It Takes Two to Tango...

The motivation has finally come back and the aprehension has subsided. After many hours of research and reading I finally had the jist of what it was I wanted to say in my next assignment and began writing! Once the ball was rolling and the first couple of sentences were written it seemed to flow quite nicely (touch wood)! *sigh of relief*

The information skills models are an interesting concept. They provide a scaffold and framework for thinking, that students may go through as they search through the vast land of information that is out there. Although students may generally go through some stages of the process automatically throughout their education, unless they are explicitly instructed on how to do so, they won't complete all of the stages sufficiently.

Hence, this is another 'hat' that the TL must wear. Guiding the students through the model shouldn't be done alone, it should be done in collaboration with the classroom teacher. Embedding the skills of the process into the students will better equip them for challenges and problems that they may face in the future, both educationaly and socially.

By utilising information skills models we give the students the opportunity to feel supported and capable of researching and learning on their own. We give them a chance to 'own' their own learning and develop individual perspectives... We force them to engage in higher order thinking. However, like most roles that the TL has and many programs and lessons the TL initiates and takes, the information skills models cannot be implemented alone... They need collaboration to thrive and successfully contribute to the learning outcomes of students. It is not enough to simply put the process on a piece of paper and ask the students to follow it; they need help, guidance and support throughout every step of the way...

'The process alone is inadequate'

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