the BCTLA Professional Development ...
We will strive to provide an up-to-date listing of learning opportunities for BCTLA members. Below are a set of links to a variety of professional development sites that may be of interest to the members of BCTLA. Whether you are a presenter or participant, we'd love to hear how we could help serve your region or school.
BCTLA WINTER WEBINAR SERIES
Critical Thinking and Inquiry in a Digital Environment
January 17, February 21 and April 17- 4:00-5:00 PM (PST)
Cost - $25.00
In collaboration with The Critical Thinking Consortium, BCTLA is sponsoring a three-part online series focussing on critical thinking and inquiry in a digital environment. The series will be hosted by Garfield Gini-Newman, a Senior Lecturer at OISE/University of Toronto and a senior national consultant with The Critical Thinking Consortium, and offered online via Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate).
* Blackboard Collaborate is an online, interactive platform. Upon registration, participants will be given instructions and support in using the platform.
Session details are provided in full below.
Pay and Register Instructions and Privacy Notice:
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3. Please provide your email address! We need this to send you the webinar access information.
Collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information and your privacy consent The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) is committed to both protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and to complying with British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act. Your personal information is collected because it is needed to provide you with access to the webinar series. It makes it possible to identify you and communicate with you about the series. Your credit card or other financial information will not be disclosed and the BCTLA (the PSA) will not otherwise disclose your personal information without your permission, except as required or authorized by law. Appropriate security measures are employed to ensure only authorized individuals have access to your personal information. By completing this form, you are providing your consent for the BCTF, including the PSA, to collect, use, and disclose your personal information in the manner identified above. If you have any questions, please contact the BCTF's privacy officer at 604-871-2283 or toll-free at 1-800-663-9163, privacy@bctf.ca.
Contact Arlene Anderson at arander@shaw.ca if you have questions about the series or the Blackboard Collaborate platform.
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Session Details:
Session 1: C3 (Critical, Creative and Collaborative)
Inquiry for the 21st Century Part One: Establishing a Framework
January 17, 2012 – 4:00 – 5:00 PM (PST)
For schools to remain relevant in an information age, the focus for learning must shift from the mere acquisition of knowledge to the use of knowledge to solve meaningful problems. Placing inquiry at the heart of teaching helps to ensure relevance and rigor for all learners. Specifically designed for teacher-librarians at all levels, this workshop will engage participants in an exploration of a powerful critical thinking framework that includes a variety of ready to use strategies that will:
- Deepen understanding through critical thinking and literacy
- Encourage exploration, investigation and reflection
- Construct knowledge through connections and wonder
- Emphasize critical inquiry in digital learning environments
The workshop will build learning around inquiry and offer ways that teacher-librarians can support classroom teachers achieve success through “tweaking” and fortifying the work they already do.
Session 2: C3 (Critical, Creative and Collaborative)
Inquiry for the 21st Century Part Two: Exploring the Opportunities
February 21, 2012 – 4:00 – 5:00 PM (PST)
In this session, teacher-librarians will consider practical applications of the critical thinking framework for grounding meaningful learning in critical inquiry. Together, participants will explore six ways to invite critical inquiry and identify entry points for infusing critical thinking in their teaching, particularly through inquiry-based reading and learning. Discussion will also include the use of TC2’s intellectual tools for quality thinking and their relevance in a digital learning environment. In their work and in their support role for classroom teachers, teacher-librarians have the opportunity to invite critical inquiry, increasing students’ abilities to think critically about information, its sources and how they may construct thoughtful questions and meaningful responses. This session supports teacher-librarians in applying this critical thinking framework to support all phases of inquiry, deepen student engagement, and build literacy and understanding of core curricular concepts.
Session 3
Critical Inquiry in a Digital Environment
April 17, 2012 – 4:00 – 5:00 PM (PST)
How can teachers adapt to the changing demands of a global and digital society as well as meet the needs of a diverse population of learners growing up in a digital world? Simply adding new technologies to classrooms and libraries does not ensure transformative learning, and may in fact merely contribute to reinforcing traditional practices. This workshop will explore how teacher-librarians can develop and support learning experiences that engage all learners and prepare them for success in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world by:
- Considering how we can make invitations to think and solve meaningful problems the driver for learning rather than the culmination of learning
- Understanding the place of the TC2 framework in the TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge) approach
- Examining the place of intellectual tools to support students in critical inquiry
- Deepening student engagement through appropriate use of technology
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YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY
Join the folks at yourschoollibrary.org for their international online events. Expect star-studded line-ups of presenters. If you are interested in where schools are headed and what issues are framing education in the 21st-Century then don't miss these important opportunities.
Annual BCTLA Conference BCTF Professional Development BCTF Professional Development Calendar The Partnership: education institute SLiP Professional Development TL Virtual Cafe
Many of the other school library association and provincial library associations
have links for professional development.
Teacher-Librarian Education...
Several programs of teacher-librarian education are available in BC and beyond.
UBC offers two specific programs in teacher-librarianship and graduate programs in the Faculty of Education and the School of Library and Information Studies.
15 credits (5 credit courses) for courses which teach the basics of teacher-librarianship
For qualified teachers with a degree from a recognized university
Has both on-line and independent study courses
For certified teachers with at least 2 years’ classroom teaching
30 credits of senior course work
5 year limit to complete
May apply to transfer courses from some other Western Canadian universities
3. Masters Degree
Education: http://lled.educ.ubc.ca/programs/libe/graduate.html
Library and Information Studies:
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Master of Education Degree with two specializations:
Counselling Specialization
Multidisciplinary Leadership Specialization
12.1 Diploma in Teacher-Librarianship
The Diploma in Teacher-Librarianship is a 15 unit programme which must be completed at UVic. Many of the courses are available during summer sessions, and some are offered during the winter both on and off campus.
The Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Training is open to students from business, government, education, etc.
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Instructional Technology Program
N.B. UBC and U of A have a reciprocal agreement for transfer of courses. Check the web sites provided for more information.
Summer Institute...
2012 BCTLA Summer Institute
Please contact BCTLA's Professional Development Chairperson, Arlene Anderson, if you have any suggestions for the 2012 BCTLA Summer Institute.
Teacher-Librarian Inquiry...
Teacher-librarians from around the province have engaged in professional inquiry. Here is some of their learning.
2010-11 Delta Teacher-Librarians' Website Project
The Delta Teacher-Librarians' Association worked together in the spring of 2011 to determine the components for an effective district school library website. The resulting website, http://www.schoollibrariesindelta.org/, presents images and stories that highlight the role of the teacher-librarian in BC in the 21st Century. An integrated blog presents continual updates which feature the Delta Teacher-Librarians' Associations' continuing work toward enriching learning.
2009-11 New Westminster Teacher-Librarians' Library Handbook Inquiry
In 2009, the New Westminster Teacher-Librarians' Association was a recipient of a BCTLA Chapter Grant. Teacher-librarians in New Westminster were interested in documenting aspects of the role of the teacher-librarian and management of the school library in order to both examine current practice, and also to formalize it in written form. In 2010-11, five New Westminster teacher-librarians collaborated and developed an up-to-date "library handbook", which can be utilized by other districts as a model. The 2011 New Westminster School Library Handbook is a 90-page, comprehensive document which articulates current library procedures within the context of the district's vision and goals.
2009-11 Kootenay Lake Teacher-Librarians' "Active Advocacy" Inquiry
In 2009, the Kootenay Teacher-Librarians' Association applied for a BCTLA Chapter Grant in order to pursue an inquiry into collaborating as professionals over a large geographic area. The term "Active Advocacy" was coined to describe the project, which is ongoing. The inquiry to date has involved the use of conferencing technology such as Elluminate and a NING, http://sd8teacherlibrarians.ning.com. A report on the inquiry, as of June 2011, is available in the Summer 2011 issue of The Bookmark, on pdf page 24.
2008-09 Vancouver School Board Teacher-Librarian Inquiry
Ten teacher-librarians in Vancouver engaged in a Teacher-Librarian Inquiry to explore what is best practice and what are the best ways of sharing this within their teacher-librarian community. Their inquiry question was "How can we, as a professional learning community, support TLs in implementing exemplary school library programs in our schools?". In addition to deep learning around inquiry itself, there was individual learning around topics such as multiliteracies, mentoring, technology integration, mentoring, environments (learning commons), and demonstrating and promoting best practice including through video. To learn more, visit http://schoollibraryprogram.pbworks.com.
Contacts...
- Professional Development Chairperson:
- Arlene Anderson, West Vancouver
- Lesson Plan/Tutorials sharing for The Bookmark: Suzanne Hall, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows