Course to focus on teacher-librarian betterments

By Lenore Hankinson

A campaigns course will be held in term 4 to develop a sustained and strategic political campaign aimed at achieving betterments for teacher-librarians.

Possible outcomes of this course could include, but are not limited to:

• a rewrite of the teacher-librarian campaign kit
• writing material for the Federation website
• engaging Australian children's authors and publishers in a campaign to raise the profile of teacher-librarians and assist in the campaign for improvements in teacher-librarian working conditions
• a survey of teacher-librarians to determine what possible industrial action they would coordinate, in consultation with the decision making forums of Federation
• coordination of a campaign of letter writing and delegations in order to promote and progress the outstanding matters of the teacher-librarian log of claims
• an assessment of the types of technological assistance and infrastructure development needed in school libraries in order to deliver technology outcomes for the 21st century.

For an application form contact Margaret Horne or Lenore Hankinson on (02) 9217 2100.

Teacher-librarians have been at the forefront of technological and educational change in many schools. Their influence on the teaching learning programs of schools has been the subject of much research and has enriched the outcomes of the classroom program. Roald Dahl, on his visit to Australia, praised Australian teacher-librarians for their promotion of literacy. He attributed to teacher-librarians and the unique role they play in schools, the high rates of reading and book sales in Australia.

Yet despite their many successes, teacher-librarians have achieved this recognition in spite of, rather than because of any support from government funding or betterments.

Teacher-librarians have faced many imposts in recent years and, after wide consultation with members, Federation sought to address the concerns of teacher-librarians in schools through the development of the teacher-librarian log of claims.

Out of the negotiations around the teacher-librarian log of claims came an agreed set of principles in the Department of Education and Training (the Department) memorandum dated July 29, 2005 (DN 05/00277). The Department memorandum was negotiated to ensure that primary teacher-librarians receive two hours relief from face-to-face (RFF) (or pro-rata in fractional positions) and separate administration time. This was in partial recognition of the dual roles of the teacher and librarian.

This was obviously an improvement for many teacher-librarians who were being told that RFF was their administration time but more work needs to be done in acknowledging the various demands on teacher-librarians' time.

The memorandum states: "as a general guide, 20 per cent of the teacher-librarians' time is considered a reasonable allocation of administration time. Administration time should be allocated in reasonable blocks of time, e.g. minimum 30 minutes, to ensure that the time can be used in meaningful way."

The Department recognised that negotiation between the principal and the teacher-librarian should take place so that the diverse demands and requirements of school sites could be accommodated. 20 per cent is a starting figure, not an end in itself.

A guaranteed school administrative and support staff (SASS) provision in the library is essential for the delivery of curriculum and resources. Yet, many schools struggle on with either limited, or no assistance in some cases -- parents and volunteers do not provide the trained or regular administrative support needed to run a modern and efficient library system.

It is essential that the principal ensure the school library receives adequate SASS staffing to enable the teacher-librarian to fulfil teaching library management responsibilities. Many principals say that the increased pressure on administrative staff has meant that more and more time must be taken from other areas. This is a perverse cannibalism of support staff to cope with increased bureaucratic demands that takes support away from the people who are supposed to be at the centre of our system -- students.

In central and secondary schools the supervision of senior students should be a whole school responsibility. The supervision of senior school students before, during or after school is not a teacher-librarian's responsibility unless they are a negotiated regular class being team-taught with the classroom teacher. The supervision of senior students is a matter for school organisation, timetabling considerations and the principal's judgement regarding the supervisory needs of the school, determined at a local level.

Federation believes policies covering the supervision of non timetabled senior students should be dealt with in the school's welfare and discipline policies.

The negotiations around the teacher-librarian log of claims, from which the Department memorandum arose, included other budget items which the Federation is still pursuing. These items had cost implications and so were denied by the Department. These items included:

• adequate training and accreditation
• teacher-librarian staffing of central schools as secondary schools
• the guaranteed provision of school assistants in the library and their ongoing training
• that primary teacher-librarians no longer be responsible for the provision of up to one hour's RFF
• that in primary schools support classes and pre-school classes be counted as classes for the teacher-librarian allocation
• that the school library receive a guaranteed funding base from the global budget
• technology assistants
• that primary teacher-librarians get RFF in addition to administration time in acknowledgement of their role as a teacher
• casual relief for primary teacher-librarians to perform stocktaking functions as required by the school financial management polices.

Lenore Hankinson is an Industrial Officer.

For further information

August 2007 contents