The Unbearable Repartee

"Silence is the unbearable repartee." -Gilbert K. Chesterton

Yesterday, I engaged in an interesting Twitter conversation with Bill Ferriter that I initiated as a response to his posting, "All Hail the Mighty Media Specialist."

Bill was voicing his frustration with an educational system that increasingly judges his value via standardized test scores. He was angry that "As soon as our test scores come back, I stand alone under the lens. It's my practice that is questioned and my performance that is judged."

He continues,

"As the teacher of a tested subject, I hate the 'we're a team' rhetoric that surrounds schools in an era of coercive accountability...'We' becomes 'you' pretty darn quick when the numbers are off. 'Our work' becomes 'your work' every time when 'improvement' is needed...Is that resentment healthy? Nope. But it's real...and I'll bet you I'm not the only teacher who feels this way."

I thought both his posting and the ensuing dialogue was valuable because it raised the dual issues of standardized testing and teacher accountability...with the added question of how the teacher/librarian fits into the school community.

Unfortunately, Bill decided to pull the original posting. In its place, he has written "Alright Already, I Surrender", with no comments allowed. In his explanation for this decision, he tell us that

"I...spent the past nine hours dealing with emotional responses. People expressed surprise at my unwillingness to be a team player. They questioned my intentions. They thought my comments were hurtful and unproductive.

For those of you who had the chance to read my post, I hope it challenged you to think differently. It was intended to spark reflection and to give you some insight into what it is like to be a reading teacher in a tested world----and I hope that it helped you to recognize that 'teamwork' feels a whole lot different when the members of the team are not judged equally.

As long as that message came across to one or two of you, then today's drama may have been worth it."

If you truly wanted people to "think differently" Bill, you would have continued the discussion, not cut it off. You raised some important issues, things that teacher/librarians need to consider. I wasn't looking for drama, just some purposeful interaction.

No one benefits from a closed conversation.

Related posts:
A Vital Instrument
A Thousand Small Gestures
A Partnership and Collaboration




"Silence" by boskizzi

A Partnership and Collaboration

Reality check time: strange as it may seem, not everyone is on the teacher/librarian bandwagon.

In his recent posting, All Hail the Mighty Media Specialist, blogger Bill Ferriter begins with a disclaimer

"During the course of my sixteen year teaching career, I’ve worked with a ton of GREAT media specialists...I also believe that media specialists can play an important role in any school community. When they’re skilled, they teach students to manage information fluently and how to judge the reliability of sources...Finally, they often find ways to help teachers integrate media literacy skills into their required curriculum and do the heavy lifting on shared projects that are at once motivating and essential for students."

But then he goes on to say

"I'm also tired of the lofty rhetoric that media specialist and their professional organizations tend to sling...I get the sense that many media specialists believe that they are the 'lead readers' in any school and that the success or failure of any reading program depends primarily on the work done in the media center...I’m bothered any time that my own role as a reading advocate and expert is pushed aside. After all, I’m the one that is being held accountable for reading performance in our schools."

It's unfortunate that Bill seems to regard this as a sort of competition, that he feels teacher/librarians are trying to usurp his role or cast aspersions on his expertise.

It all goes back to branding. Until our profession has a clearly identifiable, universally recognized set of descriptors, this type of push back from subject area experts can be expected.

Teacher/librarians need to be recognized as generalists rather than specialists. Our scope should be cross-curricular, inclusive, with a dual focus on literature and information technology.

We don't want to be set above you, Bill, we want to work along side you and be your partners in education.




"It is not only one person's work, it's really a partnership and collaboration during all these years." -Christo





"Big Picture" by Auntie P

A Thousand Small Gestures

"You're just anybody without your identity." - Grenville Main, DNA Design

On Monday, February 1, 69 participants joined a webinar about libraries and librarianship, "What is in a name? A discussion about identity and vision."

Some of us have continued the conversation via email and are now considering what we feel to be a key issue, branding.

According to marketing consultant and social media marketing strategist Laura Lake, "branding" (the image of a product in the market)

"is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem"

A good brand results in a recognizable product that appeals to consumers on both a practical and emotional level. The images it evokes elicit product loyalty and customer commitment.

In this time of fiscal uncertainty, when school districts are being forced to make difficult budget choices, it is vitally important that libraries have a "brand," a unique identity that conveys the mission and scope of the services both the program and its guiding force, the teacher/librarian, represent.

If school administrators, and the community at large, visualize libraries as a place and librarians as clerks, storytime entertainers, and babysitters, then they will be more likely to feel comfortable scaling back or even eliminating funding in that area.

We need to market our school libraries, emphasize the services we deliver, remind the public of the impact we have on student learning.

But, more than that, teacher/librarians must constantly look for ways to expand and promote what they are accomplishing.

There is an increasing emphasis on teacher development: offer to provide training for staff members on emerging technology with classroom applications. Actively seek out teachers and suggest ideas for collaborative units that incorporate essential information skills. Be sure that student projects are prominently displayed in the library media center, preferably at times when community members will be able to see and appreciate them. Make yourself available for committees and extra-curricular activities. Regularly attend board of education meetings to explain how your school library is a vital, contributing part of children's educational experience.

Fight the perception that people with a laptop and Internet connection can be their own librarian. Demonstrate your value. Make the library brand a dynamic one. Then go out and market it.



"A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures" - Michael Eisner




"Iconic Brand Alphabet" by scbr