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CHAPTER 4 : ROLES OF SCHOOL

RESOURCE CENTER
4.0 ROLES OF SCHOOL RESOURCE CENTER
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• The school resource centre playing major roles to ensure effective learning
• Without learning, the school resource centre would be nothing, as the need
to learn is often driving force that brings students to use the SRC
• SRC approach and roles may vary depending on the learning models.
• Four types of learning models were analyzed to describe how SRC play its
roles for effective learning which is:
 A school that offering a traditional teaching models
- Focus on direct teaching
- Controlled by a teacher who typically does not involve the IPs
- Limited involvement of the teacher with the SRC
- Teachers are not aware on the SRC roles and functions
- Students use of the SRC is constrained
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 A school that nominally flexible
- Involving teaching and some independent work
- Teachers use the SRC as a source of information and resources
- Students use SRC largely when they sent by teachers and they
tend to ask IP for answers to the assignment rather than finding the
solutions themselves
 A school where resource-based learning takes place
- Emphasis on learning
- IP and teachers use SRC as central to learning
- SRC became an important resource for learning
- Students see SRC as “point of access” which enabling them to use
specific resources that exists elsewhere
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 A school that described as developmental
- Request support from IP
- SRC act as sources for support for teachers
- Students ask information professional for help and advice when they
encounter difficulties.
 4.1 COLLABORATION AND LIASION 05
• The over-riding common factor in ensuring that the school resource centre
has an impact on learning is through collaboration and liaison between
teachers and information professionals.
• This may be achieved through :
 Whole school involvements through meetings and projects
 The IP should be entitled as a matter of course – to attend
meeting of the whole school teaching staff
 The SRC is a part of school and IP should know about the
curriculum
 The IP should highlight the roles of SRC
 IP should able to involve in various meetings held
 Departmental liaison and initiatives
 IP closely deal with senior curriculum managers or director of
studies
 IP should have departmental syllabus, scheme of work or
curriculum audit sheet
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 Relationship with individual teachers
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 IPs ability to work successfully with a range of personalities in a
school is a useful competence to develop
 The advantage is that if individuals are spread across subject
departments, the SRC does not become over associated with
specific departments.
 Liaison will grow more naturally from informal contacts
 It should be a strategy to target newly appointed members of
staff, who should all visit the library at an early stage in order to
become acquainted with the resources and services of the library.
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• To ensure an effective collaboration can be achieved between IPs and
teachers, few strategies need to be implemented :
 Identify the reason why departments are not using the services of the
library to support the curriculum.
 Be aware of curriculum developments, both in general and in particular,
as they impact on the school and consider library implications.
 IP should accommodate a meeting in the library to show how library
may be involved in concrete curriculum development
 Targeted communication should be varied in medium
 Focus on individuals students who may be motivated, efficient and
effective users of the library and information service
 4.2 LEARNING CONDITIONS 03
• There are a number of learning conditions where students able to learn
effectively
• Other aspects as mentioned below should be considered besides the
students information skills and literacy.
 Biological needs of the students
 Understanding this condition for learning will be important for a
school and in particular and also the information professionals
 Consider the need for the library as in traditional to be a quite
place and suitable for studying, several research showed that
absolute quite does not aid in study but its actually helped the
presence of low noise.
Social and personal education
 Library /resource center in school is well placed for students to
develop their personal and social education skills
 They may select resources from the library so that they exercising
choice
Behavior management
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 They also learned how to become responsible for the safety of the
materials that being borrowed.
Behavior management
 A young person’s brain, biorhythms and learning styles may have
identifiable behavioral bi-products
 Skills and knowledge associated with the pastoral role may be
seen in the IPs management of students behavior in the library
 IPs needs both to be aware of relevant school policies and to be
included in them and the procedures for dealing with behavioral
issues and problems.
 Information literacy and plagiarism
 Plagiarism could be regarded as a result of insufficient study skills
teaching and learning
It could be manifestation of adverse behavioral patterns especially
when the internet is used.
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• So, it can be concluded that all schools are not same and their curricular may
vary but learning styles certainly will
• Therefore, all school resource center will be different and rightly so.
• Understanding of learning and conditions to optimize learning in the school
therefore essential to the process of linking the library to the curriculum.
• As an agent of change, the school resource center and information service
could be slightly in advance of practice in a particular school
 4.3 CURRICULUM SUPPORT
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“As a curriculum leader and a full participant on the instructional team, the
library media specialist (information professionals) constantly update personal
skills and knowledge in order to work effectively with teachers, administration
and other staff.”

(American Association of School Librarian, 1998)

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“The curriculum is often referred to as though if were a collection of subjects

that appear on the timetable of schools, but another way of looking at the
curriculum is as all the experiences that the school provides.”

(Barlett, Burton and Peim, 2001)