Peggy Thomas President, OLARuth HallPresident, OSLA

Session 1708Feb 27, 2010

New Directions for Ontario School Libraries

A Brief History

• January 2007 – meeting with Ministry of Education

• April 2007 – money from Ministry of Education to OSLA for the writing of a school library document

• January 2008 – Draft document Together for Learning presented at Super Conference for comment and feedback

• Spring 2008 – continued consultations with stakeholders

What we heard:

• Need more in-depth explanation and concrete ideas to bring the Learning Commons to life

• Need to be more inclusive

• Keep the strong literacy focus

• Provide implementation ideas

The Result

A Document constructed as:• Vision and• Ideas to Consider when implementing this vision in the school library• Two copies to every school• Web presence to allow the document to

grow and to reflect our learning

Responding to an Era of Complex Change

The Learning Commons is:• An approach to learning• A way to focus on learning collaboratively• Flexible, responsive, expansive• Virtual and physical spaces

The major shift:

• The Learning Commons is the whole school

• Everyone is a learner and a stakeholder

• The School Library has an integral and transformative role to play in the implementation

Why a Learning Commons?

Not entirely new, and yet...

• Growing disconnect between the way students learn outside of school and what is permitted inside of school

•Radical change in technology and how we define ourselves as learners•The Learning Commons provides an environment for the transformation

Key Components of the Learning Commons

• Physical and Virtual Space (pg. 9-10)• Equitable Access (pg. 10)• Learning Partnership (pg. 11)• Technology in Learning (pg 12)

IT’S YOUR TURN:

With a partner add to the Ideas to Consider section for 1 component

Share with the group

SPACE:

Brantford Collegiate, ONHellerup School, Denmark

VirtualPhysical

Equitable Access

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Learning Partnerships

Technology in Learning

NCSU Learning Commons

Learning to Learn: From Information to Knowledge Creation

• Reading Engagement

• Multiple Literacies

• Critical and Creative Thinking

• Discovery and Guided Inquiry

• Learning to Learn

Read one section Note key ideas“tweet” back to the group(post-its)

Reading Engagement

Multiple Literacies

Defining literacy is a process of continuous negotiation that is fuelled by social, economic and technological changes.

To be literate is to have the skills and knowledge to make meaningful connections between what one knows and what one is trying to understand, apply or communicate.

Loertscher, Koechlin & Zwaan, 2008

Critical and Creative ThinkingGood questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking and therefore one of the best indicators of significant learning.

Good questions are those that force students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions and see their own underlying biases... the best questions send students on rich and meaningful lifelong quests, question after question after question. Wesch, 2008

Discovery and Guided Inquiry

Learning to Learn

Developing the Individual

Quality education includes the education of the heart as well as the head; it includes a focus on the whole person… It means preparing students to be concerned citizens who have empathy and respect for people within their increasingly diverse communities. It means providing opportunities for students to understand deeply the importance of civic engagement and what it means to be a global citizen...

- Avis Glaze, 2006

The Role of Personal Qualities & Importance of Individual Growth

• Imagination and creativity• Confidence and self-esteem

Cultural awareness and social contribution

• Importance of individual growth• Engagement of all Learners• Intellectual Curiosity• Respect and Responsibility• Initiative

Browse through pages 30 - 33.What visual images come to mind?

Engagement of All Learners

Turning hard work into hard fun requires helping students relate their work to their own lives and the culture in which they live. This type of learning, inherent in the Learning Commons, is sticky — it stays with the learner. And it creates an environment where the individual will grow and flourish. ( pg. 33)

Transition and Change

Take a moment to consider your first steps? And how the LC could be developed at your school

Supports from the Document:•Evidence-based practice•Personal Learning Networks•Professional Learning Communities•Beginning Questions

Contributors

• Anita Brooks Kirkland• Michael Budd• Timothy Gauntley• Cathi Gibson-Gates• Wayne Hamilton• Roberta Henley• Carol Koechlin• Diana Maliszewski

• Larry Moore• Michelle Regina• Esther Rosenfeld• Michael Rosettis• Hetty Smeathers• Peggy Thomas• Lisa Weaver

Advisory Consultants

• Ray Doiron• Ken Haycock• David Loertscher• Ross J. Todd• Debra Wallace• David Warlick

With the financial support of:

Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Education

OSLA SPOTLIGHT SPEAKER: Dr. Chris Spence on Dealing with Change

“Change of this magnitude is never easy and once

you embark on the journey, you soon learn that many

people don’t like the discomfort involved. Stern

resolve then becomes important because standing still

or going backwards are no longer options. [What] is

required is that we are open to it {change}and willing

to embrace it,… thoughtful about what we preserve

and what we reinvent, and that we have the courage

to stay the course, despite what critics may say.”