Teacher-librarians on the loose at the legislature

Teacher Magazine: November/December 2009

A group of teacher-librarians representing the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) visited the legislature on National School Library Day, October 26, 2009.

On October 26, several MLAs, some joined by members of the BCTLA team, supported Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) by going to Greater Victoria elementary schools and reading with students.

Other members of the group met with Adrian Dix and Shane Simpson in the Opposition Caucus room and discussed with them substantive issues surrounding teacher-librarianship and public education. Vancouver examples proved worthwhile as these engaged the interest of Dix and Simpson. The Vancouver teacher-librarians who were on the team are very familiar with the working and learning conditions of Vancouver school libraries and were able to provide accurate and devastating statistics to demonstrate the inequities between schools (e.g., two school libraries, in schools with similar student FTEs, with vastly different teacher-librarian staffing levels) which are a result of the lack of funding, the removal of ratios from the contract, and the lack of leadership from the ministry (refusal to refresh Developing Independent Learners: The Role of the School Library Resource Centre), all combined with site-based decision making.

Later in the morning, Pat Parungao met with Liberal MLA Richard Lee and showed him the school library inquiry video, created by the Vancouver teacher-librarians’ inquiry group. (http://schoollibraryprogram.pbworks.com/Video-Project).

Meanwhile, the other members of the group visited the Legislative Library and found common ground there talking with the library staff.

The library is spectacular, and still houses a card catalogue and microfiche for items that have not yet been added to an electronic database.

The group worked with the librarians to have a copy of the book, The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future of Educational Change by Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley ordered, and directed toward the MLAs we met with.

Following this, at the appointed time in the day, the group participated in the DEAR Challenge in the beautiful surroundings of the Library Reading Room.

Members of the team met for lunch with Robin Austin, the opposition education critic, and Diane Thorne, deputy education critic. We discussed a wide range of issues around school libraries and education in general, including class size and composition (and the recent ruling), learning resources selection, support for Aboriginal learners, recent cuts affecting K–12, the overall lack of funding for K–12 including the trustees’ call to delay all-day Kindergarten, and the growing federation of all education stakeholders in support of renewed funding for the K–12 system. Before the meeting, the NDP did not know of the recently exposed Liberal cut to BC ERAC (Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium) ($1.2 million ministry grant reduced to $500,000).

Thorne and Austin were engaged by the description of initiatives under way in school libraries to support learning, such as the automation of SD43’s Aboriginal Education Library. They also seemed very interested in the large number of post-secondary degrees possessed by the team members. It just came up as a comment, but the fact that in particular one team member has five post-secondary degrees demonstrated the expertise of teachers working in school libraries and in the K–12 system as a whole.

We believe that the best part of this meeting was forming relationships that will hopefully continue in some form or another.

At 1:00 p.m., the entire group reconvened and picked up our reservation/seating passes, left our belongings at the security check and passed through the metal detector into the gallery. Very few MLAs were in session on each side of the house. It almost seemed as if the MLAs asking questions were positioned in relation to the MLAs behind and beside them in a way such that when the Hansard TV camera was on each of the speakers it appeared as if more MLAs were in the house.

Private members speeches about National School Library Day were given by MLA Ron Cantelon and MLA Diane Thorne (Coquitlam/ Maillardville). We were happy to hear that Ron Cantelon’s daughter-in-law is a teacher-librarian and that Ron supported DEAR. Diane’s speech presented a thorough understanding of the role of school library programs, mentioning inquiry and critical thinking.

As an aside, we were joined in the gallery by individuals introduced as leading members of the technology industry as well as the leader and deputy leader of the BC Green Party. Kevin Krueger, in his non-answering of questions about the effects of the HST on the tourism industry, mentioned that he had just met with the technology group and that they had told him that they “love the HST”! At this, members of the technology group in the public gallery burst out laughing.

The BCTLA team felt quite at home at the legislature and used every resource in our lobby efforts. We think the BCTF was very well-served by letting a group of teacher-librarians loose on the legislature building. The team proved very resourceful, one of many speciality-area-related capacities, including also a propensity for information seeking and provision, which was employed during the day.

We felt that the visit was very valuable and we look forward to the BCTF pursuing more opportunities to work directly with MLAs, including providing the Opposition with information about cuts to the K–12 system and statistics that may assist the Opposition in their efforts in Question Period and in estimates debates. We were pleased to see this as focus in the BCTF Executive key decisions from October 21–22, 2009.

We were very happy to be able to bring our knowledge to the table in support of BCTF, BCTLA, and K–12 public education in general, and thank the BCTF for supporting our lobbying visit. We look forward to more of our members meeting with MLAs in ridings when the current session breaks. We hope next year to have National School Library Day finally proclaimed, and will begin work early on more MLAs’ participation in DEAR. We do hope that next year they will read in the legislature (not just loudly thump their desks and voice agreement when the suggestion was made that the MLAs read after question period).

Representing BCTLA through the BCTF: Heather Daly (BCTLA president), Karen Lindsay (BCTLA vice-president Advocacy),Moira Ekdahl (BCTLA liaison chair), Val Hamilton (BCTLA web steward), Michele Farquharson (BCTLA continuing education co-chair), Sandra Hedley, Kathy Inglis, Geoff Orme, Pat Parungao (former BCTLA president), Mark Roberts (former BCTLA president), and Cheriee Weichel.

Down with homework

Teacher Magazine letter: 2009 April

Regarding “Down with Homework!” (Teacher, Jan./Feb. 2008).

As a teacher of senior English, I have gradually moved to a no-homework policy (the only exception being the reading of novels, for which there is simply not enough class time). Senior students have athletics, hobbies, social lives, and jobs, all of which are inescapable if not essential parts of modern life. I want to respect students’ needs to become fully rounded individuals rather than being overstressed, always-studying educational automata. Students are given enough class time to do the work, resulting in much more work being done, skills being developed, and attitudes toward school being improved.

There has been no loss of skill or marks as nearly as I can tell, on both in-school assessment and on provincial exams. We have also moved into fully student-directed literature studies,
where students choose the novels and stories they read. We have our students doing 15 minutes of nonschool-related (but for-credit, if students so choose) silent reading daily. The result? Kids are reading more, enjoying reading, and in a school of 1,300, we have 1,200 books signed out of the library at any given time. You know you are doing something right when the librarian has waiting lists for novels and buys more books because the kids have so many signed out—this
in a school with a high ESL population.

The upshot of all this is that giving students less homework and more choice seems to be paying off.

Chris Stolz
Surrey

BC drops everything and reads!

Teacher Magazine: November/December 2008
By Karen Lindsay

On September 2, 2008, the British Columbia Teacher-librarians’ Association challenged not only students and teachers, but the premier, members of the legislature, and people across BC to “Drop Everything and Read” for 20 minutes on Monday, October 27.

For many years, teacher-librarians have organized special school events to mark National School Library Day on the fourth Monday in October. This was the first year they took their celebration to the general public, and the response was wonderful. Hundreds of people signed up on the Drop Everything and Read Facebook page , and hundreds more on the BCTLA’s DEAR blog. People signed on from across BC and as far away as Israel!

Teacher-librarians agree that making BC the most literate province in Canada is a worthy goal. An educated population makes the province wealthy in so many ways. As teachers, they also know the impact that good modeling has on children. Seeing the adults around them put aside business for a few minutes to let pleasure reading be their priority sent a powerful message.

Originally the brainchild of Surrey teacher-librarian Bonnie Chapman, the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Challenge was tested in many schools across the province on National School Library Day last year. Hundreds of BC students engaged in silent reading from 11:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. that day, and the response was terrific.

“You could hear a pin drop!” “Kids didn’t want to stop after 20 minutes.” This year’s campaign really seemed to capture people’s imaginations. Teachers and teacher-librarians invited
their MLA, the mayor, trustees, their superintendent, local athletes and actors to come and read with their students—and they did! Parents took the DEAR challenge into their workplaces where they read quietly for 20 minutes away from the phones.

Finance Minister Carole Taylor set aside “some pleasurable reading time in the Vancouver-Langara constituency office.” Premier Campbell commended the BCTLA on the initiative.
And Education Minister Shirley Bond celebrated National School Library by taking part in the Drop Everything and Read challenge. At Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver,
students, and staff were joined by Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Steven Point in celebration of First Nations literacy.

Responses from schools were the stuff that warms a teacher-librarian’s heart. Several schools wrote to say they were going to Drop Everything and Read every month for the rest of the year. DEAR went well enough in some high schools that they are now willing to pilot a daily silent reading program that could become a permanent part of their timetable.

The BCTLA would love to see the DEAR campaign grow so that in the next few years other provinces take up the challenge as well. Given a few years’ practice, I think BC could take
on the whole country in a DEAR challenge! One of the best things about DEAR is the way it puts
everyone on the same page, if you’ll excuse the expression. No matter where you are politically, you can get behind the value of a few minutes’ peaceful reading. If your school was not involved this year, do not despair; DEAR will be back to celebrate National School Library Day 2009.

Karen Lindsay is teacher-librarian at Ecole Reynolds Secondary, Richmond.

PSAs say YES

BCTF School Staff Alert
2008-09 #8
November 27, 2008

Our Provincial Specialists’ Associations provide a source of support and a vehicle for communication for a wide variety of subject and service areas to teachers throughout the K–12 public education system.

Following their recent meeting, the presidents of all 33 PSAs issued a statement on the Foundation Skills Assessment urging a strong YES vote.

We, the presidents of the Provincial Specialists’ Associations, met and after much discussion and reflection on the Foundation Skills Assessment issue, agreed that a YES vote is important and appropriate.

Following their statement, they gave the following reasons:

• The Foundation Skills Assessment tests do not help teachers teach or students learn.
• They take valuable time and resources away from teaching and learning.
• The FSA results are misused to rank schools based on a very narrow measure and set up a false impression of public schools, teachers, and students.
• The FSA and overuse of standardized testing narrow the curriculum and reduce the opportunities for students to engage in meaningful learning experiences.

DID YOU DROP EVERYTHING AND READ?

BCTF E-News
Vol. 8, No.3, November 12, 2008

On Monday, October 27, at 11:00 a.m., the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association was urging everyone to spend at least 20 minutes reading. Fifty reports are in from schools around the province giving numbers of students and staff who participated. At Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver, students and staff were joined by Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Steven Point in celebration of First Nations literacy. MLA Claude Richmond, Mayor Terry Lake, school trustees, and councillors along with members of the Kamloops Blazers WHL Hockey team joined Sahali Secondary School in Kamloops and were featured on the local TV evening news.

You can read more at http://bctladear.blogspot.com/2008/10/send-us-your-numbers.html.

The numbers tell the story

BCTF: 2008 October 31

http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/issues/Education_Finance/TheNumbersTellTheStory.pdf

Drop Everything and Read!

BCTF School Staff Alert: 2008 October 14

The British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association is marking National School Library Day by urging everyone to participate in the Drop Everything and Read! challenge.

On Monday, October 27, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:20 a.m., people young and old across BC will stop to read for 20 minutes in celebration of the joy reading can bring.

Studies show that daily silent reading is a very effective way of improving reading comprehension, increasing vocabulary, improving spelling, and broadening understanding of others. “Let students choose what they want to read from a well-stocked school library or from home, and then give them the time and space in which to read—away from the threat of tests and questions,” says Karen Lindsay, vice-president of the BCTLA, who would like to see the DEAR challenge grow to include other provinces.

Groups and schools who decide to participate should contact their local media and highlight the importance of libraries, books, and adults as role models in encouraging children to read.

The BCTLA has created a Facebook page to allow people to make their reading count. Point your browser to http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=38741982688 or search for “Drop Everything and Read!” at www.facebook.com.

Join with children, parents, trustees, administrators, and politicians in highlighting the need to maintain and reinstate library services in schools.

The Canadian Coalition for School Libraries is unequivocal, “School library programs are being drastically reduced across the country as school boards confront funding shortfalls. But cuts are occurring when researchers abroad have determined that well-stocked, professionally staffed school libraries which remain open during the day are linked to student achievement, reading, information literacy skills, and success at the post-secondary level.”