Collaboration and The Media Specialist

What is Collaboration?
Collaboration can be defined as the shared vision and goals of two or more individuals. It also has to come with a climate of mutual respect and trust (Georges, 2004). It is crucial for collaboration to take place in education. Teachers have different strengths. The sharing of those strengths will empower students to achieve at their full potential.

What Collaboration Looks Like

Collaboration can take many forms. However it should not appear as though the media specialist has taken over the role of classroom teacher (Doll, 2005). Collaboration should be the teacher and the media specialist working together to improve student achievement. The two should work together to create a lesson that not only teaches a curriculum standard, but also allows for information literacy to be taught. It is the responsibility of the media specialist to make sure information literacy skills are mastered (Doll, 2005), and when collaboration takes place this outcome is more favorable.

Collaboration in the Media Center

Collaboration in the media center is vital to a successful program. Collaboration is arguably the most challenging part of a media specialist job (Johnson, 2007). There are many reasons for this fact. Time is a Conclusion major reason teachers and media specialists give for not collaborating. Time and Collaboration is essential to an effective schedule conflicts can very often discourage Library program. Teaching the students of a collaboration. school is a group effort, and Another reason for collaboration is the key to lack of collaboration success. Media Specialists Collaboration is the Holy Grail of is that teachers may need to advocate for librarianship not have been collaboration. Research ~Doug Johnson (Johnson, 2007) expected to do so shows that collaboration has a with a previous direct correlation with student media specialist. In this case the media achievement (Doll, 2005). The media center specialist must advocate for her program. can help foster that achievement in every Show them why collaboration is so student! important. Collaboration is needed so that Helpful Links: skills are not taught in isolation. Students need to make connections in order to Teacher/Media Specialist Collaboration successfully retain the information taught. Form If information literacy skills are taught in isolation, those connections cannot be made, http://www.tonibuzzeo.com/collaborative and thus students so not learn the skills unittemplate.pdf needed to be lifelong learners (Doll, 2005).

Collaboration and The Media Specialist

Resource List

Doll, C. A. (2005). Collaboration and the school Library media specialist. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=8iD_TeGd9BoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Media+Sp ecialist+%2B+Collaboration&source=bl&ots=QLnVJkYO_W&sig=t474_q-R7PO90Impi2XTJTNu0k&hl=en&ei=s0FATfDJBYfDgQfL3_3PAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct= result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzgK#v=one Georges, F. (2004, October). Information literacy, collaboration, and "killer apps": New challenges for media specialists. Library Media Connection, 34-35.

Johnson, D. (2007, July 1). Collaboration and reflection [Web log post]. Retrieved from Doug Johnson: Writing, Speaking, and Consulting on School Technology and Library Issues: http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/collaboration-and-reflection.html