I readily admit to being one of those people who instantly
rolls my eyes when I hear people complain about change. I get it, change is not
always fun or welcome and sometimes it is just downright scary, but there is no
person, place or thing on this planet that is not affected by some sort of
change on a daily basis. My approach to adapting to change is that is seems easier
to be ready to respond rather than attach myself to some permanent idea of how
things should be. Adapting is easier if you have a strong foundation. As an outsider entering into the public education
world, I have often observed that many teacher frustrations are centered around
the constant state of change of standards in the workplace. As my graduate
studies take me closer to becoming a teacher, I am beginning to understand how
frustrating it must be to always have to rebuild and remake the curriculum
according to shifting trends and mandates. It must begin to feel like an endless
loop of Donkey Kong, as you attempt to level up only to find more fireballs and
barrels rolling at you at every ladder. One of the reasons I find studying the
standards and frameworks for students and learners from AASL and ISTE so
refreshing, is that is appears to give new teachers a solid place from which to
build a curriculum that can readily adapt to change without a need to constantly
reconstruct from the beginning.
With an eye to change, I wanted to dig a little deeper in how the teachers are adapting to use the AASL National School Library Standards and ISTE Standards in action. In the journal feature from Knowledge Quest, I was impressed with the learning opportunities shared by middle school teacher Calypso Gilstrap in the article, “The Start of Something New” (2019). Gilstrap explored her experience of creating meaningful connections between ASSL standards and the curriculum offered in her International Baccalaureate program focused on offering personal development and challenging coursework to students (2019). One of the main tenets of the growth domain from the AASL framework is engaged inquiry and continuous pursuit of knowledge through information and reflection (2018). The idea that students must be active participants in the learning process is not new, but it does require a shift in how we share information. Designing curriculum with a basic understanding that demands of career and life will require students to be critical information contributors and consumers. Gilstrap used different approaches from the various AASL Create and Collaborate domains and competencies to develop new lessons (2018). One example cited was a note taking technique which offered students a practical tool for identifying how to select and organize information and another example utilized silent team work to build alternative communication methods (2018). These examples take a simple principle based on encouraging critical thinking and transforms it into a practical application with real life implications. We all know that students should be critical thinkers but how can we address these concepts in ways that will positively impact students learning environment.
The framework standards from AASL provides the
guidance on how to help build those first steps to elevate and evaluate lessons
to properly meet the challenge of our ever-changing informational needs. The
ISTE for Educators growth competency outlines even more explicit directives for
facilitators to foster learning environments that create learning opportunities
that challenge students to innovate ways to problem solve and adapt to new
settings (2018). There is a shift away from the goal of merely sharing content knowledge
as educators but instead offers room for librarians to create practices that integrate interactive lessons to engage students. These new methods of
teaching that embrace a national standard framework to set curriculum goals will
require being wiling to adapt and innovate to align goals with practical lessons.
The ASSL framework and ISTE standards share foundations aimed at supporting teachers,
librarians, and students to expand into new possibilities.
American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National
School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries.
Chicago: ALA.
Gilstrap, C. (2019). The Start of Something New: A
Relationship between the AASL Standards Framework for Learners and IB
Approaches to Learning. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 30–35.
Link to Crosswalks for AASL AND ISTE
https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf
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