4.4 Advocacy
Candidates develop a plan to advocate for school library and information programs, resources, and services.
2010 ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians
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When watching a great movie, we do not think about editing, sound effects, and set design. The only times these behind-the-scenes tasks come to mind are when there is an off-kilter transition, a tinny sound effect, a stunt double that does not quite double. A highly effective school library media program is like a great movie. There are many behind-the-scenes jobs that make the library the vital learning center of the school. These tasks frequently go unnoticed unless they don’t occur; yet these tasks require resources to run smoothly. Having an advocacy plan in place can showcase the benefits of school library programs, resources, and services.
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Adapted from a Photo by George Alexander 2013
The “plan” portion of an advocacy plan is actually the middle step. First, an in-depth analysis of the specific communities’ need, goal, and agenda is necessary. While taking one of my two final courses, Administration and Leadership, SLM501, I was offered and accepted my first school library media job. Theory quickly became reality, and I crafted my advocacy plan assignment to align to the needs of my new media center. I began by interviewing my retiring predecessor, the principal, and the reading specialist. It was quite an extensive assignment with many parts. Completing the assignment in the framework of an actual media center put a significant twist on this assignment. There are so many items I want to tackle all at once and working through this plan helped me realize the importance of a timeline.
Collaboration has been asked for by the principal, there are two teams with a brand new “Curriculum 2.0,” my district’s implementation of the elementary Common Core State Standards. They will need my help and will be very receptive to collaboration. I plan to jump into creating a curriculum map and analysis of the current collection so that I can be ready with some aligned resources. During the interviews with the principal and the reading specialist, they acknowledged that the current media program will need to be revamped and they both took time to tell me they know it will take time. I’m not sure if it was easier to do this as an outsider, or if it will be easier to refine and rework my advocacy plans once I have been in the role for a year. I did find that I could be objective as an outsider; I could look at the areas of the program that were not working efficiently and consider new ideas for collaboration and collection development that I have learned in my courses at McDaniel.
As I mentioned, the most difficult part of my plan was narrowing down to my goal: the new school library media specialist will increase collaboration with the 4th and 5th grade teaching teams, through curriculum support and technology professional development. In early November I plan to begin creating a five-year strategic plan for my new center, which will also include advocacy. I feel that having a date scheduled to assess and reflect on the needs of the center and community once I have had a chance to be in my role, will allow me to focus on this one goal at first, as opposed to worrying about tweaking everything at once. The creation of this advocacy plan highlighted the many areas I will need to address over time. Advocating to retain and to increase school library and information programs, resources, and services is not simply advocating for my career, or myself, but for the success of the school and the achievement of students.
Collaboration has been asked for by the principal, there are two teams with a brand new “Curriculum 2.0,” my district’s implementation of the elementary Common Core State Standards. They will need my help and will be very receptive to collaboration. I plan to jump into creating a curriculum map and analysis of the current collection so that I can be ready with some aligned resources. During the interviews with the principal and the reading specialist, they acknowledged that the current media program will need to be revamped and they both took time to tell me they know it will take time. I’m not sure if it was easier to do this as an outsider, or if it will be easier to refine and rework my advocacy plans once I have been in the role for a year. I did find that I could be objective as an outsider; I could look at the areas of the program that were not working efficiently and consider new ideas for collaboration and collection development that I have learned in my courses at McDaniel.
As I mentioned, the most difficult part of my plan was narrowing down to my goal: the new school library media specialist will increase collaboration with the 4th and 5th grade teaching teams, through curriculum support and technology professional development. In early November I plan to begin creating a five-year strategic plan for my new center, which will also include advocacy. I feel that having a date scheduled to assess and reflect on the needs of the center and community once I have had a chance to be in my role, will allow me to focus on this one goal at first, as opposed to worrying about tweaking everything at once. The creation of this advocacy plan highlighted the many areas I will need to address over time. Advocating to retain and to increase school library and information programs, resources, and services is not simply advocating for my career, or myself, but for the success of the school and the achievement of students.
This portfolio and the artifacts contained herein by Amy Soldavini are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License |
Revised July 2013
