My name is Jenna and I am a Primary School teacher. I finished high school in 2003 and began Uni straight away in 2004. I completed my Bachelor of Arts/Teaching with Honours in 2007 and have been extremely lucky to have been casual teaching ever since. Although permanent jobs are hard to come by, I strongly believe that my time will come and if I keep working hard I will achieve my ultimate dream. Since leaving Uni, I have been searching to find the right area to specialise in to 'have something up my sleeve' and after beginning this school year with a block in a primary school library, I knew what to do. Since a very young age I knew I would be a teacher. Studying to be a TL is just another path in my journey to reach my full potential.
I have to admit, before taking on work in the school library and even now, before commencing readings for this course, I did not understand the great significance that TL's have in the teaching and learning cycle. I believe people do not realise just how big a role a TL can play in the smooth and effective running of a school and a student's education. It extends far beyond putting books away in the right lettered section of the library and scanning the barcodes so that books can be borrowed. The library and TL hand-in-hand are a resource tool that, when used effectively, can create significant differences. I am excited to learn more about how this resource can be used to it's full potential and how I can put it into practice.
So I pose this question to you, how can the Dep't of Edu be seriously considering taking TL's out of schools and using that staff member in another means? It is now beginning to sound more ludacris to me than I could have ever imagined....
'Tell me and I forget,
Show me and I remember,
Show me and I remember,
Involve me and I understand'
Chinese Proverb
It all comes down to politics and money I'm afraid. A better question would be 'How would TL's prove to the government (or whoever gives money to schools nowadays) that without TLs the school environment would crumble'? Hmmm a hard thing to do.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your studies.
Hi I'm studying ETL 401 too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. I also have had the experience where the principal at my school just wasn't aware of the value of a teacher librarian and it is such a secret thing as I am unfolding it myself. Some schools just don't know about it. And what a shame it is. Yes. Ludicrous indeed. We need to be able to show them all I think.