Librarian Interview: AASL Standard- Include

Introduction

    For this interview, I chose to speak with Amy Whitfield, who has been a librarian at Blythewood High School since its inception back in 2005. We discussed the shared foundation Include with a specific emphasis on the Share domain. Our discussion primarily focused on how to host respectful debates in the school setting and promote discussion topics with multiple viewpoints.  

Questions
1. What are some examples of the ways in which you are implementing these competencies in your library program? 
2. What are some of the resources in your library program that you are using to implement these competencies? 
3. Do any of the competencies that you are implementing include collaboration with classroom teachers?  If so, please provide examples. 
4. What are some of the challenges that you face when trying to implement these competencies? 
5. Are there any other comments that you would like to make regarding the Shared Foundation / Competencies and Domains that we have discussed today? 

Interview Recap
    From her experience, Amy shared that this is a more difficult competency to implement in the library setting. In most cases, activities involving informed conversations and debates are teacher-planned and possibly librarian-facilitated. The typical role of the library here is to provide the resources that give students information for their persuasive essays or debates and to use the library space to host these discussions. The other role of the library in this situation is to display and promote books and other resources that highlight diverse perspectives and viewpoints so that the students, as a whole, are more aware of diversity in the world around them. The librarians at the school also make a conscious effort to purchase titles for the library about how to have respectful conversations and debates as well as content-related materials for the types of projects the students typically do, considering their curriculum guides and content standards. In this specific school, this competency is most frequently implemented through persuasive research assignments done in various content classes, student-established clubs specific to certain political parties, the "No Place for Hate" awareness club that students established to discuss hot topics, and more casually through book club debates in the library. 

    Difficulties experienced with implementing this competency include getting involved with a class that is participating in an active debate. While the librarians do their best to promote their potential for collaboration and advertise the use of the library space, they do not always have as many teachers take them up on the offer, which leads them to have to try and anticipate when a situation involving some sort of informed debate may occur so that they can reach out to those involved. Other difficulties include ensuring that boundaries are set and practiced before any kind of debate or conversation can take place in which potentially controversial topics are being discussed or anything else that could get aggressive or offensive to try to protect the feelings and opinions of all those involved.  

Implementation
    I remember participating in a persuasive research and debate assignment in middle school. At this point in my educational career, this was the biggest research project I had done and required a lot of planning and practice as I prepared for my debate. In the end, I won the debate and remember feeling a huge sense of accomplishment, knowing I was able to respectfully prove my side of the debate using the facts that I had researched to support my claim. Because of this, I believe that learning debate skills is very important for students, especially now in a climate where we have so many varying viewpoints and strong opinions being expressed regularly. 

    In my role as the school librarian, I will ensure that titles with diverse viewpoints and topics are available, promoted, and displayed to help encourage my students to become more aware of the different lifestyles around them and considerate of others. I will also develop opportunities for each grade level that I work with to participate in a respectful debates on varying topics or concepts so that they can begin to develop the skills of respectfully disagreeing with others. I see this often in the schools that I work with now, where students don't know how to handle disagreements, and they end up escalating very quickly to the point of anger, frustration, and even violence. I plan to host informed debates with my students and have them help me develop established norms that are respectful of others' viewpoints and opinions and help them understand why it is so important to be respectful of others in this situation. These skills are important for them to take with them as they progress through life, as it is very important to know how to express yourself while also respecting others. 

Recommended Resources
  • How To Talk With People You Disagree With: A Guide To Tactical Discussions by Jackie Rogers
  • Why Are We Yelling?: The Art of Productive Disagreement by Buster Benson
  • I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth A. Silvers
References

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and School Libraries. ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association. 



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