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Teacher librarians
understandings of
inquiry learning
By Mandy Lupton
Biography
Dr Mandy Lupton is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, School of Cultural and
Professional Learning, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland. She
teaches a range of units in the Master of Education (teacher-librarianship). She has written
and spoken extensively on inquiry learning. Her current research includes investigating
the use of social media for teaching and learning.
Email: mandy.lupton@qut.edu.au
Abstract
This paper presents a study investigating
teacher librarians understandings of
inquiry learning. Teacher librarians have
traditionally been involved in information
literacy education. For some teacher
librarians, this has involved collaborating
with the classroom teacher on inquiry
learning units of work. For others, it
has involved offering a parallel library
curriculum. The findings of this study are
based on semi-structured interviews with
nine teacher librarians in Queensland
schools. The study revealed that teacher
librarians saw inquiry learning in two ways
as: (a) student-centred investigation; and (b)
teaching a process.
Introduction
In many schools, the teacher librarian
works with teachers and students on tasks
that involve searching, finding, evaluating,
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Big6
(Eisenberg &
Berkowitz 1990)
Information Search
Process
(Kuhlthau 1991)
Guided Inquiry
Design
(Kuhlthau et al. 2007)
The Information
Process
(NSW DET 2007)
Define task
Initiate
Select
Open
Immerse
Defining
Search
Explore
Formulate
Explore
Identify
Locating
Selecting
Organising
Locate
Collect
Gather
Use
Synthesise
Evaluate
Create
Present
Assess
Share
Presenting
Evaluate
Assessing
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Dimensions:
Category 1:
Student-centred investigation
Guide
Scaffold
Provide resources/choose
texts
Provide room, allow
independence
Teach skills
Use questioning strategies
Role of questioning
Critical thinking
Narrow the topic
Role of process
Research
Search for and find
information
Organise information
Focus
Student-directed
Teacher-directed
Pose questions
Choose topic/follow interest
Apply information
Draw conclusions
Category 2:
Teaching a process
Teach the steps
Scaffold
Keep students on track
Provide structure and
direction
Teach information literacy
skills
Use a whole-school
approach
Pose questions
Follow steps
Search for information
Be independent learners
information;
linguistic
understanding;
making meaning; skills; critical awareness of
sources; and independent learning. Ireland,
Watters, Brownlee and Lupton (2012) found
that primary teachers understood inquiry
science teaching as:
a. providing stimulating experiences to
students;
b. providing challenging problems to
students; and
c. assisting students to ask and answer
their own questions.
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Inquiry methodology
The participants of the study were nine
teacher librarians employed in state (n=5)
and private (n=4) schools in Queensland,
Australia. The schools ranged in size from
approximately 500 to 1800 students, with
a diversity of year groups represented (for
example, primary, secondary, K12).
Semi-structured interviews ranging from
20 to 60 minutes were undertaken with the
participants. Participants were asked about
their understanding of inquiry learning and
of the relationship between inquiry learning
and information literacy. They were also
asked to provide examples of when an
inquiry unit of work went well, and when
it went badly. The interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Two
of the participants had little experience
with inquiry learning due to the role they
played at their school (library management
rather than hands-on teaching). This lack
of experience was evident in a shorter
interview and a lack of concrete examples
of practice.
The research was underpinned by
phenomenography; a qualitative,interpretive
research approach (Marton 1992; Bowden
& Green 2005). A phenomenographic
study is designed to expose variation in
the ways that people experience specific
phenomena (Marton & Booth 1997; Marton
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Discussion
The findings of the study revealed success
factors and barriers to conducting inquiry
units of work. Success factors included
teacher librarian and classroom teacher
as collaborative partners, students
maintaining their engagement and students
choosing questions relevant to their lives.
The barriers to inquiry learning were
identified as risk to teachers and students
and lack of time. For instance, TL3 said that,
for teachers, inquiry learning was risky as
more control was handed to students. The
risk is that students would not learn the
required content. For students, the risk
is in the choices that they make and their
understanding that there is not necessarily
a right answer that they are seeking.
Its risky for the students because they
dont know what the proper, correct only
answer is. They have to take risks in
what information theyre gathering, and
how theyre putting it together, and what
theyre presenting coming back because
theres not one question; one answer.
Theyre taking risks in the pathway that
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Conclusion
The findings of this study indicate that
teacher librarians are strong advocates of
inquiry learning based on inquiry process
models. The use of these inquiry process
models and the emphasis on questioning
indicates that teacher librarians have
evolved their practice from an information
literacy or information-seeking focus to a
more holistic inquiry focus.
It is worth noting that there were suggestions
in the data of a third category: inquiry learning
as a way of learning. This is seen in TL9s
comment that inquiry is an approach to life
I see it as a way of learning. Unfortunately,
this category could not be fleshed out from
the limited data available.
The incorporation of inquiry skills as a
strand in a range of subject areas in the
Australian Curriculum is an opportunity
for teacher librarians to leverage their
information literacy and inquiry expertise
to support the curriculum. As evidenced
by the examples from practice, this should
include supporting students in developing
questions as well as scaffolding them
through the inquiry process. Another
opportunity for teacher librarians to have
an impact on the curriculum is the proposed
revisions to the Australian Curriculum
to create an integrated primary school
Humanities and Social Sciences subject
(ACARA 2015). These revisions may allow
teacher librarians to initiate collaborations
with class teachers and to advocate for a
whole-school approach to inquiry.
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References
ACARA 2014, The Australian Curriculum.
Viewed 5 January 2014, from http://www.
australiancurriculum.edu.au/
ACARA 2015, Improving the Australian
Curriculum. Viewed from http://www.acara.
edu.au/verve/_resources/20150508_
IMPROVING_AUST_CUR_v_2_2.pdf
Australian Library and Information Association
and Australian School Library Association
2009, Statement on guided inquiry and the
curriculum. Viewed 20 October 2014, from
http://www.asla.org.au/policy/Guidedinquiry-and-the-curriculum.aspx
Behrenbruch, M 2012, Whats essential?
Teachers perspectives on inquiry, Dancing in
the light, M Behrenbruch, Sense Publishers,
vol. 83, pp. 81109.
Bowden, JA & Green, P, Eds 2005, Doing
developmental phenomenography, RMIT
University Press, Melbourne.
Callison, D 2006, The blue book on information
age inquiry, instruction and literacy, Libraries
Unlimited, Westport, Conn.
Chu, S 2008, Grade 4 students development
of research skills through inquirybased learning projects, School Libraries
Worldwide, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1037.
Eisenberg, M & Berkowitz, R 1990,
Information problem-solving: The Big Six
approach to library & information skills
instruction, Ablex Publishing Corporation,
Norwood, New Jersey.
Harada, V & Yoshina, J 2004, Inquiry learning
through librarian-teacher partnerships,
Linworth Publishing, Worthington, OH.
IBO 2014, Three programmes, International
Baccalaureate Organization. Viewed 1
June 2014, from http://www.ibo.org/
programmes/index.cfm.
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permission.