Literary learning: Part B – Reflective blog post

At the start of ETL402, I was not aware of the concept of ‘literary learning’.  I confess that the discussion in the Module 3 Forum (Aylett, 2015) about library collections, and the possibility of combining fiction and nonfiction resources to escape the old-fashioned dichotomy (Combes & Valli, 2007), made me feel very sceptical.  In the P-12 Library where I work, many of the students like to browse the shelves rather than searching the catalogue, and having separate sections for fiction and nonfiction helps to narrow the selection process for them, saving precious class time.

My doubt and scepticism began to dissolve, as my knowledge and understanding of literary learning began to expand, with the reminder from Wells (as cited in Lehman, 2007, p. 44) that ‘narrative’ or ‘story’ has been a primary way for humans to make sense of their experiences and to educate others since the beginning of time. Working in a Christian school library, my thoughts went straight to the parables that Jesus Christ used to teach his followers.  At about the same time, the digital resource that I found for assignment one, through its engaging renditions of the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories (Hannan, 2007), further reminded me of the didactic usefulness of story.  Then there was the delightfully convincing scientific report from Zak (as cited in Briggs, 2015) where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed the benefits of story over just factual information.  Ambruster’s (as cited in Coiro & Dobler, 2007) explanation of how the structure and purpose of informational text makes it harder to process than narrative made a lot of sense at this point. So, I was now happy with the concept of using fiction to teach in curriculum areas beyond English. 

The next insight came with the explanation that ‘literary nonfiction’ is a type of prose which uses fiction techniques to report on persons, places, and events in the real world, and which includes biographies, autobiographies, memoires, letters, diaries, and journals (Combes & Valli, 2007).  The various names assigned to this genre have also been very helpful as I have often wondered where items like ‘faction’ and ‘narrative non-fiction’ really belonged in the library collection.  Although I have used this genre in the past for children who prefer nonfiction reading for pleasure, I now have some valuable new knowledge to help me justify its use in capturing the interests of 21st century ‘info-kids’; and helping them to identify with the characters, to question, and vicariously delight in content areas (Carter & Abrahamson, as cited in Combes & Valli, 2007).  Knowing that literary nonfiction can legitimately be used as a bridge to unify the collection is really liberating for my collection development plans.  Hessler’s (Five Books, 2015) description of the rigorous research and writing process for literary nonfiction provided the final conviction for me that here is a valuable and versatile tool that I can promote to teachers to engage the interest of their students.

At this point, I am enthusiastically planning to create some literature resource kits, containing both fiction and literary nonfiction, to offer to key teachers as a sample of how to integrate children’s literature into curriculum-based ‘literary learning’ within their subject areas.

Reference list

Aylett, B. (2015, December 22), Physical Collection Arrangement [Msg 16]. Message posted to https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&forum_id=_39916_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_6691_1&course_id=_6053_1&message_id=_466536_1#msg__466536_1Id

Hannan, D. (Producer). (2007). Dust Echoes [Animation]. Retrieved from ABC TV: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/default.htm

Briggs, S. (2015, December 5). How storytelling can enhance any learning experience. Message posted to InformED: http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/how-storytelling-can-enhance-any-learning-experience/

Coiro, J. & Dobler, E. (2007). Exploring the online reading comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade skilled readers to search for and locate information on the Internet.  Reading Research Quarterly, 42, 214-257.

Combes, B., & Valli, R. (2007). Fiction and the twenty-first century: A new paradigm? Cyberspace, d-world, e-learning. Giving schools and libraries the cutting edge, 2007 IASL Conference. Taipei, Taiwan.

Five Books. (2015). Peter Hessler on narrative nonfiction.  Retrieved from
http://fivebooks.com/interview/peter-hessler-on-narrative-nonfiction/

Lehman, B. A. (2007). Skills instruction and children's literature. In Children's literature and learning: Literacy study across the curriculum (pp. 43-56). New York: Teachers College Press.

Pseudo-modern literature

In browsing the net, I recently came across a fascinating article in which Gary Robinson says that we are past postmodernism (although there are some intellectual remnants). He cites Kirby’s (as cited in Robinson, 2010) view that, in the previous ten years, globalised market economics have swamped postmodernism’s multiplicity of ‘truths’ with a sole, over-powering conformity of ‘consumer fanaticism’.  He calls the current era ‘pseudo-modernism’ and says that “it demands the individual’s active participation” by at least clicking, liking or commenting.  Essentially the ‘audience’ are writing at least part of the content as it happens; and this interactivity is making it difficult to archive, or even record  This includes reality shows where people text or tweet to the ‘actors’; online writing sites where kids are writing, and continually revising, their stories; games like minecraft where players are creating, and destroying, the game as they play; and the ebook where clickable interactive options make it not only non-linear, but virtually endless. 

It’s challenging being a librarian in this environment.

Robinson, G. D. (2010, May 27). What comes after postmodernism?: An evolving culture. Breakpoint. Retrieved from http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/14560

Is there any hope of reflective reading in a digital paradigm?

(Critics) are not recognising or do not want to recognise that the former traditional approaches to alphabetic literacy through reading print are not meeting the needs of young people who read texts much differently than the generations of teachers and educators who are teaching them (Zipes, 2009, p. 42).

I am inclined to agree with Manuel and Carter (2015, p. 125).  I believe that a balance of print, multimodal and visual media will provide a rich experience for students; combining the contemporary and the classic in a well-rounded curriculum to meet both their individual needs and preferences (Manuel and Carter, 2015, p. 122), and the required reflective ‘expansion of thinking’ (Wolk as cited in Zipes, 2009, p. 31) to achieve educational outcomes.  Hutchinson, Bexchomer & Schmidt-Crawford (2012) have provided an example of how a teacher can blend purposes and tools by using a digital tool to teach print and digital literacy skills.  As teachers come from all age groups and backgrounds, the teacher librarian will need to provide a variety of sources and texts to assist them all, regardless of their level of experience.  The TL will also need to ‘value-add’ by being able to make suggestions about how to mix and match the tools and texts to effectively engage the students in deep learning.

References

Hutchinson, A., Bexchomer, B., & Schmidt-Crawford, D. (2012). Exploring the use of the iPad for literacy learning. Reading Teacher, 66(1), 15-23. doi:10.1002/TRTR.01090

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers' reading practices and preferences. Ausralian Journal of Language and Literacy, 38(2), 115-128.

Zipes, J. (2009). Relentless progress: The reconfiguration of children's literature, fairy tales and storytelling (eBook ed.). Longon: Routledge.

Why read?

The image is of a display at Bird City Library in Kansas 

http://bird.mykansaslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/no-app.jpg.  

The suggestion is that reading to a child as they sit on your lap (parent, grandparent) is a good bonding experience for both.  If this experience of 'reading' in a child's very early years is a positive and enjoyable one, then it should form a basis from which that child continues to read as they grow older.  Furthermore, as Haven (2007, p. 93) says the knowledge of story structure gained through this type of early exposure assists children with later comprehension of texts.  Some of my earliest memories are of my sister and I snuggled in under our dad's arms as he read to us each evening.   This is one of the reasons why I think that it is important for Teachers and Librarians to read exciting and interesting stories to their classes.  

Today I watched Princess Bride (for the umteenth time) and I was struck again by the value of reading to children. (In the movie, the grandfather comes to read to his sick grandson, and the book he brings is one that has been read to sons by the fathers of the family for several generations).  First thought is why that story?  It has a strong swashbuckling hero and a strong but feminine heroine and I imagine that one reason for reading it might have been to model roles.  Of course, in the movie the immediate goal is to entertain the boy, taking his mind of his sickness and being stuck in bed, while also providing him with some non-screen time.  In spite of the boy's initial hesitation due to the story's 'kissing' content, he soon becomes totally involved in the imaginary world of adventure that the reading evokes.  When the boy says "Grandpa, that's not fair" (the heroine was about to marry the bad guy) it struck me that this was another opportunity for the grandfather to teach the child about life, i.e. that it's not always fair - another didactic moment!

My vision for the future of children's literature

...and who will be the drivers of change? 

Firstly, I must ask myself who the drivers of the past format-innovations in children's literature were?  Number one must have been the children who were expressing an interest in early books written for adults, perhaps because they saw the enjoyment that adults (Barone, 2011) were gaining from reading them; perhaps from a desire to copy adult behaviour; and perhaps as a form of escaping from harsh circumstances.  Then there were adults who wanted to capitalize on the children's take-up of print materials, using the media as a tool to assist in education and in modifying children's behaviour.  There were also some who saw an opportunity to make some money, for example selling Chapbooks and later Golden books to the mass market for children’s literature.  Of course, there were also those who were in it for art's sake, from monks with their illuminated texts, through Caldecott and Evans with illustrations and colour printing.

Authors of those earlier generations did not have as much power as authors of our generation (McLean, 2013).  The Internet and digital tools now enable authors to create hybrid books with an endless variety of multimedia components (Barone, 2011).  They can exercise more control over the creation and distribution of their creative works, bypassing publishers, agents, editors, packers, and booksellers.  The same suite of online tools, plus access to choice of personal devices, has also empowered the consumer to pick and choose according to their own convenience and preference with regard to areas like ease of use, novelty and price.  Many modern 'book' consumers are also considering narrative quality, while others are simply basing their choices on what their peers are reading and viewing.  This level of choice requires that the 'savvy' author will ensure that they keep up-to-date with customer preference options and creatively tailor their product to meet the market.

‘Native’ to this Web 2.0 environment are the children who know they have UN legislated rights, and who expect to get whatever they ask for, in a mode that suits them.  Experience, with students who are keen to work with online tools at every opportunity, suggests that the lines between author and consumer are blurring.  Children are using tools to create their own ‘literature’, and reading that created by their peers.  These children are ‘controlling, managing and running the show’ (Robinson, 2010).  Using tools like Wattpad they are writing, editing, commenting, discussing plots and sharing stories.  Using tools like Scratch, they are creating animated narratives.  If not already doing so, they will soon be blending their creations, to form new, fascinatingly rich literatures involving multiple media (Madej, 2013), and continuous interactivity with its content (Robinson, 2010).  

At the same time, these children’s significant adults will want the children to experience the classics for didactic purposes, with some preferring digital formats, while others prefer print.  Entrepreneurial people will continue to find ways to make money from the provision of children’s literature in varying formats; and creative purists will continue to push the barriers in exploring new techniques. Some parents are concerned about the amount of time that their children spend online, and the possibility of ‘addiction’ to digital tools (Turkle as cited in Madej, 2013, p.2).  Educators are concerned about the quality of the ‘texts’ that the students are experiencing. So, it seems probable that Librarians, the former ‘gatekeepers’ of the print world will find themselves increasing in their role as facilitators of, and champions for, the children-as-drivers of change in the world of children’s literature.

Barone, D. M. (2011). A brief history of children's literature. In Children's literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers.  New York: Guildford Press.

Madej, K. (2003). Towards digital narrative for children: From education to entertainment, a historical perspective. ACM Computers and Entertainment, 1(1). doi:10.1145/950566.950585

McLean, K. (2013). The future of children's books in five trends [Slide show]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/BKGKristen/toc-bologna-2013-keynote

Robinson, Gary D. (2010). An evolving culture. Retrieved from http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/14560

A fresh beginning...

About to start ETL402

My critical synthesis of my reflection on how my view of the role of the TL has changed during ETL401

At the beginning of ETL401 I had already been to a number of ASLA and ALIA and local network meetings, conferences and training days and I thought that the TL role incorporated the teaching of information literacy skills - preferably collaboratively but any way is better than none - (Davidson, 2005) and library management, including policy writing, budgeting, collection development and curriculum resourcing.
As recommended I started with Topic 6. The need to advocate for the role was a big shock (Weeks, 2009a, blog post, Are we crazy?). I had heard about advocacy before but considered that it was the domain of those very knowledgeable ones in executive positions to which I could never attain. Being so up-front about the necessity of it seems embarrassing. Here I am training for this job but if I don’t learn to negotiate and fight for it, it will probably disappear by the time I’m qualified. As a pacifist by nature and not liking confrontation, I almost gave up there and then! Reading Sanders (2004, ch. 13) on conflict resolution and negotiation was a real turn-off. I tried negotiating with my teenagers in years gone by and while we have all survived I cannot claim to have experienced anything like the win/win scenario eulogized by Reece & Brandt (1993, pp. 355-359 cited in Sanders, p. 129). Lundin (1981) was quite depressing in describing the long hard battle relating to school libraries and the need for appropriate funding and staffing. Although there were many structural positives it felt like there was still too far to go and so in my first draft for Assignment one I wrote:
“Becoming a TL is a bit like climbing Mt. Everest. As you struggle past the frozen bodies of those who’ve tried to scale the heights before, you wonder why you bother, to put yourself through all the pain and frustration, until you hear over the crackling radio the delight of those who’ve reached the summit. Not many really succeed, but we all continue in hope.”
Then came Herring (2007) exhorting us all to be leaders within our schools, taking a pivotal role in developing curriculum. I’m not even a teacher yet – who knows what RBL might be? (Weeks, 2009b, forum post, Resource based learning/Inquiry based learning). Thanks Lyn (Hay, 2009, forum response)! I started to read the forums in an endeavour to gain some insight from the learned ones about these mysterious terms. It was comforting to read that they were confronting lots of new things too! Linda Blake’s (2009, forum post, RBL) post about the challenges to collaboration were of particular interest and helped me to understand the teacher’s perspective on collaboration and RBL – the crowded curriculum and fear of chaos, etc. Then Chaan Wadley (2009, forum post, RBL) on the same day highlighted what real collaborative teaching is – having two teachers in the room to provide better learning through one-on-one interactions. Things were starting to look up – I was learning helpful new things (Pymm, 2007 cited in Weeks, 2009c, blog post, Reflective learning).
I told my boss about the ideals (Weeks, 2009d, blog post, With fear and trepidation) but in my heart I was thinking that it doesn’t matter whether I complete this course of not, I will never have that level of credibility in a school (Weeks, 2009e, blog post, RBL by any other name). Then along came Biskup and the ever present lack of funding and misunderstanding of the role and I could really empathise with Fullan’s (1999, p. 34) “any sense of urgency that teachers have turns to despair as they struggle with the cognitive and emotional dissonance of repeated frustration”. Hazell (1990) and Haycock (2003) rang out ‘we need a paradigm shift and it needs the principal’s support’ but somehow Henri’s (2000b cited in Henri, 2005, p. 12) contention that an information literate school is “a school community that places a high priority (policy, benchmarking, funding, and evaluation) on the pursuit of teacher and student mastery of the processes of becoming informed” relieved the pressure a little. After all, this doesn’t all depend on me – others can share the load if I feed the principal some relevant information which he can use. Then Bruce (1997, p. 34) provided new hope by citing Behrens (1990, p. 357) as saying that “IL gives control over the way one communicates, works and lives – it is a tool for personal empowerment” – that’s something worth fighting for. So while it may require a paradigm shift in my nature – and lots more study and training - I will persevere with these, to me, newly discovered facets of the TL role because nothing gives me greater delight than helping students and teachers to become empowered to learn.

Blake, L. (2009). RBL. [ETL401 Topic 1 – School libraries in Australia Forum posting]. Available from: Saturday, February 28, 11:06 pm.
Bruce, C. (1997). The Seven faces of information literacy. Adelaide, Auslib Press, pp. 20-41.
Davidson, V. (2005). Success, motivation, thinking and self-awareness. Access 19(3), 9-12.
Hay, L. (2009). Resource based learning/Inquiry based learning. [ETL401 Forum posting]. Available from: Tuesday, March 3, 9:30 pm.
Haycock, K. (2003). The crisis in Canada’s school libraries: The case for reform and re-investment. Toronto: Association of Canadian Publishers.
Hazell, A. (1990). School library and information services in Australia. In Promoting learning: challenges in teacher librarianship. Library challenges series: 2. Nimon, M & Hazell, A. (eds.). Adelaide: Auslib Press.
Henri, J. (2005). Understanding the information literate school community. In The Information Literate School Community 2: Issues of Leadership. Henri, J. & Asselin, M. (eds.). Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University Centre for Information Studies.
Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services. Ferguson, S. (ed.). Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University Centre for Information Studies.
Lundin, R. (1981). School library development in Australia. In School librarianship. Cook, J. (ed.). Sydney: Pergamon.
Sanders, R. (2004). Australian Library Supervision & Management. 2nd ed. Topics in Australasian Library and Information Studies, 21. Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University Centre for Information Studies.
Wadley, C. (2009). RBL. [ETL401 Topic 1 – School libraries in Australia Forum posting]. Available from: Saturday, February 28, 11:23 pm.
Weeks, R. (2009a). Are we crazy? [E.A.K. blog post]. Thursday, March 5. Available from: http://expawakno.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-we-crazy.html
Weeks, R. (2009b). Resource based learning/Inquiry based learning. [ETL401 Forum posting]. Available from: Monday, March 2, 9:49 pm.
Weeks, R. (2009c). Reflective learning. [E.A.K. blog post]. Tuesday, March 17. Available from: http://expawakno.blogspot.com/2009/03/reflective-learning.html
Weeks, R. (2009d). With fear and trepidation. [E.A.K. blog post]. Thursday, May 7. Available from: http://expawakno.blogspot.com/2009/05/with-fear-and-trepidation.html
Weeks, R. (2009e). RBL by any other name. [E.A.K. blog post]. Monday, April 20. Available from: http://expawakno.blogspot.com/2009/04/rbl-by-any-other-name.html