SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 6, Number 2, July 2000

Theme: School Library Education

Poised for Change: Effects of a Teacher Education Project on Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of the School Library Program and the Role of the Teacher-Librarian [PDF file]
Marlene Asselin
Preservice teachers are a greatly overlooked group of instructional partners. This article describes a one phase of an ongoing project in a teacher education program that aims to enhance pre-service teachers' personal and practical knowledge of school library programs and of the role of the teacher-librarian. In the second year of the project, reported here, qualitative analysis was conducted on students' pre- and post-writings about three focal concepts. Results showed that preservice teachers expanded their understandings of information literacy, critical thinking, and resource-based learning. Their additional unsolicited post-writings about the role of the teacher-librarian indicated formation of new insights about teacher-librarians' responsibilities as teacher, instructional partner, and information specialist. Although major findings suggest that teacher educators can play an important advocacy role, the degree to which their efforts will be effective depends on support of this new knowledge held by preservice teachers when they enter the field.

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Last updated 24 March 2009 (KSB)