Session # 407

Connecting for Learning

The Teacher-Librarian as Interdisciplinarian

Tim Gauntley, Program CoordinatorJo-Anne LaForty, Instructional Leader

Sharon Mills, Instructional Leader

Library and Learning Resources and Interdisciplinary StudiesToronto District School Board

Agenda

1. Introduction and Making Connections

2. What is interdisciplinary about school librarianship? 3. Video: Archives Course

4. Benefits, Goals, & Policy of Interdisciplinary Studies

5. Role of Teacher-Librarian in IDC Courses

6. How the IDC perspective expands the library research process 7. Student Activities

8. The Art of Asking Essential Questions9. Farewell

Making Connections

A Guide to Interdisciplinary Studies for Ontario Schools

1. IDC: a Pathway to Success

2. IDC Policy in Ontario3. Designing Courses

and Units4. Writing Courses5. Teacher Workshop

Activities6. Student Activities7. FAQs8. Resources9. Readings

ACTIVITY 1 What is interdisciplinary about

school librarianship?

• What knowledge and skills distinguish this job as “interdisciplinary” or “multi-disciplinary”?

• What similar knowledge and skills have you developed in your career?

BUSINESS PROCESS-IMPROVEMENT LEADER, PRODUCTION Job Description

Handout Page 2

VideoLocal History and Archives IDC Course

Humberside Collegiate

• The term interdisciplinary is used to describe an approach to learning and knowledge that integrates and benefits from the understanding and application of the approaches of different subjects and disciplines.

• To make sense of the growth and often disparate nature of data and information, students must become information literate.

• The skills, knowledge, insights, and innovations of the discipline of Information Studies are central to interdisciplinary work.

Benefits of IDC Courses

PASSION

MOTIVATION

SPECIALIZATION

COMMUNITY

DIVERSITYCOLLABORATION

CHOICEINNOVATION

CONNECTIONS

EXPLORATIONHandout Page 3

Goals of Interdisciplinary Studies

To ensure that students:

• interconnect concepts and skills from diverse disciplines

• use research methods from diverse disciplines to find solutions beyond the scope of a single discipline

• view issues from multiple perspectives

Handout Page 4

Goals of Interdisciplinary Studies

To ensure that students:

• analyse and evaluate complex information from a wide range of resources

• work both independently and collaboratively

• apply skills and knowledge to new contexts and understand career opportunities

Handout Page 4

Goals of IDC Courses

To ensure that students:

• use higher-level critical- and creative-thinking skills to synthesize methodologies and implement innovative solutions

• apply established and new technologies

• learn how to learn

Handout Page

Adapted 2006 from Interdisciplinary Studies Orientation © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2002 5

The Interdisciplinary Studies Policy

Template to Develop

Interdisciplinary Courses

Suggestions for Program Planning

Introduction, Program Planning,

Considerations

Three Courses with Overall and Specific

Expectations

Achievement Chart

Descriptions of Sample Courses

Model AModel B

Adapted 2006 from Interdisciplinary Studies Orientation © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2002 55

Interdisciplinary Studies Strands and Sections

Grade 11 Open

Grade 12 University Preparation

Grade 12 Open

Handout Page 5

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Strand 1: Sections

Theory and Foundation

1.Ideasand

Issues

2.Structures

andOrganization

3.Perspectives

andApproaches

4.Skillsand

Strategies

Handout Page 5

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Strands 2: Sections

Processes and Methods of Research

1.Preparing

forResearch

2.AccessingResources

3.Processing Information.

4.Assessing

and ExtendingResearch

Handout Page 5

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Strands 3: Sections

Implementation, Evaluation, Impacts, and Consequences

1.Implementation

andCommunication

2.Evaluation

3.Impacts

andInnovations

4.Personal

and CareerDevelopment

Handout Page 6

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Strand 1: Overall Expectations

• demonstrate an understanding of the key ideas and issuesrelated to each of the subjects or disciplines studied

Theory and Foundation

• demonstrate an understanding of the different structures and organization of each of the subjects or disciplines studied

• demonstrate an understanding of the different perspectives and approaches used in each of the subjects or disciplines studied

• demonstrate the skills and strategies used to develop interdisciplinary products and activities

Handout Page 6

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Strand 2: Overall Expectations

• be able to plan for research, using a variety of strategies and technologies

Processes and Methods of Research

• be able to access appropriate resources, using a variety of research strategies and technologies

• be able to process information, using a variety of research strategies and technologies

• be able to assess and extend their research skills to present their findings and solve problems

Handout Page 6

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Strand 3: Overall Expectations

• implement and communicate information about interdisciplinary endeavours, using a variety of methods and strategies

Implementation, Evaluation, Impacts, and Consequences

• evaluate the quality of interdisciplinary endeavours, using a variety of strategies

• analyse and describe the impact on society of interdisciplinary approaches and solutions to real-life situations

• analyse and describe ways in which interdisciplinary skills relate to personal development and careers

Handout Page 7

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Key to Interdisciplinary Studies Specific Expectations

• usually distinct in each course/grade • occasionally repeated• a continuum

Handout Page 7

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Key to Interdisciplinary Studies Examples

• illustrate • guide teachers• relate to sample courses• demonstrate creative tasks/activities

Handout Page 8

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Key to teaching Interdisciplinary Studies

When you teach an Interdisciplinary Studies course, you are teaching Interdisciplinary Studies.

Theory and Foundation

1.Ideasand

Issues

2.Structures

andOrganization

3.Perspectives

andApproaches

4.Skillsand

Strategies

Processes and Methods of Research

1.Preparing

forResearch

2.AccessingResources

3.Processing Information

4.Assessing

and ExtendingResearch

Implementation, Evaluation, Impacts, and Consequences

1.Implementation

andCommunication

2.Evaluation

3.Impacts

andInnovations

4.Personal

and CareerDevelopment

Handout Page 8

The Teacher-Librarian and IDC Courses

1. Helping a school identify the need for IDC in the Curriculum

• Identifying My School Profile

• Planning Considerations: Checklist

Handout Page 9

Handout Page 10

The Teacher-Librarian and IDC Courses

2. Helping to design or teaching an IDC course

• Introduction to Information Studies

• IDC Course Design and Samples

Handout Page 11-12

Handout Page 13

The Teacher-Librarian and IDC Courses

3. Supporting IDC Courses in the School Library

• Imbedding the Research Process

• Checklist of Teaching/Learning Strategies Handout Page 14

ACTIVITY 2 IDC Courses and the Research

Process

1. How can the school library program support the achievement of IDC expectations?

2. How do IDC courses change our approach to library research?

Appendix 1.1 Continuum of Interdisciplinary Knowledge and Skills

Handout Page 15

Examples of Student Activities in Making Connections

1. Multiple Intelligences

2. Critical and Creative Thinking

3. Visual Organizers

Handout Page 16-17

Handout Page 18

Handout Page 19

ACTIVITY 3 The Art of Asking Essential

Questions

1. Asking Complex Interdisciplinary Questions

2. Applying the Elements of Reasoning to Questioning Within a Discipline

The Miniature Guide to the Art of Asking Essential Questions by Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul. The Foundation for Critical Thinking

www.criticalthinking.org

Complimentary handout of Guide to all participants

Guide Page 17

Guide Page 32

The Interdisciplinary

University

Farewell

J amie McKenzie

Most essential questions are interdisciplinary in nature. They cut across the lines created by schools and scholars to mark the terrain of departments and disciplines. Essential questions probe the deepest issues confronting us.

Farewell

Susan Drake

Interdisciplinary curriculum provides a vehicle for higher-level thinking. When students are challenged to move beyond memorizing facts, to pursue a topic in depth, and to see patterns and relationships, they are engaged in constructing knowledge rather than merely acquiring information.

Farewell

Leonard Bernstein

[It was] an initiation into the love of learning, of learning how to learn, that was revealed to me by my BLS masters as a matter of interdisciplinary cognition—that is, learning to know something by its relation to something else.