The three word answer is: enhanced student achievement (check out standards and research to locate empirical evidence). Beyond the three word answer, collaboration is beneficial for many reasons, not the least of which is that it enables collaborators to build upon their respective strengths. The following chart explicates the variation in training and skills that teacher-librarians (i.e., school library media specialists) and classroom teachers are likely to bring to a collaborative relationship:
|
Teacher-Librarians and Classroom Teachers Expertise |
|
Teacher-Librarian Strengths |
Classroom Teacher Strengths |
| Skills for accessing new knowledge | Knowledge of the curricular content |
| An understanding of the inquiry process and knowledge | Knowledge of the learning process |
| Knowledge of print and electronic resources | Knowledge of students |
| Knowledge of techniques for using technology to enhance learning | Knowledge of teaching strategies |
| A repertoire of successful practices with a variety of teachers,students, and technologies | A repertoire of practices with a wide variety of students |
| American Association of School Librarians and Public Education Network. The Information-Powered School. Hughes-Hassell, Sandra and Anne Wheelock eds. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001: p.41. | |
Beyond enhancing student achievement and capitalizing on different strengths, collaboration enables a school to create a unified culture and to work as a whole toward goals of meeting standards and building a learning community. Still, even though collaboration seems sagacious, how are collaborative relationships built? The following resources are meant to provide interested parties with resources (websites and books) through which to begin powering student achievement by designing one collaborative assignment and building one collaborative relationship at a time.
Collaborative Websites
The collaborative websites have been selected based on the diversity, accuracy, currency, and authority of their resources related to collaborative information literacy (i.e., containing multiple resources related to both classroom teacher and teacher-librarian fields). While these websites will contain resources for both classroom teachers and teacher-librarians, these groups may also want to peruse the classroom teachers websites and teacher-librarians websites where resources more focused on one group of the other are located (most sites have resources pertinent to both groups to some extent).
Collaborative Books
The books listed in this section have been selected based on the authority of the responsible parties, a solid theoretical approach, provision of myriad practical and tested examples, and high degree of collaboration posited throughout the text. These resources will prove instrumental in building a school based on collaborative working relationships. Within the collaborative framework, these books incorporates discussions of information literacy, technology, research evidence, and student achievement. While these books will contain resources for both classroom teachers and teacher-librarians, these groups may also want to peruse the classroom teachers books and teacher-librarians books where resources more focused on one group of the other are located (most contemporary books recognize the value of collaboration and have resources pertinent to both groups to some extent).
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