

For instance, it may be that resource teachers for information literacy should come into being to collaborate with teachers developing a combination of school library programme, information technology and resource based learning expertise in schools.

However, we also have an anomaly that seems to exist in many other countries. The research literature demonstrates that explicitly promoting information literacy and resource based learning through well-developed school library programmes (with their concurrent emphasis on critical thinking and metacognition) develops a wide range of educationally desirable outcomes.

These aspects of learning how to learn are core considerations in the training of teacher librarians or library media specialists. Yet often they are reserved for those who have already graduated from teachers' colleges. Few pre-service teachers tell me that information literacy was explicitly addressed as part of their educational experience. Why is this? Is it that the skills are so totally integrated, they are invisible? Or are they missing?

The skills are being addressed through professional development options for in-service teachers through, for example, Auckland and Wellington Colleges of Education, among others. These are however optional courses, but if active school library programmes and explicit information literacy tuition increase learning outcomes for school students, wouldnıt teacher trainees, as learners, benefit from similarly designed activities? Wouldnıt it be to the advantage of the children they will teach to include skills that are central to the training of information specialists in pre-service teacher training? Why is this connection not being made? Could it be that findings of school librarianship research are not reaching the tertiary education audience?

Marlene Asselin (2000) reported that when trainee teachers, as part of a credit-bearing course, participated in activities designed to improve personal information literacy and give first hand experience of working collaboratively with teacher librarians, perceptions of these "instructional colleagues" became more positive. Marlene is very careful to spell out the limitations of the study, but this sort of strategy has positive implications for teachers as learners, teachers modeling information literacy skills and teachers collaborating with others who have extended knowledge and skills relating to the information world. Establishing instructional collaborations is another of those critical connections that demands active attention if improvement in student learning outcomes is to be achieved.

There have been a couple of studies that show that New Zealand teachers are uncertain where to begin in teaching for information literacy and recognise a need for professional development opportunities (Chalmers and Slyfield, 1993, Moore, 1998). However, this just one facet of education clamouring for a slice of teachersı time and one can sympathise with a certain impatience to take a workshop and move on to the next topic.

The problem is that you canıt do information literacy in a term then move on to something else -- information literacy implies an enduring change in the connection between learning, libraries and literacies. Furthermore, it challenges people to begin a journey with many stopping off points, but no clearly defined end.

The essential message here is that significant educational change is not the result of a single event, it is dependent on a more substantial process. Authors such as Hopkins, Ainscow and West (1994) provide a framework that provides guidance for creating the conditions that lead to success in such initiatives. They suggest that at the very least one must ensure

  • attention to potential benefits of enquiry and reflection by the school community -- building a vision of goals and what makes them important
  • a commitment to collaborative planning of the project -- developing consensus on direction and implementation methods as well as owning responsibility for it
  • a commitment to staff development to build skills -- and to benefit from each others expertise
  • the involvement of staff, students and the community in school policies and decisions
  • effective coordination strategies (in other words the project has to be managed, effort must go into group processes and making the connections), and
  • effective leadership, with that leadership function spread throughout the school as well as coming from the principal.

From experience, I know that one needs to put a lot of energy into building trust and mutual respect among a school's staff to facilitate far-reaching initiatives. When teachers are faced with learning new skills, new ways of working together and coping with organisational changes, feelings of uncertainty can undermine the effort that goes into a project. It is tempting to cut short the planning and development stages, to cut to the chase, but that sort of impatience reduces effort put into the hidden connections that will later be needed to sustain change.

What might this mean in terms of a school library programme initiative? It translates as

  • having a clearly stated and well understood aim for the school library programme, detailing the kinds of relationships between learning, libraries and literacies valued by the school community
  • defined roles and responsibilities for all the stakeholders in the venture -- that means the principal, external administrators like the Board of Trustees and the classroom teachers and library staff, not to mention the students themselves
  • a climate of strong collaboration between library and classroom staff in planning, teaching and evaluating learning activities and their outcomes,
  • a systematic and coherent developmental approach to teaching information processes,
  • just in time access to information, in other words, being able to go to the library when information is required, rather than being limited to scheduled weekly visits. In some schools this may be supplemented by desk top access to information via technology.

Naturally enough, considerable emphasis needs to be placed on evaluation of the school library programme itself in terms of the learning activities, not just resources, and on support for the staff implementing and sustaining it. Without monitoring and evaluation, one would not know when or which adjustments were necessary.

One might begin planning that sort of initiative a year in advance, but the third approach I have to offer is the simplest and most immediate. To create learning-inspired connections, we must begin with ourselves. We need to reflect on the connections we actively make between learning, libraries and literacies in our personal lives. For instance, there are times and conditions in which we quite rightly do not rely on libraries and literacies for learning. We use a lot of the same thinking skills, but we turn to a trusted friend or first hand experience for information and assistance in knowledge construction. Indeed, learning from each other is the preferred choice for many adults and children, and this connection is frequently modelled in the classroom.

The connections we want learners to recognise and act upon are much less concrete and much less immediate than those the kea experiences, particularly when it comes to being able to use information and ideas effectively. As Collins, Brown and Holum (1991) note, in schooling, "the processes of thinking are often invisible to both the students and the teacher" (p1) and that is particularly true of those thinking processes associated with finding and using information. Cognitively, this task is very demanding and although some children seem to develop the skills with little explicit support and direct teaching, many, many more simply do not. The thinking skills, analytic, constructive and information management skills are not apparent to them. For them, there is no connection between learning, libraries and literacies.

So under what conditions do we draw attention to the connections between learning, libraries and literacies? Do our classroom behaviours send appropriate messages to students about when and how these come together to facilitate further learning? Do we send any conflicting messages? Do the students and other staff see us actively meeting our learning needs through literacy and libraries? And if not, why not? How do we expect these valued connections to become apparent to others?

End note

I began by describing learning among non-primates and highlighting the curious, tenacious and reflective behaviour of the mountain parrots known as keas. They are proving particularly responsive to changes in their environment. We as educators, information professionals and advocates facilitating independent intellectual access to information by students have to be even more responsive.

Our environment has changed and will continue to do so as technology delivers even more information to our desks and expectations concerning the skills of our students continue to shift under our feet. Being learners ourselves is essential.

While we may aspire to having a strong body of qualified teacher librarians, we need to work on complementary strategies that will facilitate their emergence and support them in their work. There is a need for a variety of on-going professional development opportunities for all educators and teaching assistants, librarians and others who staff or use school libraries.

To assist us in forging stronger connections between learning, libraries and literacies, we also need sound research, both short term and longitudinal, that provides hard evidence of the value of investing energy and resources in information literacy and information technology projects. Such research must also contribute to the development of effective strategies tailored to meet information needs of schools here and overseas.

Finally, as a professional body we need to engage in some solid information problem solving -- critically evaluating practice and integrating concepts and findings from school librarianship literature with school improvement, leadership and educational theory.

The connections won't simply happen but those we make must be learning-inspired if they are to have an enduring impact on learning outcomes.

References

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Moore, P. A. (1998) Teaching information problem solving in primary schools. Wellington: Ministry of Education, Research Report.

Moore, P. A. (2000). Towards information literacy: One schoolıs journey. Wellington: NZCER

Lance, K. C. (2000). Information Empowered: The School Librarian as an Agent of Academic Achievement in Alaska Schools. Ankorage: Alaska State Library

Rogers, R. (1994). Teaching information skills: A review of the research and its impact on education. London: British Library Research.

Todd, R. (1995). Integrated information skills instruction: Does it make a difference? School Library Media Quarterly, 23 (2):133-138.

Todd, R. (2001). Tranisitions for preferred futures of school libraries. Address presented at Inspiring connections: Learning, Libraries and Literacies, the 30th Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Waipuna Hotel, Auckland, 9-12 July 2001.

Trebilcock, M. & Cameron, M. (2001). Where have all the NZ TLs gone? An overview of a group of Teacher Librarians. Paper presented at Inspiring connections: Learning, Libraries and Literacies, the 30th Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Waipuna Hotel, Auckland, 9-12 July 2001.

Penny Moore is an education research consultant who works closely with teachers as classroom researchers of learning processes.

Last Updated 17 April 2003 (LAC)