Dr Ross J Todd
Rutgers, the State University of NJ
rtodd@scils.rutgers.edu
School Libraries,
Productive
Pedagogy and the
Leading of Learning
Student Learning
School libraries as powerful and engaging places in
the lives of students do not happen by chance or
force.
Student Learning
Learning outcomes are achieved through deliberate actions
and instructional interventions of Teacher-Librarians and
Teachers working as Partner-Leaders
INFORMATIONAL – TRANSFORMATONAL – FORMATIONAL
A TIME OF BOLD ACTION
Lauren Becall
"Standing still is the
fastest way of moving
backwards in a rapidly
changing world.
Imagination is the
highest kite one can
fly"
The Victorian Landscape
Increasing acknowledgement of:
 the complexity and diversity of student learning;
 intellectual quality as key learning outcome;
 engagement with, and ownership of learning;
 integratedness of disciplinary knowledges and skills;
 inclusiveness: educational leaders, learners, knowledge,
community, cultural diversity;
 teacher as the most important influence on student learning.
A Time for Bold Action
REVOLTING
LIBRARIANS
Revolting Librarians
 “Sex, drugs, and will you please be quiet: - Our revolting
jobs”
 “An archivist’s classification of problem patrons”
 “In the stacks and in the sack: An undercover look at
librarians and erotica”
 “Check out those buns: or, What do you say to a male
librarian?”
 “Library service to the insane”
 “Being a cataloguer is better than gutting fish for a living
because…”
 “Astrology and library job correlation”
Risky Business: The
Leading Of Learning
From
authority- or role- or
person-centered
leadership
to
cultural- and learningcentered leadership
explicitly focuses on
leading of learning.
Taking Risks
 "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his
face and not Gary Cooper." --Gary Cooper on his
decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the
Wind.“
 "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the
way out." --Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles,
1962.
 "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
--Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
 "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction".
--Pierre Pachet, Prof. of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
Revolting Librarians
Taking Risks




Stop talking about collaboration
Stop talking about information literacy
Stop talking about research projects
Stop talking about roles of teacher-librarians


Start talking about guided inquiry through information resources
Start talking knowledge outcomes, not information literacy
outcomes
Start talking about intellectual quality of learning
Start talking about libraries as quality learning environments, not
resource environments
Start talking the leading of learning through the library



You are the information-learning specialist, working with partnerleaders to lead learning through complex and diverse resources,
enabling your students to develop deep understanding of their
curriculum topics
The Key Question
What constitutes effective shared
teacher & librarian-teacher
pedagogy and leading of learning
through partnerships?
The Principles of
Learning and Teaching
1.
The learning environment is supportive and productive
2.
The learning environment promotes independence,
interdependence and self motivation
3.
Students’ needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests
are reflected in the learning program
4.
Students are challenged and supported to develop deep
levels of thinking and application
5.
Assessment practices are an integral part of teaching and
learning
6.
Learning connects strongly with communities and practice
beyond the classroom
Outcomes of the PoLT
 Intellectual Agency
 Personal Agency
 Social and Cultural Agency
 These learning outcomes are how we talk
about the school library
PERSONAL AGENCY
 Self Confidence
 Willingness to take risks
 Trying new ideas and practices
 Independence
 Autonomy
INTELLECTUAL
AGENCY
 Have depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding
 Able to engage in intellectual exploration
 Can think deeply about ideas and practice
 Can deal with conflicting data and information: problematic
knowledge
 Engage in higher oigher order, flexible thinking: analysis,
synthesis, evaluation, problem solving; able to think creatively
and laterally
 Able to reason with with evidence, particular to the discipline
area: Relevant, connected knowledge
 Able to use the complex language of a discipline:
Meta-language
 Substantive discussion of ideas
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
AGENCY
 Respect for different values, cultural knowledges and
viewpoints
 Team building, collaboration, negotiation and decision
making
 Knowledge integration: from bits and bytes to
conceptual coherence and integration
 Inclusivity
 Connect with current and future lives
 Social and ethical values
The Principles of
Learning and Teaching

As a key learning environment, how is the school library
supportive and productive?

How does the school library promote independence,
interdependence and self motivation?

How does the school library’s learning program reflect students’
needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests?

How does the school library challenge and support the
development of deep levels of thinking and application?

How does the school library provide meaningful feedback on
learning that nurtures and nourishes learning?

How does the school library connect learners with communities
and practice beyond the classroom?
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
PoLT: ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT LEARNING
 Process of personal and social construction
 Cumulative and developmental process
 Involves the whole person thinking, acting, reflecting,
discovering and linking ideas, making connections
 Transformative: developing and transforming prior knowledge,
skills, attitudes, values: conceptual change
 Encompasses feelings and motivations
 Closely resemble the ways that students will be expected to use
their knowledge and skills in the real world
Dewey-Kelly-Brunner-Piaget-Vygotsky
PoLT: What do we
want students to do?
 actively search for meaning and understanding
 construct deep knowledge and deep understanding rather
than passively receiving it
 directly involved and engaged in the discovery of new
knowledge rather than collecting facts and data
 encounter alternative perspectives and conflicting ideas so
that they are able to transform prior knowledge and
experience into deep understandings
 transfer new knowledge and skills to new circumstances
 use a range of complex knowledge construction
competencies to transform raw data, prior knowledge and
information into deep understanding
 take ownership and responsibility for their ongoing learning
and mastery of curriculum content and skills
 contribute to societal well being, the growth of democracy,
and the development of a knowledgeable society.
Teacher-Librarians And The
Leading Of Learning
Learning to Read
Reading to Learn
School Librarians And The
Leading Of Learning
Learning to Read
Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT)
Reading to Learn
The Unfortunate Reality
 Many types of research /project assignments using
library or web-based sources contribute little or nothing
to learning
 Very little evidence of construction of deep knowledge
and deep understanding
 Rarely guided and sustained throughout the project
 Rarely equip students with the range of critical thinking
and problem solving competencies necessary to
demonstrate deep knowledge and deep understanding
“Dinosaur” units are
generally a disaster
 Cutting and clipping of information:
TRANSPORTATION rather than TRANSFORMATION
of information
 Make decisions based on limited prior knowledge:
lack of building background before focus and
formulation
 Focus on product construction rather than
knowledge construction
 (Limberg, Sweden 2005)
Transportation of Text
 Cutting and pasting: plagiarism
 Amassing of facts without imposing any
organizational or reflective structure
 No local or global coherence to the facts
 No interpretation of data / facts or development
of positional stance
 Little evidence of internalization of
understanding
Transportation of Text
Presentation
Rewriting
Final version
Print-out
Interaction
(Limberg, Sweden 2005)
Transformation of Text
 Collection of information and data pertinent to specific
focus and responding to how knowledge is constructed
in a particular discipline
 Imposing of a personal organizational framework on
informational inputs to create thematic substructures
and to represent deep understanding
 Identifying interrelationships of themes
 Critically reflecting on themes to develop personal
viewpoints, positions
Limberg’s Research
”Get the material from the Net, I read it.
Write down some good sentences, make a
few changes and read through it again.
Making my own, sort of! Then I think Replace here and there. Pick certain
words and make my own text by adding
new words. I recognise the text if I read it
several times. Use those expressions that
fit in.” (Kris)
Limberg’s Research
”I borrowed a book on sharks, picked out
words from the book, from the text. I
jotted these down in a little notebook as
rough notes, then I rewrote it and then I
painted a front page and then I put the
whole thing into a boklet and the job was
done.” (David)
Why do students transport text
rather than transform text?
 It is rewarded: copying and pasting by being undetected
 Erroneous notion that more facts = deep knowledge and deep
understanding
 Assignment task promotes transport of text
 Not engaged or motivated
 Poor information competencies: particularly those involving
analysis, manipulation and synthesis
 Stress and competition
 Poor time management and planning skills
 Lack of confidence to manipulate information
 Unwillingness to ask for help and when they do ask, told this is
an independent project – you have to work it out for yourself
 Low level of assignments – no critical thinking required
 Assessment of product only
 Absence of clear assessment criteria that emphasize deep
knowledge and deep understanding
CASE STUDY
Productive Pedagogy
and the Leading of Learning
CASE STUDY
Do teacher librarian-teacher partnerships contribute to
quality learning outcomes, evidenced in:



Intellectual agency
Personal Agency
Social and Cultural Agency
In other words, is the PoLT framework useful for
understanding the benefits of learning partnerships of
teacher-librarians and classroom teachers?
How is a supportive learning environment created
through the school library?
CONTEXT OF RESEARCH
 Grade 9 cohort at Gill St Bernards’ school, New Jersey
 Research involved 43 students (21 girls, 22 boys)
undertaking a semester long course “Research Project”
 Collaboration of 7 teachers and teacher-librarian to
develop complex research skills, strategic and deep
information seeking, higher-order information analysis
and synthesis to represent new understandings as a
result of the research
 Instructional program built around the stages of
Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process and a series of
carefully planned interventions targeted to the knowledge
construction process.

Information Search
Process
Tasks
Initiation
Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------→
Feelings uncertainly
(affective)
Thoughts
(cognitive)
optimism
confusion
frustration
doubt
clarity
sense of
satisfaction or
direction/ disappointment
confidence
vague-------------------------------------→focused
-----------------------------------------------→
increased interest
Actions
seeking relevant information----------------------------→seeking pertinent information
(physical)
exploring
documenting
DATA COLLECTION AND
ANALYSIS
 Free generation written protocol administered at
three stages in the information search process
undertaken by the students (Initiation,
Formulation/Focus and Presentation stage of
research)
students’ knowledge of chosen topic
perceptions on levels of knowledge
information seeking and use experience

 Structured search log kept by students which
recorded all the sources used in constructing their
research papers
 Affective Domain / Next Task Log: feelings and task
progression
CHANGES IN
INTELLECTUAL QUALITY
1.
Substance of knowledge: knowledge about topic
2.
Amount of knowledge
3.
Structure of knowledge: unstructured to high levels
of organization and coherence
4.
Estimate of topical knowledge: coded: Nothing, Not
Much, Some, Quite a Bit, A Great Deal
5.
Title of knowledge
MEASURING
CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
Graesser & Clark’s typology (1984) of statements based on the
nature of relationships embedded in them. The statements were:
Properties:
statements describing characteristics
Manner:
statements describing processes, styles, actions
Reason:
statements of explanations of how and why
Outcome:
statements providing end result
Causality:
statements of some event causally leads to another
Set Membership: statements about class inclusion
Implication:
statements showing predictive relations
Value judgment: statements presenting personal position or viewpoint
INITIATION OF
RESEARCH TASK

Initial representations were lists of unrelated concepts, and
generalities, language associations

Statements were primarily property (is a), manner (describe how
something happens)

Average number of statements was 4 (range from 0-11)

Random representation: unstructured, no clear sequence or
organization; guess work “I think that…”, or at best chronological /
historical

Some indication of inaccuracy / misrepresentation

Acknowledge that students knew very little

Motivated to learn: personal experiences, personal connections,
intriguing facts about topic, curiosity, teacher/librarian
recommendation
MIDPOINT OF RESEARCH TASK:
FOCUS FORMULATION
 Dramatic increase in number of propositional statements; range
from 6-34 statements; average number 17
 Focus on Properties: describes characteristics; Manner: describe
processes, styles, actions; Reason: explanations of how and why
 Some evidence of organizational structure of ideas; some attempt
to develop conceptual groupings
 Cognitive intents: From initiation to formulation : getting a bigger
picture (building background) getting a changed picture (correcting
misinformation); getting a clearer picture
 Key mechanism: writing of abstract and its feedback
CONCLUSION OF RESEARCH
TASK: SUBMISSION OF
RESEARCH PAPER

Clear and precise listing of properties, manner and increasing use of
set membership;

Final representations also stronger on reasons, outcomes, causality,
implications, predictive, reflective (increased complexity)

Average number of statements – 31 (range 8 – 63)

For 4 students, decrease in number of statements reflect higher levels
of synthesis: coalescing lists into conceptual categories

Higher levels of structural centrality and conceptual coherence -ie.
overall integrated and interlinked structure, yet subgroups of ideas

Cognitive intents: getting a clearer picture, getting a position in a
picture (ie clarifying aspects in process of sorting and writing,
developing a personal perspective)

Reflective, comparative, positional: personal ownership, and clearer
focus on topics as evidenced by titles
PRODUCTIVE PEDAGOGY:
INTELLECTUAL AGENCY
 the collaborative program of instruction contributed to growth
of intellectual AGENCY:
 development of knowledge representations from simplistic,
superficial and disjointed structures to structures that
embedded explanations, causal, predictive and reflective
statements = deep knowledge
 organization of ideas into structured conceptual groupings =
knowledge coherence and depth
 use of specific terminology associated with the celebrations
with descriptions and explanations surrounding these terms
 choice of sources showed increasing complexity and depth:
from general background to specific topicality
 overall fluency and fluidity of the written representations
indicate ability to substantially communicate in writing about
their topical knowledge
 Ability to deal with conflicting facts or viewpoints
 evidence of constructing arguments and explanations in
relation to conflicting aspects of topics
SUPPORTIVE CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT
 Rollercoaster of emotions: Very distinctive ebb and flow of
emotions follows the six deadlines required to guide the students
effectively through the research process
 Initial feelings: varied from a state confidence to slight
hesitation/uncertainty
 Increase in optimism and confidence as they identify a general
topic and begin to investigate sources for relevant information
 Highest increase in negative emotions: where complex information
processing and knowledge construction takes place – analysis,
synthesis, dealing with conflict, structuring arguments, sequencing
ideas – with “stress”, “pressure” and “brain strain” being reported.
SUPPORTIVE CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT

roller coaster of emotions was recognized by the teaching team, and
interventions implemented to support students

Individual meetings and feedback sessions encouraged students to
talk about their feelings and learnings: opportunities for dialogue,
feedback, encouragement

instructional interventions explicitly targeted to the skills
requirements, especially knowledge construction

instructional intervention that modeled the intellectual scaffolds for
successfully completing the task

stages and milestones approach

clear expectations of tasks to be submitted, criteria for assessment,
dates, and feedback and support mechanisms

providing direction and regulation to keep students on task and
engaged, as well as able to manage all of the complexities of the task
MAKING CONNECTIONS
 Reasons for choice of topic: connections made to personal real life
contexts



personal experiences (participating in a particular celebration)
personal connections (know someone who participates), knowledge of
intriguing facts or aspects about topic
curiosity (typically based on having read or viewed something)
 As students learned more about their topic, the specific new
knowledge they acquired generated curiosity and motivation,
encouraging them to dig deeper into their topic.
 links to students’ background knowledge and connection to the
world beyond the classroom
DID I LEARN ANYTHING?
 Perceptions of knowledge gained:




Know “heaps” more
Know lots more, and surprised at breadth and depth
of knowledge
Know lots more, but still could learn more
Know lots, but dissatisfaction about not knowing
enough
PERSONAL AGENCY
 “learned to follow a set plan and be organized”
 “help me through papers in high school, college and life
in general”
 “getting genuine information is hard and tedious work”
 “learned the basics of writing a more professional
research paper”
 “research approach is more complicated but creates a
much better paper”
 “my project is amazing. I have put a lot of hard work
into it”
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
AGENCY
 Topic “celebration of culture” was an invitation to
cultural exploration 81% of students chose
celebrations outside of USA
 Able to draw out cultural comparisons
 Able to reflect on changes in perception about different
cultural celebrations
 More accepting of different / strange cultural beliefs and
systems which context of these more clearly
understood
School Librarians And The
Leading Of Learning
Learning to Read
Guided Inquiry
Reading to Learn
Schools Context
 10 New Jersey public schools chosen by call for
nomination and selected by NJ Expert Panel
 Experienced and expert school librarians
 Diverse schools
 10 teacher-school librarian teams
 10 school librarians working on curriculum projects
with 17 classroom teachers
 574 students in Grades 6 – 12
 Data collected over four weeks, Spring 2004
 Inquiry Training Institute Feb 24, 2004: overview and
critique of units, use of data collection instruments,
procedures and ethical guidelines
Inquiry Learning
An inquiry approach to learning is one
where students actively engage with
diverse and often conflicting sources of
information and ideas to discover new
ones, to build new understandings, and to
develop personal viewpoints and
perspectives.
Guided Inquiry
 Carefully planned, closely supervised targeted
intervention of an instructional team of teacher
librarians and teachers to guide students through
curriculum based inquiry units that gradually lead
towards development of deep understanding and
independent learning
 Based on understanding student information seeking
and use, and principles of constructivist learning
 Develops students’ competence with learning from a
variety of sources while enhancing their
understanding of the content areas of the curriculum
 Students not abandoned in the research process
Interventions
 Guided inquiry is not “doing information literacy”
 Specific interventions are determined by the stage of the
search process, the affective, cognitive and behavioral needs
of the learners, and the curriculum standards and goals to be
achieved
 Instructional interventions enable students to produce and
demonstrate deep understanding, and facilitate intellectual and
personal agency.
 The instructional partnership is not about “teacher doing
content and teacher-librarian doing information literacy”, but
about mutually solving learning dilemmas with the shared
expertises: information learning and disciplinary learning
 Starting point is a learning problem in the particular discipline,
targeted to curriculum standards and content
Implementing Guided
Inquiry: Key Strategies
 Initiated though compelling situations, and questions which
meaningfully engage students in wanting to know, and which
provide challenge and opportunity.
 Instructional activities put emphasis on meaningful, authentic
activities that help the learner develop skills relevant to
problem solving and to construct understandings: focus on
identifying and solving intellectual and/or real-world problems
 learning activities closely resemble the ways that students will
be expected to use their knowledge and skills in the real world
 Students are more motivated to engage in their inquiry when
they are able to exercise some choice over the specific
questions they want to answer and how to present their new
understandings.
Implementing Guided
Inquiry: Key Strategies
 Attempt is made to connect with students’ background
knowledge.
 Instructional activities involve the students in thinking, acting,
and reflecting, discovering and linking ideas, making
connections, developing and transforming prior knowledge,
skills, attitudes and values - higher order thinking and critical
analysis occurs throughout.
 Instructional activities enable students to develop deep
knowledge, deep understanding.
 Students see that inquiry learning is developmental process of
advancing, consolidating, reinforcing, and involving whole
person; opportunities for sustained dialogue and feedback,
opportunities for students to provide their understanding of
concepts or ideas
Implementing Guided
Inquiry: Key Strategies
 Choice of products to show their new understandings
 Students have opportunity to communicate and share their new
understandings
 Inquiry learning environment is one where academic and
personal success and intellectual inquiry are valued and
acknowledged, and one where students feel connected, cared
for and trusted
 Students are given opportunity to practice their new skills to
sustain and support their learning beyond the formal
classroom and school library experience
 inquiry learning is responsive to students’ personal, social and
cultural worlds, valuing differences and cultivating an inclusive
community
A TIME OF BOLD ACTION
Edna St Vincent Millay 1892-1950
“Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour
Rains from the sky a meteoric shower
Of facts, they lie unquestioned,
uncombined.
Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
Is daily spun, but there exists no loom
To weave it into fabric.”
Useful Sources
Ausubel, David P. (1963). The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal
Learning. New York: Grune & Stratton.
Brunner , J. (1975). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Lexington, MA: Heath.
Dewey, J. (1944). Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.
Gardener, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
Intelligences. New York: Basic.
Kelly, G. A. (1963). A theory of personality: the psychology of
personal constructs. New York: Norton.
Useful Sources
Gordon, C. Information Literacy in Action. Great Glenham UK, John Catt
Educational, 2000.
Loertscher, D., Koechlin, C., and Zwann, S. Ban those Bird Units: 15
Models for Teaching and Learning in Information-Rich and Technology
Rich Environments. Salt Lake City. Hi Willow Research and Publishing,
2005.
Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking meaning: A process approach to library
and information services. 2nd edition. Westport, CT: Libraries
Unlimited.
Donham, J. K., Bishop, K., Kuhlthau, C, & Oberg, D. (2001). Inquiry based
learning: Lessons from Library Power. Worthington, OH: Linworth.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.