3.1+Lifelong+learning


 * Lifelong learning**


 * Excellent teacher librarians...**


 * 3.1.1 empower others in the school community to become lifelong learners.**
 * 3.1.2 undertake research which informs evidence-based innovation in school library programs.**
 * 3.1.3 engage in debate on educational issues within the school community.**
 * 3.1.4 create and foster library-related professional development opportunities for staff.**

The Head of Information Services at site 1 is fully supportive of any externally provided professional development that would benefit the iCentre staff, and ultimately, the college. We are very fortunate that the Headmaster acknowledges the role of the teacher librarian and realizes the importance of ongoing professional development to maintain current with emerging pedagogical and technological trends.

I have been studying my Masters of Education for the past four years and during that time I have played a key role in assisting staff members at site 1 with their post-graduate study. This has entailed the proof-reading of drafts, locating and providing access to resources, providing assistance with referencing, and also moral support and encouragement. I regularly email staff regarding University courses that may be of interest to them, and lead by example when it comes to taking advantage of the many MOOCS and open education resources that are available for their professional development. Additionally, I am actively involved in mentoring the newly appointed Library Technician at site 1 who is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Library and Information Services. Prior to beginning my Masters degree, I would not have felt confident nor competent to offer professional help and advice to someone in this field of work.

I have created a Libguide on the iCentre website titled 'Teacher Toolbox', which aims to provide teachers with some new tools and resources for teaching and learning. I try to include a description of the tool and examples of how it may be used in the classroom. This is a relatively new incentive and I intend to present it to the staff at an all-staff briefing in the hope that they will utilise this resource. The teacher librarian at site 3 runs a program with the same name, but she provides face-to-face professional development for the staff, and invites colleagues to share their knowledge as well. A similar program is run by the teacher librarian at site 2, titled 'Brekkie with a Techie 2.0'. This is conducted along the same lines at site 3, with 'guest speakers' from within the college sharing their knowledge and expertise.



I am trying to build a professional learning community at site 1 through the power of social media. This is discussed further under standard 3.3 Leadership. Twitter has been an amazing source of professional reading and developing global connections with educators that I would never get the opportunity to chat with - albeit in 140 characters or less. I have held group sessions with staff and provided one-on-one training to empower staff to use Twitter as a tool to develop their professional learning network.