Collaboration is the key

Abstract

Collaboration is the key for a school librarian to work successfully at integrating information skills into the school curriculum and to become a vital cog in the teaching and learning cycle within the school. This is easily said, but how do we make it happen? What strategies can we use to develop opportunities for collaboration with teaching staff? How can we foster strong links across the whole learning community of the school? This paper will briefly consider a definition of collaboration and various models of collaboration including their theoretical and pedagogical underpinning. In addition to considering the role and mindset of the teacher librarian, a range of practical macro- and micro-strategies for developing collaboration with teaching staff in an effective and integrated way will be presented; these include technology, special learning needs, building a reading culture, literacy and instructional design. A self-diagnostic tool developed from this paper is offered to enable each teacher librarian to evaluate opportunities for furthering collaboration in his/her school context.