What librarians think: teaching and learning in the real world
Abstract:
This chapter presents findings from a qualitative survey of 38 Irish academic teaching librarians, which aimed to explore their personal experiences of teaching, their conceptions of ‘teacher identity’, the challenges they face in their work, as well as their motivation and the aspects of teaching they find most rewarding. The aim of the chapter is to offer a snapshot of the ‘real world’ of teaching librarians in practice, and to gain an understanding of how they negotiate this aspect of their professional identity. The librarians’ responses revealed several recurring themes that will be familiar to teaching librarians from all around the world.
Now that we have discussed and analysed the theory and practice of information literacy instruction and teacher identity, this final chapter gives voice to real ‘teaching librarians’, who generously gave of their time to offer insights and perspectives on their own experiences of teaching in academic libraries. It is hoped that the issues and observations highlighted by the 38 Irish librarians who participated will make a useful contribution to the growing body of research that is currently being explored and extended by researchers such as Walter (2008) and Julien and Pecoskie (2009) in their investigations of librarians’ subjective experience of the teaching role. It is also hoped that you, as teaching librarians, will discover that you are not alone; that your own experiences may be shared by others and that many of the issues and challenges that exist around the provision of information literacy instruction are universal. Through looking beyond the practical tools and methods of instruction, we can develop a better understanding of the factors that shape ‘teacher identity’ in librarians, as well as the obstacles that slow us down in our efforts to fully integrate with the teaching and learning missions of our institutions at large. We can also draw inspiration from the very positive experiences described by many of the librarians and the value they attach to this aspect of their role.
In October 2010, members of the Irish community of academic teaching librarians were invited to complete a short online qualitative survey, designed to elicit personal perspectives on the experience of facilitating learning in libraries. The questionnaire was partly informed by Walter’s 2008 study, which was described in Chapter 2, and consisted of 13 open-ended, qualitative questions, with the aim of allowing participants to express themselves in detail and to reflect on their teaching experiences. The questionnaire is available to view at the end of this chapter. An invitation to participate was posted to LIR-L, the HEAnet1 user group for librarians in Ireland, and was also forwarded to the mailing list of the Academic and Special Libraries section of the Library Association of Ireland (LAI). The author also sent personal emails to a number of teaching librarian contacts in universities and institutes around the country. Over a period of two weeks, 38 librarians completed the survey, providing detailed insight into their teaching experiences, role perceptions and ‘teacher identity’. While not a large- scale study, the data collected is nonetheless a valid representation of the prevailing issues and concerns that affect academic teaching librarians in Ireland; much of what was said reflects themes that have arisen throughout the book and will resonate with teaching librarians in a global context.
Librarians’ work roles, training and involvement in teaching
A number of the questions were designed to provide some contextual information about the librarians, in order to establish what their current work roles are, the extent and form of their involvement in teaching activities in their institutions and any instructional training they may have received, either pre- or during employment.
Work roles
The librarians describe a wide range of work roles, including subject librarians, managers, electronic resource managers, cataloguers and information service librarians. The dominant theme in their role descriptions centres on multi-tasking – very few of the librarians describe specialised roles, instead noting that they are required to undertake a range of duties in their jobs:
‘Jack of all trades – so many duties I don’t know where to start.’
‘A little bit of everything – answering queries, teaching, cataloguing, dealing with invoices, processing journals and ordering documents.’
‘Managing the library team, budget, resources. Marketing, information literacy teaching, subject liaison.’
Just three of the librarians describe themselves specifically as teaching librarians, or similar:
‘I see myself as a teacher-librarian, who is heavily involved in teaching students and staff how to use the library resources, both at the information desk and heading up the training team.’
The relative lack of specialist ‘teaching librarians’ in the survey may be a reflection of the practice of academic librarianship in Ireland; with some exceptions, Irish higher education institutions are small compared with those in nations such as the US, and the pool of library staff too restricted to permit such specialised division of roles. A full, dedicated teaching librarian or information literacy librarian in an Irish academic library is likely to be considered a luxury, rather than a necessity. Since roles tend to be defined primarily according to subject area rather than function, professional academic librarians usually find themselves in the ‘jack-of-all-trades’ role, into which teaching responsibilities must also fit. The challenge of juggling other library tasks with teaching duties is a theme that arises again and again in discussions of teacher-librarianship (Walter, 2008).
Involvement in teaching
The librarians describe varied and ad hoc involvement in teaching, with some providing only occasional sessions, while others are heavily involved, some in a leadership role. There is no pattern or consistency to the librarians’ responses, with descriptions differing wildly. One librarian notes that last year they: ‘did 154 hours of group teaching and 24 hour- long one-to-one sessions.’ Some examples of the kinds of teaching facilitated by the librarians are as follows:
‘Most terms I am asked to conduct a session with three to eight different classes, ranging from a class in the Rare Books Room where I demonstrate books, etc., to a class to more intensive classroom sessions (90 minutes long) where I instruct in the use of online resources.’
‘I would say what I do is really more presenting than teaching. I deliver introductory sessions and also more advanced research skill sessions to both undergrad and postgrad courses – but it’s usually just a one-session demonstration.’
‘I meet with new groups of students occasionally and give them an introduction to the library services.’
‘Lead in design and delivery of information skills learning activities embedded in medical, pharmacy and related programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level, approx 40 contact hours per year.’
Instructional training
The librarians were asked to describe any kind of training that they had received to support their teaching work, either pre-employment or acquired on the job. Comments showed that formal instructional training is rare among librarians; the majority of librarians described ad hoc or piecemeal training, consisting of a session here and there. Very few of the librarians have formal teaching qualifications – just seven librarians stated that they had a teaching qualification of some description, or were in the process of obtaining one, usually a postgraduate diploma:
‘I have recently completed a master’s in education, which was a huge support to my teaching work.’
’I decided that it would be beneficial for me to do a course specifically for trainers which I paid for myself – Cert in Training with [institution name].’
’I recently completed a foundation diploma in Essential Trainer Skills, which was a NFQ Level 7 award.’
’Library paid for me to undertake the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDHE).’
A number of the librarians noted that, although they had not received training specifically in relation to information literacy instruction, they found the training that they had received in different contexts to be helpful, as well as previous experience working in a classroo
‘I already had a secondary teaching diploma.’
‘I took two pedagogy courses while I was teaching English and children’s literature classes at university level.’
‘I have been involved in adult literacy training in the past and have trained as a tutor.’
‘I had no training pre-employment to support my teaching work. I did work as an English-language assistant for one year before undertaking the MLIS so I had some classroom experience.’
The majority of librarians, however, describe their training as multifaceted and ad hoc, consisting of workshops, short courses and seminars, sometimes undertaken as part of continuing professional development (CPD). Several librarians also mentioned availing of general teaching and learning modules offered by their institution’s teaching and learning departments. Some librarians had also taken an information-literacy-specific teaching module during their pre-service professional education programme. Many of the participants refer to having received some training in ‘presentation’ rather than teaching skills:
‘I’ve done a number of presentation skills and large/small group teaching programmes.’
‘Courses are made available by the university I work at for non- teaching staff to learn teaching skills and through library courses also I learn about teaching techniques.’
‘I have used resources from the Centre for Teaching and Learning and find those excellent – I also am reading widely and then implementing some suggestions in my teaching work.’
‘I have attended one-day seminars on particular resources, usually shortly after they have been launched, but I have never had any training specifically on teaching.’
Involvement in teaching networks and communities
The librarians were also asked if they are involved in any teaching and learning networks or communities, either within or outside of their own institutions. Twenty-seven of the librarians stated that they are currently not involved in any such networks, while just 10 described varying degrees of participation in internal and external communities, both formal and informal:
‘A journal club is being established.’
‘Yes, I am a member of a CoP on Technology in the Classroom.’
‘Active member of Library Association of Ireland and engaged in some teaching activities (or activities that involve the same type of skills). Organise and speak at conferences; co-ordinating a training day and focus group at present, which I will facilitate. Member of Education Committee LAI.’
‘Internal education support group of academics and related staff; participate in NAIRTL2 and ILTA3 activities.’
‘There is a learning and development hub on the www.hseland.ie website which I am a member of.’
‘Mostly in a virtual sense like the NDLR CoPs and our Centre for Learning and Teaching’s mailing group on our VLE.’
‘Yes, specialist diploma TLS in university. NDLR4 IL teaching community. Academic writers’ blog.’
Teaching grants and awards
In order to explore the librarians’ participation in wider teaching and learning initiatives outside of the classroom, they were also asked if they had ever successfully or unsuccessfully applied for any teaching awards or grants, either individually or as part of a team. Just five of the librarians answered yes to this question:
‘Yes, the team won an in-house poster award in 2009 as sponsored by NAIRTL.’
‘I was awarded Highly Commended for my teaching work by the LILAC conference.’
‘Have received funding under the NDLR & SIF for IL development/ delivery.’
‘Internal NDLR funding (team) – successful; Internal SIF 1 funding (team) – successful; External NDLR funding (IOTI5 libraries) – unsuccessful.’
‘Yes we applied for funding for development of IL modules in a previous job and we received it. However I moved jobs so did not see it to conclusion.’
It is not clear whether this low level of participation is due to lack of sufficient funding opportunities or to more subjective factors, such as lack of confidence or a perception that teaching and learning initiatives are the preserve of academics and researchers.
Librarians’ beliefs about how role is perceived by ‘outsiders’
Professional identity is partially shaped by how ‘outsiders’ view the profession, and how their conceptions affect the way in which they react to members of that profession. As part of the exploration of professional identity here, the librarians were asked how they believe that their work is perceived by those who are not part of the professional library community. To a significant extent, the librarians’ comments suggest a degree of concern about how other parties perceive their role and work. In particular, a number of participants worry that library work is perceived as not sufficiently challenging – as a ‘cushy number’ that does not require any particular skill or expertise. This is coupled with a general lack of awareness of what the role actually entails:
‘As so easy a trained monkey could do it.’
‘I think some people understand the work I do but there is also a perception that if the library is quiet – not many bodies – then you must have nothing to do either. There are definitely people who wonder what it is you do all day.’
‘Most people approach me with the attitude that anyone could do the job.’
‘Minimal understanding of the breadth and depth of work and expertise involved. Very much seen as “admin” staff.’
Many of the librarians also believe that the traditional stereotype of the librarians still persists, despite the many changes that have transformed the profession in the past few decades.
‘Outside my profession there are very strong stereotypes that we primarily sit behind a desk working with print material.’
‘Majority do not have any idea of the varied roles and tasks performed by the modern librarian. They often think our role is that of shelvers/issue desk staff.’
‘I think most people still see librarians as book guardians – and don’t realise how technology has changed what we do.’
Significantly, in relation to this book, several of the participants suggested that ‘outsiders’ are frequently surprised when they learn about the teaching that librarians do, or that they do not accept that it is a valid aspect of the job. In the answers to this question, it is evident that many of the librarians are referring to academics’ perceptions specifically – as we discussed in Chapter 1, the views of academics regarding teaching librarians are the most crucial, since it is they who are the ‘gatekeepers’ to the curriculum and their support is essential for curriculum-embedded learning:
‘Misunderstood. Think that the consensus would be “why would librarians teach?” ‘ ‘People are sometimes surprised to hear that I teach classes. I don’t think they regard it as “real teaching” but people who are familiar with the research needs of students, after they have thought about it, feel that this teaching is important for students.’
‘With surprise! Most people are not familiar with the concept of teaching librarians and wonder what it is we teach.’
‘As a librarian – not a teacher and limited to one-off session.’
‘That’s difficult because some academics don’t see us as teachers; they think we’ve nothing to offer.’
Linked to this perception is the traditional view of librarians as ‘support service’ providers, rather than educators who are central to the educational mission of the institution:
‘They would see me as a back-up resource to the lecturers.’
‘As being primarily utilitarian in developing student information skill competencies.’
‘I think they would see it as supporting teaching, learning and research in the same way as maybe tutors do.’
Tellingly, there were few positive responses to this question:
‘Surprised by how varied the role is.’
‘I think they would see my work as part of the bigger university picture and not just as library work.’
It is apparent that the librarians in this survey believe that their professional image – as it appears to outsiders, particularly academics – is inaccurate and undervalued, and does not reflect the reality of their role and contribution they make to student learning. How librarians feel about their externally projected image is crucial, although their beliefs about outsiders’ perceptions may not be accurate, or even fair – without a parallel survey of non-librarians, it is impossible to verify the perceptions reported here. But it is reasonable to state that the librarians surveyed here have quite a negative conception of how they are perceived outside of the profession.
Librarians’ pre-employment role conceptions compared with current role experience
The librarians were also asked to describe how the conceptions of library work that they held prior to working in libraries compared with their actual current experience of working in an academic library. They were asked to focus specifically on the teaching aspect in this question, inkeeping with the theme of this book. Eighteen (of 34) librarians state that the job involves a lot more teaching than they had expected. This finding tallies with our discussion of the teaching role in Chapter 1, where it was noted that many fledgling librarians are surprised by the amount of teaching they are expected to do in their jobs, and consequently feel unequipped for it:
‘The teaching was initially a surprise and I felt unprepared for it.’
‘It involves much more teaching than expected.’
‘Had never considered the teaching aspect. I had thought the job would be primarily about resource management.’
‘Teaching did not figure as part of librarians’ work.’
‘I went into librarianship because I didn’t want to teach!!’
‘I wouldn’t have thought people needed to be shown how to use resources, surely they know how to do that already?’
However, many of the librarians noted that, even though they did not expect to teach, they found themselves enjoying this aspect of the job:
‘It [teaching] is far more involved than I thought it would be but I really enjoy this aspect of my work.’
‘I hadn’t envisaged doing as much teaching as I currently do – that said, teaching is the aspect of my role that I enjoy the most.’
‘I do like it and am happy sharing my knowledge with other staff and readers.’
A number of the librarians observe that, to them, teaching is and always has been a core element of library work. In some cases, this is what attracted them to the profession in the first instance:
‘I was always aware that teaching would be part of a librarian’s work, it was one of the aspects that drew me to this career.’
‘It’s a very large part of the work. I’ve been working in libraries for over 12 years so my career has developed with the teaching. It’s just part of the job – it would be strange not to teach.’
‘I was always aware of teaching as a core function of work as a librarian, and in all my roles, this has been the case. I would not have been interested in any role that did not involve a significant amount of teaching, training, user support or general interaction with users/clients.’
It would seem, from the answers to this question, that the teaching role is not yet viewed as a core library function by pre-service librarians, although this changes once they gain experience in the role. This raises important questions about how the profession is portrayed from a careers perspective and what motivates pre-service librarians to choose information work as a career. It also raises questions about the preparedness of the incoming librarians to undertake teaching duties. Librarians who are ‘surprised’ by teaching duties may feel that they have been thrown in at the deep end. Some may swim – and enjoy it, as expressed above – but equally, some might also sink. We also need to consider the issue of whether the ability to teach should constitute an ‘essential’ or ‘desirable’ competency for those entering the profession.
Librarians’ confidence in teaching
In two successive questions, the librarians were asked to indicate: a) how confident they felt when they first took on teaching duties; and b) how confident they feel now about their teaching duties. Their responses are displayed in Table 6.1.
Table 6.1
Librarians’ confidence levels in their teaching
| At first | Now | |
| Not at all confident | 14 | 0 |
| Somewhat confident | 20 | 15 |
| Very confident | 3 | 19 |
| Completely confident | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 37 (1 skipped) | 38 |
In the expanded answers to the questions, interesting themes emerged. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is the influence of experience on the development of confidence and perceptions of self-efficacy. The more teaching the librarians do, the more comfortable they feel.
In terms of how confident they felt at first, a number of the participants noted that their previous experiences of teaching in other contexts helped them when they first undertook teaching duties in their library work:
‘I have quite a bit of experience in this area so it wasn’t too difficult. I am comfortable with standing up in front of audiences and am fairly ok with ad-libbing if necessary. Plus I really enjoy the work!’
‘Having worked in a classroom I was not worried about either my own preparation for each class or in dealing with students.’
The librarians’ confidence levels rise with time and practice. This is clearly shown in Table 6.1, where none of the participants said they were ‘not at all confident’ currently, compared with the 14 who felt they had no confidence when they started to teach:
‘I’ve put a lot of time and work into my classes. I use my experience of action research to do the best for my students. I’ve also done research on how to improve your teaching and learning outcomes for students.’
‘I have done this for over four years now and there are few situations I would not be comfortable in, unless, for example, I am teaching a new tool for the first time, e.g. Mendeley.’
‘The more experience I have, the more confident I feel, and the more I know. I have gained a lot from the people who taught me and I find that librarianship, like most professions, is a constant learning curve, with new developments coming on stream all the time, especially in the area of IT.’
However, even with increased confidence levels, several of the librarians framed the improvement more in terms of developing ‘coping skills’, which they use to handle what remains a stressful situation for them:
‘I have developed my own coping strategies, use of PowerPoint, demonstrating the library electronic resources on the projector. I also make sure I wear “nicer” clothes on the days I meet a group, as well as wear make-up and green concealer in case my face flares up!’
‘I am far more confident in relation to preparation and interactive teaching methods as well as having far more experience. I would still not consider myself as a confident teacher though and am still not comfortable with the role.’
‘I would never say that I’m 100 per cent confident in delivering teaching sessions, but because I am now more familiar with the theory behind teaching and learning, I feel I am a confident teacher.’
Some of the reasons behind the initial lack of confidence were discussed by the librarians in their expanded answers to the question. Several described feeling out of their depth and being uncertain as to the best way to facilitate learning sessions:
‘I felt thrown in at the deep end. I did have one very supportive colleague without whom I would probably have sunk. It was trial and error.’
‘I made the most basic of errors – failure to get a good idea of what would be of most benefit to the specific group I was training, and at what level. Followed by: failure to develop any kind of rapport with the group – simply launching into an over-rehearsed presentation while trying desperately to avoid questions that would put me off track. Over-reliance on PowerPoint.’
‘My predecessor gave me some of her slides, etc., and I felt a bit daunted as they were very theoretical but as no one told me how I should do it I went with this at first.’
Others spoke of how teaching makes them aware of gaps in their own knowledge and skills, including subject-specific knowledge, which leads them to question their effectiveness:
‘Confident about presentation skills, level of audience, etc., but some apprehension about my own knowledge of specific subjects, such as particular databases.’
‘Enjoy lecturing and public talking, though learning curve re new subject matter sometimes quite challenging.’
‘I was very nervous about standing up in front of a group of up to 200 students. I was also concerned that because I didn’t have the subject background, I would be challenged on various points.’
Another worry for the librarians is their ability to correctly tailor instruction for different student groups and to pitch the sessions at the right ‘level’:
‘As with all aspects of a job that are new, my first teaching week was difficult, I did not quite know what to expect from the class, their levels of understanding or ability.’
‘When I came to the academic librarianship role, the challenge was to understand about the audience (usually students) and their needs and this was not explained to me, and hadn’t really been thought about.’
‘I made the most basic of errors – failure to get a good idea of what would be of most benefit to the specific group I was training, and at what level.’
From a more positive perspective, a number of the librarians suggested that their enjoyment of teaching, and the feeling that they are offering something of value, helps to overcome their nerves and to increase their confidence:
‘I felt very sure of the importance, relevance and urgency of what I was teaching, and that students would be just as excited as I was about exciting databases and interesting resources. I had frequently been bored by lengthy library demonstrations, so I was confident that I could make mine much more concise and exciting.’
‘The teaching was, of course, a bit daunting at first and still is sometimes, depending on the class, but I really enjoy it. I’m not sure that I’d still be working in a library, only for it.’
‘I enjoy this work so I felt somewhat confident about it at the start and continue to enjoy it and feel more confident now!’
Several participants explore the issue of how they themselves learn and develop teaching competency in the course of their work. There is a strong sense of constantly wanting to improve and increase effectiveness, which in turn instils confidence. An interesting observation by one participant suggests that having mastered the ‘mechanics’ of teaching, they are now free to focus on how the students are learning:
‘Over time, of course, you discover the most common questions, mistakes, etc., that students will have and you’ve discovered what works and what doesn’t in a session.’
‘[I] can still be a bit anxious – very keen to be effective. Always know when I have “connected” with students and of course when I haven’t. Hope I’m improving all the time …!’
‘While there are many information-related problems beyond my competence to teach in clinical medicine, for instance, I have learned to develop a more peer-to-peer approach which facilitates self- learning in small groups for more advanced topics.’
‘Now, large groups don’t bother me – what concerns me more now is how the students learn in large groups. I have also learned that it doesn’t matter if I can’t answer questions (especially if they need clinical expertise) – I don’t have a problem admitting I don’t know! And I always learn a new way of doing something, especially in a workshop. I concentrate more now on the students, rather than worrying about my performance.’
Librarians’ challenges in the teaching role
A further question focused on the challenges that the librarians have experienced or which they currently face in their teaching roles. The responses to the question show that librarians perceive that their efforts to teach effectively are obstructed by environmental factors that are, to some extent, outside of their control. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the greatest barrier to teaching described by the librarians comes under the heading of ‘time’; this encompasses both the time required for planning, preparation and delivery of courses and individual sessions, as well as the time needed to build up a rapport with student groups and to gradually build on content over a period of weeks.
The librarians reported that they feel torn between their teaching duties and the other responsibilities of their roles. This supports findings outlined by Walter (2008) in his similar study:
The other time-related challenge is linked to the prevalence of the ‘one- shot’ session discussed in Chapter 4 – the librarians here suggest that it is difficult to build up a relationship with their students, as they do not teach or see them on a regular basis, indeed often seeing them just the one time:
‘Preparing and giving sessions can be time-consuming. In the light of staff reductions it is becoming more stressful to deal with competing demands.’
‘Getting enough time to teach is always a challenge. The other challenge is that teaching is not my sole focus and I am stretched across a lot of areas.’
‘The amount of time involved in preparation. Not enough opportunities to build experience. Not enough time to reflect on my practice.’
‘Compared to teaching a class for a whole semester, where you develop a rapport with the class over a few weeks, a library class is more like a performance, where you have to capture your audience in that one show.’
‘The one-off sessions, very hard to see a group more than once to build on what you’ve covered with them.’
A further challenge relates to student (and faculty) motivation. Several of the librarians observed that it can be difficult to entice students to attend information literacy sessions, or to foster independent learning behaviour when they do attend:
‘I guess the main challenge is to convince students to attend courses, as many are not aware of the vast amount of info material out there and how important it is to be information literate.’
‘Apathy among readers can be a problem, as can short attention spans! Readers’ expectations have increased and they can also expect “spoon-feeding”, but it is part of our role to teach them the skills so they can do it themselves.’
‘I tend to find it frustrating that many students don’t want to assume responsibility for their own learning and a lot of them seem to completely lack intellectual curiosity.’
Academics, too, are occasionally perceived as apathetic towards the instructional services offered by the librarians. The challenge of forging effective collaborative working relationships with academics is a well- established issue for teaching librarians and has been discussed widely:
‘The lack of interest in the library and the resources we provide from some of the lecturers is very disheartening.’
‘Teacher misunderstanding of the librarian’s role. That it is not only about providing a nice space to read, with that done then there is no further need for a librarian.’
‘Promoting IL and trying to get lecturers to buy into the process of IL teaching and the value it adds to academia.’
The final challenge the librarians describe concerns technical or equipment issues – for instance, classrooms that are inadequately equipped for different learning activities or learning technologies that fail in the middle of a session:
‘Lack of appropriate facilities – for the training we are doing, it should be practical, hands-on and evaluative. So that requires different room structure than are available – where students can work in small groups, on laptops and I can work with them.’
‘Failure of equipment, especially when giving a hands-on demonstration. Don’t know where it is going to lead me.’
‘Technical! The equipment that doesn’t work, the network that goes down in the middle of a live session.’
What do librarians enjoy about teaching?
In contrast to the challenges, the librarians were also asked to describe what (if anything) they enjoy about their teaching role. Their comments show that interacting with and helping students are the two most rewarding aspects of teaching for them. Several of the librarians refer to the ‘buzz’ of a teaching session:
The librarians also describe the satisfaction of ‘making a difference’ with the students and facilitating them to do things they were unable to do before. Several comments describe with pleasure the ‘eureka moment’ when a student finally understands a concept or is able to perform a task:
‘Enjoy the buzz of it, the interaction with academics, with students, the sense of making a difference, guiding/facilitating students on path to self-discovery and independence as learners.’
‘The buzz is good, interacting with students, hearing their perspective.’
‘Student interaction. The satisfaction that you are helping and putting in the extra effort. There are creative possibilities and certainly positive feedback if you work hard at it and put the energy in’.
‘Realising that I’ve shown/taught them something they did not previously know that they will be able to use all their lives.’
‘You definitely feel that you are making a difference when people go away happy that they have taken something away from your session that they will use in the future.’
‘I find the teaching experience very gratifying. I especially enjoy teaching adults and enjoy the moment when a learner “gets it”.’
‘I particularly love helping students prepare for project work. I love when you can see the understanding on their faces, or when the penny drops.’
Many of these comments suggest that the librarians draw a great deal more reward from their teaching duties than the simple satisfaction of a job well done. The opportunity for direct contact with students is viewed as particularly welcome, as such involved interaction may be much less frequent in the normal course of library work. The librarians also enjoy seeing the direct impact of their instruction – i.e. when the ‘penny drops’.
Some of the librarians refer again to fostering independent student learning as a source of satisfaction – helping students to help themselves:
‘Seeing students being able to help themselves because of something I helped them learn.’
‘I enjoy when students understand what you are teaching them and feel confident enough to be able to research the resources themselves.’
Finally, a number of the librarians observe that they enjoy the opportunity teaching affords to ‘showcase’ the library and promote its services to students and staff:
Librarians’ conceptions of ‘good’ teaching
The librarians were asked to describe what they believe constitutes ‘good teaching’. Their answers can be described under four headings:
fostering independent learning and intellectual curiosity in students;
customisation – tailoring learning sessions to individual student groups;
The librarians surveyed have a strong belief that good teaching is not about transmitting content, but rather about empowering their students to complete tasks and solve problems independently, applying the skills and knowledge they have gained in class. Their view of learning aligns closely with Biggs and Tang’s Level 3 concept of learning, which focuses on what the student does in class, rather than on their innate ability or the teacher’s skill-set (see Chapter 2, ‘Developing a personal teaching philosophy’):
‘Self-directed learning. Not teaching but facilitating students on journey of discovery.’
‘The idea of engaging the students, enthusing them and involving them in their own learning.’
‘The idea of sharing experiences to the extent that students can become empowered and enabled.’
‘Good teaching should be about giving the student enough confidence and information to be able to tackle research on their own, while also knowing they can come back to you if they need help.’
‘Engaging the students so that they are immediately integrating their own questions and concerns with the material that is being presented to them.’
‘Good teaching should engage the student enough to ask more questions.’
For the librarians, good teaching also means being responsive to the needs and characteristics of different student groups and ‘customising’ the learning sessions so that they are pitched at the correct level for the group in question:
‘A deep understanding of both the information world and the students you are working with. No longer are we working with homogenous groups … and the material out there is diverse and growing more complex day by day.’
‘Recognising that there are different learning styles and trying to cater for various styles in sessions.’
‘Responsiveness, clarity, customisation of content and relevancy, interactivity and an ability to leave the group better informed than they were before the session.’
‘Knowledge of what the group know already, relevant information, clarity.’
‘Knowing your audience and its needs (knowing how to connect).’
Learning sessions that are properly planned, with clearly stated learning outcomes, are also a core element of good teaching practice:
‘I think good teaching is structured according to definite learning outcomes.’
‘Clearly identified learning outcomes that tie in with the requirements of your students. I find it more useful if you can tie in your session with a specific project/assignment they have – it makes it more practical and meaningful for them.’
‘Well-executed lesson plans, and clear and measureable learning outcomes.’
Finally, a good teacher should show enthusiasm for what they are teaching and should endeavour to create a sense of excitement around the material:
‘A good teacher inspires people to learn and excites them about their work. Good teaching happens when the teacher knows their area, can communicate clearly and can bring a sense of excitement and enthusiasm to the classroom. These skills translate in VLEs or in face-to-face situations.’
‘The idea of engaging the student, enthusing them and involving them in their own learning.’
‘I think good teaching […] is delivered by someone who is enthusiastic and passionate about their subject.’
Librarians’ additional comments about the teaching role
The librarians were also invited to respond to an open question, asking them if there were any further comments or observations they would like to make. Some of the comments explore interesting questions with regard to the role.
Several of the librarians took the opportunity to comment further on the lack of status and recognition they feel is afforded to them in their institutions:
By the same token, teaching is also viewed by some of the librarians as a means of enhancing academic status and promoting the library to the academic community:
‘The teaching function within libraries is multifaceted and is based on political and strategic objectives as well as the educational. However, it is not always explicitly recognised within academia as being essential.’
‘The role needs greater definition and support from the wider librarian community. It is one of the most demanding jobs in the library world, but the perception is that it is a cushy number, which harms any real development of the role in the professional world.’
‘It’s a fine line, as the lecturers’ unions here are very adamant in protecting the role of lecturer. However, they are quite happy to pass the unglamorous work to the library, like citation and plagiarism.’
‘It is a very valuable way to reach out to students and researchers, elevates my status in the institution to being “academic related”.’
‘I think this is a key growth area for library staff and is critical in ensuring that the library is part of the learning loop within our universities and colleges.’
‘The teaching role of a librarian adds credibility to the role of the librarian and highlights to academics the educational role librarians do play.’
One very interesting comment referred to a perceived division within the profession itself, regarding the teaching role:
‘I have been surprised at the divide between those in the profession who recognise teaching as part of our role and those who do not consider it part of their job. The profession is changing and I think that as some of the more traditional roles of a librarian will be phased out, we need to embrace new ways of promoting the skills librarians have and showing how those skills can benefit readers.’
Finally, a number of the librarians reiterated the need for, and benefits of, pedagogical training for librarians, as well as expressing concern about the lack of training opportunities:
‘Based on my own experience, I think it is very worthwhile for librarians to pursue a teaching qualification. It certainly gave me a lot of confidence in my role. I know librarians can often be a bit paranoid about what lecturers make of their status, but I think this is a poor approach on the part of librarians. We need to stand equal to them – qualification-wise we usually are there or thereabouts.’
‘I would mention again my surprise at the lack of training/support in the area of teaching, within the library, but also for lecturers of modules as well. It’s a little bit of a concern for me that the quality of teaching is so much reliant on individuals and their personal skill- set/competencies in the area.’
Academic librarians’ experience of teaching: a short survey
1. How would you describe your current role in the library (not your job title)?
2. Can you briefly outline the nature and extent of your involvement in teaching at your institution?
3. How do you think that your work would be perceived by people outside the profession?
4. How does your job – especially the teaching aspect – compare with the image of a librarian’s work that you may have held prior to your employment?
5. Can you describe any training you may have had, pre- or during employment, to support your teaching work?
6. How confident did you feel when you first took on teaching duties?
7. How confident do you feel now?
8. What, if anything, do you enjoy about teaching?
9. What challenges, if any, have you faced, or are currently facing, in your teaching?
10. What do you believe constitutes ‘good’ teaching?
11. Are you involved in any teaching networks or communities inside or outside of your institution (please elaborate)?
12. Have you ever applied (successfully or unsuccessfully) for any teaching awards or grants, either individually or as part of a team (please elaborate)?
13. Are there any further comments you would like to make about your teaching role, or any other related issues?
1Higher Education Authority Net - 'Ireland's national education and research network, providing high quality Internet services to Irish universities, Institutes of Technology, and the research and educational community' (www.heanet.ie/about).
2National Academic for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning: http://www.nairtl.ie/.
3Irish Learning Technology Association: http://ilta.net/.
4National Digital Learning Resources: http://www.ndlr.ie/.
5Institutes of Technology of Ireland: http://www.ioti.ie/.