1.3+Knowledge+of+curriculum


 * Knowledge of curriculum**


 * Excellent teacher librarians...**


 * 1.3.1 have a comprehensive understanding of literacy, literature for children and young adults, curriculum and specific programs in their schools.**
 * 1.3.2 have a detailed knowledge of how to promote and foster reading.**
 * 1.3.3 have a sound understanding of current assessment theory and processes.**

To effectively resource the curriculum it is essential to foster a close relationship with the Heads of Departments and teaching staff. Guidelines from the Australian School Library Association (2005) indicate the provision of time to allow teachers and students to work with Information Services staff to identify resource needs. I intend to increase the presence of a teacher librarian during curriculum planning meetings to provide quality resourcing that meets the needs of the learners. Site 1 has regular visits from book suppliers and the teacher librarians encourage Heads of Departments and teachers to peruse the available titles personally. Students are encouraged to request both digital and print resources and care is taken to ensure these are available when they are needed.

My knowledge and understanding of children's literature has increased considerably since the commencement of this Masters course. My particular passion is Young Adult literature and I have regular discussions with middle and senior college students to determine their interests and recommend titles to support and promote their reading for pleasure. All of the teacher librarians and library staff at site 1 consciously promote and foster a love of reading. We have a Readers and Writers (RAW) group comprised of students in years 7-11, and also The Page Turners club for students in the junior college. Once a fortnight the year 7 and 8 English classes come to the iCentre and we promote reading through book talks and book trailers. Students are constantly encouraged to come and write their wish list for titles they would like to see on the shelves, and our new books are advertised on the iCentre website complete with links to book reviews.

**Looking towards the future** I believe that methods of instruction and assessment must change to meet the needs of students in the 21st-century. Following a Keynote presentation by Andrew Churches at the 2013 EduTECH conference in Brisbane, I decided I would look towards implementing the 21 Century Fluencies initiative in an attempt to change instructional and assessment methods so that they have relevance to the 21st-century learning environment, and real-world relevance for the students. The 'fluencies' promote not just problem //solving//, but finding a real-world problem that others may not even know exists, using critical thinking, creativity and innovation. I have arranged for a whole-school professional development day with Andrew at the beginning of 2014, and an invitation has also been extended to students in years 11 and 12. At site 1, there has been considerable discussion regarding effective assessment of 21st-century learning. I would like to be part of the team that looks at creating assessments that demonstrate //how// students apply what they have learned to problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical tasks. All too often we assess //what// they know rather than how well they understand it, and how they can apply that content knowledge to achieve something worthwhile. According to Greg Whitby, author of //Educating Gen Wi-Fi,// assessment in the 21st-century should include self-assessment, observation and classroom discussion, and regular formative assessment paired with immediate feedback to students (2013 pp. 167-172).