Diversity, Equity, and Cultural Competency

 

• How as mentors do we guide our mentees to focus on inclusion and diversity in the work they do with students? 

The most tangible guidance I can give to my mentee is around promoting and acquiring a collection of library resources that are inclusive and diverse.  This seems pretty straight forward and it is in some respects, but navigating your rational to staff and students is sometimes challenging and other times (more often than not) completely rewarding.  

A few years ago I took an Equity in Action class through the AASL and SLJ. As intended, I performed a Diversity Audit on my library. I was both surprised and not by my findings.

It was obvious to me, long before the audit ,that my collection of materials did not reflect the larger world. My library is filled with picture books, informational texts, fiction novels, art and audio recordings of mostly white people. - I committed to researching and purchasing books that represented indigenous cultures, race/ethnicity, modern day families, LGBQAI+, disability, and religion. And as most of us know, there are tons of resources to help make these selections and a ton of new and old publications that helped me to make these purchases and diversify my library.

However, there were a few bumps and surprises along the way. One major bump came in the weeding process - there were a lot of people attached to a lot of "classics" and I found myself smuggling (as I often do when weeding) books out of the library. When I had time to share what I'd learned and why it needed to be removed from the collection I did , other times - I did not.

Another surprise bump was the realization that although my collection reflected the community I serve in appearance (lots of white people), the contents of these books where not meeting the obvious and emerging needs of the community. So many of our students are dealing with addiction, incarceration, generational poverty and trauma. My collection did not reflect these needs and wanted to address that too.

• Why is this so important in these uncertain times?  

 “Speaking up for Equity Takes Courage-But the Standards Have Your Back.”

This article really speaks to me. A few summers ago when I was inspired to dive more deeply into inclusive, anti-racist work, I really had to think about what my role as an elementary school educator was around this work. I know my own beliefs but also feel strongly about what is right and just for all of my students. I know that I needed to take a stand and talk/teach openly about supporting BLM, BIPOC,

• How can we do this in an in person or remote environment?

I like the "brick or click" challenges of delivering the same quality of education both in school and out of

Mentor/Mentee Goal Setting

I've been thinking a lot about how to best support a mentee.  There are moments when I doubt my credibility to do so and other moments when I know that my experiences and expertise can help guide a new librarian to hone their craft and develop achievable and relevant goals.

I used the six key areas of the AASL standards to help create a map or outline for creating goals around teaching.  This is more of a framework for goal brainstorming rather than setting. 

Using AASL as a guide for brainstorming your personal goal setting.  

• Inquire  - What are the expectations?  Take stock, think about and look into your school, district, state and national standards.  Does your school have an improvement plan or a mission - what are they and how do you embrace the school culture?  

• Include - What is important to learn or get better at? Think about the areas of teaching where you feel the most confident and what needs the most support.  Seek out resources (it could books, professional development, staff or administration) that prove information and clarity 

• Collaborate - What does the organization need? Think about the needs of your students and staff and how you can effectively meet those needs in a way that you feel connected to.  

• Curate - What do I love doing? It’s important to incorporate your strengths, passions and expertise into your goals.  Use what you know and build on it

• Explore - What excites my students?  Listen to your students.  What are they asking from you, what are their interests, what’s trending in the school and the larger world.  

• Engage - How can I reach the larger community?  Think about your town library, local organizations or clubs.  What are the connections you can make and with whom should you be making them.  

Performance Task: Professional Goal Setting

How do you identify possible goals to improve your school library, teaching and learning, or your personal growth as a librarian?

This is such a big question for me and one that requires bringing in a lot of different pieces, some of which change over the years, to set the most relevant goals for myself that will best serve the students and staff.  I always pair my goals with the needs of the school, the places where there may be a void that I can fill with my expertise, experience or unique initiative.  I feel strongly that the role of the librarian is to serve the community and that looks different depending on the community.   

When thinking about setting my own goals,  I incorporate my schools mission and initiatives for the year (and beyond), I consider the districts goals, AASL and my personal passions around teaching, literacy, books and technology.  My role as librarian is paired with the job of Farm to School educator and I also embed this into my goal setting.  But ultimately, it always comes back to the needs of my community. 

In thinking about how I can best serve my library community I often set goals that help to provide the most support for them.  I try to accomplish this using a few different methods. 

 For instance, before the beginning of the school year (often around early August) I will send out a very simple survey to classroom teachers asking what worked well for their students in library class the previous year and what needs would they like addressed in the upcoming year regarding literacy and technology.  The responses are varied and often depend on the strengths and weaknesses of the teacher.  If a teacher loves technology then their request may have more to do with literacy or vice versa.  Since I work in a rural, K-6 school - my goals can vary by grade too.  Once I have gathered this information I reflect on my own practices and how I can pair classroom needs with my library curriculum and deliver information to kids through the best means available.

My district uses Danielson as a tracking tool for teaching and goal setting.  After over a decade of use I am a professional at navigating the website, teaching my co-workers how to do so and accomplishing the administrative pieces required by Danielson.  I do not feel like this is the best method for developing my person goals, I do think it is helpful for our district to be aligned in this process and I do see the value in Domains and the breakdown of the Competencies.  While I am able to form and follow through with the formalized Danielson goals and rubric it is not my preferred method of goal setting.  Conversly, I find it helpful for evaluating my goals and familiarizing myself with the district expectations and standards.

Performance Task: Mentoring and Coaching Task 2

https://youtu.be/vaedonG8-_Q

Collect evidence from your observation to determine the level of performance using the Danielson Librarian Rubric to evaluate. Cite examples. Where would you place this teacher on the rubric?

Although the teaching video I watched was not of a media specialist - the teacher I chose to observe was exemplary. Ms. Renita Marshall-Martin is a Fourth grade teacher with a HUGE class (based on my VT standards) of 30 students. She opens her school year by establishing routines, teaching procedures, and cultivating a positive classroom culture. She demonstrates how she has her students organize desks, ask for permission to use the restroom, and how to transition from one activity to the next.

This seems like a lot for a ten minute video however her routines are on point and there was some editing.

DOMAIN 1: PLANNING AND PREPARATION 

1b. Demonstrating knowledge of the school’s program and student information needs within that program

Again, although this was not a librarian teaching it was very clear that this teacher was very familiar with the school's content standards. She named the goal for the class and explained why it was important to 

On the Rubric I would place her between proficient and distinguished. 

DOMAIN 2: THE ENVIRONMENT

2a. Creating an environment of respect and rapport  - This was evident and distinguished in many ways. The teacher spent a lot of time and energy helping students to organize their desk materials.  Although this was a simple act, it demonstrated a respect for the materials students would be using everyday and created uniformity within the environment that was helpful to aligning students.  

2d. Managing student behavior - This was proactively accomplished in the first moments of class.  The teacher greets students individually, by name and with a positive voice and smile.  Establishing the vibe for the day first thing by creating meaningful relationships with students.  

2e. Organizing physical space to enable smooth flow - This was so evident due to the large size of the class and small space.  The set up created the best flow for the space, there was a lot of practice on how to move about the classroom in a safe and efficient way.  The expectation for transitions was clear and goals were set to meet those expectations. 

In Domain 2a,2d and 2e - all of these can apply to both the classroom and library so they were easy to evaluate.  Again I would place Ms. Mashall-Martin between proficient and distinguished. 

Reflect on the METHOD you used (longhand notes, post its, shorthand).

I am a paper and pencil person and I took short and long hand notes while observing. I think it would be helpful for me to record an observation in order to feel like I didn't miss anything. I found myself stopping the video to take notes. This would not be an option during a real time observation.

Which of the four domains in Danielson do you think is the most important and why?

For me, the four domains hold equal importance. I think they each have there place and make for balanced teaching and create the most beneficial environment for the student.

I think that Planning and Prepping is necessary for all teachers new and experienced. We can always be establishing new goals and realigning with the schools goals.

The Environment is impactful to creating a physical space that is conducive to learning and an emotional space that helps students feel safe in an effort to do their best learning.

Delivery of Service is a fluid domain and always shifting or resurfacing. The role of the librarian in schools is constantly changing to meet the needs of students and staff and the delivery of those services changes along with it.

How might you benefit from formalizing a self reflection process?

I've been thinking about recording myself throughout the year as a type of self reflection for myself. I'm not sure if this is formal but I would create a checklist or rubric to help dissect and improve my teaching. Maybe focus on areas like engagement, behavior, content and connectedness to the curriculum.

Choose one of the Reflection Journals in Lipton and indicate why you would advocate that your mentee use it.

I think there is value in all of the Reflection Journals. They are reflective of different teaching and learning styles and can also be used at different times of the year.  I remember being a very new librarian and truly not knowing what a goal or reflection was and how to apply it to my teaching.  With that said, I think there are different uses for each template.

Performance Task: Mentoring and Coaching Task 1 - Part 2 Thoughts and reflections on listening

 

1. Record a conversation and verbally reflect* on your listening with a colleague, peer, or family member and THEN in your blog

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/opinion/listening-tips.html

This article resonated with me - there is so much to listening that is both passive and active, silent and audible. There's so much psychology and humanity behind listening.

I've been thinking so much about listening these past few weeks - not just for this class but in my personal life. I've also been practicing (sometimes in vain) the act of being a better listener. I know that I will need to improve my listening and processing skills in order to be and efficient and thoughtful change agent.

I got permission to record part of an informal Book club that I am part of. The members are both my colleagues and peers. I have worked in an academic setting with them and spent time socializing outside of school. Our relationship is based in, trust, fun and collaboration. And boy, do we love to talk.

I'm leaning into this and tossing out the awkwardness of watching myself. I also set out with the goal of a learning focused conversation in mind. I intentionally focused on the three alignment categories - physical, vocal and breathing. I felt like this was a good focus for me improving my listening in a semi- social setting.

While this was a casual conversation the goal was to discuss the novel we had all read. There was no protocol to follow or structure so the conversation was free flowing. I noticed my body language when I was listening, moving from one direction to another in order to truly focus on the speaker. My posture was attentive and my body language relaxed. I found myself working hard to make sure I did not talk too much and really tried to hear all the voices in the group. When I did speak my voice was measured and my word choice specific in order to connect to other thoughts being shared. And when my mind would wander I focused on bringing my attention to my breath (which I am familiar with doing) and then back to the conversation.

This was hard work. I found this to be exhausting and could not sustain this level of attentiveness for more than the planned 10 minute recording. However, I KNOW that my purposeful participation in the conversation provided me with more information than if I had approached it in a more casual (usual) way. I need to build my practice and stamina for listening

Performance Task: Mentoring and Coaching Task 1 - Listening Style

 

1. What are some of your own listening tendencies?

Because I am THE MOST ADHD person on the planet I am always aware of my personal challenges when it comes to listening - it's not for lack of interest but for lack of biological focus. Over the years (of learning about myself) I am aware that auditory instructions are hardest for me to follow. This applies to following a conversation if I am not fully present and fully engaged. With that said, I am so aware of my deficits that I have worked hard to come up with strategies to overcome them because I feel like fully engaging in conversation is an important and powerful tool to building relationships.

When I am listening I tend to start to form my responses to different parts of the conversation instead of focusing on the speaker. I am always working on this and finding strategies to remember my ideas while also activity listening.

1. What cues might trigger non-productive listening?

Again, my learning differences cause my mind to wander. This could result in non-productive listening - so I over prepare for this possibility. I prepare by always having something to take notes with and also coming with my own (sometimes very specific) notes to keep the conversation and listening productive. My notes and lists often help to bring me back into the conversation and allow for thoughtful follow up when needed.

Having access to my computer or phone can also trigger non-productive listening. I almost always use paper and pencil for notes and keep my phone tucked away.

1. How does awareness of your own listening habits affect your support of your mentee? 

I think, if I was not self aware of my own challenges around attention and therefore listening - my natural "habits" could cause my mentee to feel unsupported. I would never want to do that. I think, an acute awareness of my own habits paired with a real desire to help my mentee grow and feel heard.

1. How does good listening support your role as a growth agent?

When I feel heard, I feel safe. The listener doesn't necessarily need to align with me but I need to have a voice. I think good listening can empower and support growth by allowing the speaker to work through a problem or process a challenging situation. Good listening is also an act of care. By giving of your time to advise, support and problem solve with another person you are demonstrating that you care about them and their ideas. This allows for space to grow.