How Your Teacher-Librarian Can Be

An Ally When Teaching With Inquiry

Trevor MacKenzie
Apr 21

Your school's librarian could be a wonderful asset and support to your classroom teaching. (Courtesy Trevor
MacKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt)

This article was originally published by Canadian School Libraries, a

registered non-profit charitable organization dedicated to professional
research and development in the field of the school library learning
commons in Canada. It is republished here with permission.

By Trevor MacKenzie

We teachers are constantly reflecting on our practice and professional

growth. We want to make sure we are doing the best for our students
despite the demands of constant assessment, unanticipated curricular
changes and continually changing student needs and demographics.
Combined with our own desire for excellence, this is so overwhelming.
I’ve attended really inspiring professional development, only to figure
out that teaching materials, specialized training and additional
technology are out of reach for most school budgets. Where can teaching
professionals go for support as we try to improve?

I have discovered rich support and learning in my own backyard when I

have collaborated with my teacher-librarian. This educational
professional is often under-utilized in a school environment. Many
teachers see the librarian interact only with students, but they are
invaluable resources for teachers as well.

Collaboration with a teacher-librarian creates a rich inquiry practice for

classroom teachers that can easily be implemented with students. If we
develop the habit of accessing this great resource as a regular class
routine throughout the year, we will see the kind of progress and success
we are looking for.
Sponsored

Teacher-Librarians Have More Flexible Schedules

The librarian’s schedule and workday provide more flexibility so they can
be available to help teachers. The door is open, why not come in? Also, it
is my experience that teacher-librarians love having discussions with
teaching colleagues–they get to play an active role in student progress
and success. I have often stopped by the library unannounced, with the
intention of just asking a quick question. What starts out as a two minute
query ends up in a rich, inspiring discourse that goes well beyond "a
quick question."
Sometimes I have an underdeveloped idea for an inquiry project and I
need a sounding board. How do I figure out a starting point? What will
be our goal? What steps should we take to get there? How do I keep
things student-centered? During our conversation, the teacher-librarian
is willing to listen to me, assess my students’ needs, reflect on an array of
resources and learning materials to support us, and then supply them in
a timely and easy manner. They ask questions I hadn’t yet thought of,
and they direct me toward objectives I had not previously considered.
They want to make realizing my lesson goals as easy and seamless as
possible.

This type of personalized help makes me feel supported when I

sometimes feel like I’m teaching "on an island." The Teacher-librarians'
unique training gives them a way to assist me in my teaching goals and
help me in ways I had not previously envisioned. The flexibility
continues. As our inquiry work progresses, the teacher-librarian follows
up with us, visiting our classroom to see how the work is coming along,
asking questions, making observations, and offering up next steps of
support. Students begin to see the teacher-librarian as a “learning
partner” — a more authentic support of what’s happening in the
classroom.

Teacher-Librarians Strengthen Support

As committed as I am to the inquiry method of learning, and though I

have published work to help teachers in the practice, I still have areas of
weakness. Mine in particular is the research component. This is where
the teacher-librarian is a great partner. They develop a collaborative
alliance with me and discover my teaching strengths and weaknesses
objectively, without judgement. Because of their training, they have a
knack of offering up just the right support in ways that lift up or elevate
my teaching practice. They complement my instruction with their own
when working with students to assist in the research phase of inquiry.

Teacher-librarians employ their unique expertise as they walk students

through the learning library and demonstrate how to navigate databases
and locate resources. They also sharpen research skills by helping
students understand the validity of information and evaluate it by
recognizing bias and persuasion in various sources. This is difficult for
both teachers and students to master. I have been so thankful to have
teacher-librarians who offer help in this area that I find extremely
challenging. It balances out the inquiry experience for my students and
provides them (and me) with the support necessary to follow through
with our big ideas and meet our learning goals.

A True Teaching Partner

The teacher-librarian is truly a second teacher in inquiry, an additional

support for all of my students as we embark on more personalized
learning structures and objectives. The more I include my teacher-
librarian, the more I find that they are able to help students with inquiry:
the collaboration becomes a powerful cycle of support that gains
momentum and benefits the students, the teacher, and the culture of
learning in the school.

Students can also visit the library to seek out support from the teacher-
librarian on their own time outside of class, because they now see that
person as "in on the learning" and someone who understands the inquiry
and can provide support and help. The teacher-librarian knows the
resources in the library, how to locate them, and how to empower
students in this process. Students then become more competent
independent researchers and learners themselves.

Just as I intentionally nurture a culture of inquiry that gradually releases

control over learning to the student, so too does the teacher-librarian
partner with the teacher in their support of the student. Now there is a
collaborative team dedicated to meeting the needs of the students. Each
learner has access to learning and materials based on their learning
strengths challenges. The teacher-librarian also gets to know each
learner’s topic and can help personalize inquiry much better than I could
if I worked alone. The end result is a collaborative team that reinforces
independent learning.

Teachers everywhere struggle with meeting student needs even though

we have few resources. We also struggle with the breadth of our own
learning and practice. We have to get creative. But what if a truly great
resource is at our own school, right under our noses? A teacher-librarian
is the ideal partner for inquiry – they are flexible and can make time for
us and our students. They are a great sounding board to help inquiry
projects take shape, make authentic progress and meet meaningful
objectives. They build meaningful relationships with students and help
them hone their inquiry skills while taking responsibility for their own
learning.

Teachers do not need to teach "on an island" with little support when
there is such a rich resource in the library–not just for us, but for our
students as well. Teachers also don’t have to know everything about a
practice from the start: they can learn with their students along the way.
It will make them better teachers. Students do better in general when
they have more adults on campus they know have concern for them. The
teacher-librarian can become a valuable support for teacher practice and
student academic growth, as well as their emotional health. Why not
make use of this amazing school asset?

SPONSORED

Trevor MacKenzie is an award winning

English teacher at Oak Bay High School in Victoria, BC, Canada, who
believes that it is a magical time to be an educator. Trevor is the author
of Dive into Inquiry: Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice as
well as Inquiry Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Wonders and
Curiosities of our Youngest Learners, co-authored with Rebecca
Bathurst-Hunt.

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53417/how-your-teacher-librarian-can-be-an-ally-when-teaching-with-
inquiry