Sunday, August 29, 2021

The Value of Inquiry—the Art of Failure » Britannica

https://britannicalearn.com/blog/the-value-of-inquiry-the-art-of-failure/

    Encourage students to think outside of the box, develop questions, and find their own answers; this is a basic breakdown of the ISTE standards and AASL standards.  Student led inquiry is at the center of each of these standards, much like the classroom state standards.  

    There are many similarities among the sets of standards. Mostly, both sets of standards requires that learning be student led and that educators provide plenty of opportunity for collaboration.  Collaboration among peers, teachers, and the "outside world".  One of the goals I have for myself as a school librarian is to collaborate with the classroom teachers to extend the work they are doing in the classroom into library time.  "The AASL Standards recognize learning as an ongoing endeavor that should not be confined to the four walls of the school building" (Freedman and Robinson, 2019, p.12). Students need to be encouraged to reach out to outside sources to help find answers to their questions.  Collaboration with outside benefactors will allow students the opportunity to expand their network. The focus on inquiry, collaboration and sharing of findings using a digital platform as is used in the ISTE standards more than the AASL standards is the greatest difference among the sets of standards.  

    "School librarians are important partners in this work—not just because of their interest and expertise with technology— but because of their focus (as outlined in the standards) on helping learners to locate tools to illustrate and engage with diverse perspectives and modalities and to consider the ethical principles of information use and remixing" (Spiering, 2019, p. 48).  School librarians have the capability of providing diverse ways for students to engage and share their findings that will work for all types of learners.  This is where the ISTE and AASL standards really work together.  The AASL encourages the diverse opportunities for student inquiry, and for school librarians to provide the opportunities for such inquiry.  The ISTE standards allow students to use digital platforms to explore and share their findings.  School librarians have the tools to provide unique learning opportunities for all students by utilizing both the ISTE and AASL standards    


Resources: 

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National school library standards crosswalk with ISTE             standards for students and educators. Retrieved from https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf

Freedman, J., Robinson, A. (2019). School librarians level up. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 10-15. 

Spiering, J. (2019). Engaging adolescent literacies with the standards. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 44-49.


A Chat With A School Librarian: Kim

Student led learning is a big part of education today.  Inquiry is a major part of this student led learning.  Students are encouraged to th...