I’ve been lucky to be asked to design and facilitate professional development opportunities for Media Coordinators. Since I served in this role up until a few months ago, I believe in the transformative power that MC’s have in their respective buildings and districts. When you think about change agents, the people serving in this role have amazing opportunities to impact an entire community. Serving everyone in their building, Media Coordinators are vital to student success and building a culture that is not only positive, welcoming and warm, but one that is driven by good lesson design and innovative practices.
While most MC’s will tell you that their goal is to impact students and effect change, this isn’t always easily done. Many feel like an island on their own – with little connection to anyone else in the building, since they are the only person who does their specific job. Many feel stripped of time, resources and the ability to design learning experiences due to the plethora of other tasks that they are handed to complete. Many feel powerless, being seen as a babysitter, and only considered a “teacher” when it’s time to administer tests.
My question is this – How much does our view of our role play in creating these restraints?
Thinking about our role begins with being honest about what we want not only for ourselves and our libraries, but for our kids. What do we envision the library doing to impact student learning? How do we make the 4C’s a priority in our teaching and in creating our environment? How do we encourage collaboration and good lesson design so that our students are getting the best possible opportunities to learn, share and grow?
We also have to consider what our kids need – thinking about data, both quantitative and qualitative. It’s important for us to be at the forefront of embracing data and using it to impact teaching and learning. Data tells so many stories and we have to figure out how these stories can help us work towards implementing change that results in student success. Data is meant to help us grow, not to hold us back or break us down. And we have to remember that not all data is numerical. There’s so much to be gained from asking students how they feel and how something impacted them. Give your students a chance to tell their stories. This can be powerful in changing our practice.
When thinking about our role, it is very important to determine what things are already in place that will help us reach our vision, create transformation or effect impactful change. What systems are working? What supports already exist within our buildings and districts that help us to be impactful within our roles? Sometimes these things aren’t obvious and we have to hunt, but if we look hard enough we will find them. And if there are things missing that are crucial for transforming our role, we have to figure out how to make them happen, whether this something is as simple as asking for resources or more involved like making a solid case for moving from fixed to flexible scheduling.
The way that we see ourselves in the context of our role goes far in determining how others will not only view us, but how they will utilize the knowledge, skills and creativity we bring to the table. If we chose to remain complacent and comfortable, we leave little room for growth. Our role will continue to evolve, with or without us. It’s our choice whether we redefine it, or let it be defined by others.