When I first read this question, what does encourgaging and supporting diversity through the media center mean, my previous media specialist popped into my mind. She had been at our school for as long as I could remember. She was "old school" and the media center was not an encourgaging, welcoming or diverse place at all. She was rude and at times condesending towards not only the students but the teachers as well. She did not go out of her way to do anything for anyone. Five years ago she retired and we got a new media specialist. She was a West GA media program grad and the whole atmostphere of the media center changed. Teachers were collaborating with her, she was friendly, happy, and encouraged the students to read.She updated the collection, taught lessons, and always has a smile for everyone. To encourage and be diverse through the media center it first and formost needs an encouraging media specialist.
Is diversity about race, gender, culture, language, special needs? In short yes. Your media center needs to be able to address all of these needs. You need to make sure your library, collection and LMS are in tune to the needs of their clients. For example, our county built a new elementry school 2 years ago and changed our district lines. Our school went from being 99% caucasian with 1% free and reduced lunch to having a very healthy population of spanish speaking a low socio- economic families. So the needs of our school changed quickly and so did the demands put on teachers and the media center. Our LMS increased our section of spanish/english books and also tried to provide more information for parents in our parent resource room.
Is it our responsibility to support and encourage diverse audiences and perspectives? I believe that just as a teacher can not meet all of her students needs with one instructional method, the LMS can not soley address the needs of one member of their audience or one perspecitve of audience member. If they did this would this not be like discrimination towards others and a complete lack of professionalism? Technology is making it easier and easier for teachers and LMS to address the needs, thoughts, ideas, perspecitves, culture of their ever changing audience. Through online chat/post pages like LM- NET, media specilaist are able to ask each other questions, share ideas, lesson plans, etc. other media specialist through out our country. It is an excellent technology tool that is put to use in so many differnt ways. Technology is also ever present in the media center's web pages. THese pages allow parents, students, and faculty to keep up with the latest happenings in the media center. They provide access to online resources and information that is made easily accessable to its users. Media specialist are also integrating new technology, such as ipads, into their "paper" world. Ipads can be used in many different ways with many different students with various learning needs. They can be used for interactive lessons in conjunction with promethean boards, teachers may use them in their classrooms, and they may be used in place of lap tops. Not to mention that they could be used to access e-books or to download copies of books to read. The possibilities are numerous.
I think that technology helps to breath new life into stagnant routines. It helps to bridge the learning gaps of students and meets the challenging needs of teachers as well.
When I first read the title of this week’s blogs my thoughts turned to “how do you become more diverse without spending money on materials such as new books? You answered that – by collaborating, being friendly, happy, and encouraging the students to read. Simply opening your mind and your attitude can encourage diversity without spending a dime! If the teachers and students feel welcome in the media center and they view it as a positive place they will come in and explore what you have to offer.
ReplyDelete“I think that technology helps to breathe new life into stagnant routines”. What a great statement. I completely agree. There is so much information at our fingertips if we will just make the effort to get started. Trying to be more diverse within the media center is something that most all of us could use a little help with and the resources on the web are there if we make the effort to find them.
I couldn't agree more that technology is not only enhancing learning, but it is also helping foster diversity in the classroom. As you said, technology is making it easier for educators to address the needs of a diverse group of students. Unfortunately, technology can get costly and media programs don't always have the funding to obtain technology tools to accommodate every race, gender, culture, language, and special needs. That's why I like the idea of the digital storytelling kit we are currently completing. It's a great way for students to share their cultures, ideas, perspectives, etc. to their classmates and all that is needed is software that allows for movie making. While this isn't necessarily a technology tool to help ELL students learn English for instance, it helps make students aware of diversity and better allows them to live in an increasingly global community. I look forward to seeing what new technologically advances will pop up in the near future allowing us to support diversity even more in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation about diversity in the media center. I think that the media specialist can promote diversity using a variety of strategies. They can use conventional resources including Spanish language books, literary works on other cultures, and other library tools that emphasize diversity in the classroom. I think that the media specialist should purchase books that educate students about ethnicity, religious concepts, and political perspectives. I also agree that technology can promote diversity in the classroom. The teacher can use websites to educate students about the cultures of other countries. He or she can mandate that students learn about a curriculum subject. He or she could encourage students to learn about a Latin American country and link the country's cultural preferences to the United States. This activity would improve students' knowledge of the Social Studies subject; however, it would also educate students about other cultures and how we can learn from the diversity of other cultures.
ReplyDeleteI also think that students can learn from the diversity and perspectives of other students. The media specialist could mandate students to read Eyes of the Emperor. This book summarizes the adventures of a Japanese American girl and her family. The students can interpret how the cultures impacted the book. They can also engage with other classmates and educate other students about their perspectives of the book. I think that promoting diversity in the classroom encourages students to learn from the cultures and perspectives of other students.
The situation you described with your old media specialist is exactly what we had at my old school. When she retired and we got our new media specialist, it changed the whole atmosphere of the school. The library was now definitely the heart of the school as it was meant to be.
ReplyDeleteThese days, schools are becoming more and more diverse, and it is important for the media specialist to keep the media center just as diverse as the student population. Not only in gender and race, but in likes, interests, and hobbies. The students need to be able to read things they are interested in. I’m glad your media specialist is keeping up with the students’ needs.
I like how you mentioned using iPads with the students. I have seen the use of iPads in several of the schools I have visited, but they have only been used by the adults in the school. I would like to see the students using them because they are an excellent way to help with student achievement.
I agree with you position that technology has made it easier to for the media specialist to meet the needs of a diverse group of students. In your case, the school lines of the district changed and changed the make-up of the student population. A good media specialist will work to ensure that the media center resources meet the needs of the new population. As you mentioned, the media specialist can ensure that the collection includes resources for everyone in the population such as providing Spanish language books for the English language learners. The media specialist can also take advantage of online resources to help with translation issues. For example, the Visual Thesaurus has a Spanish language translator and many of the online databases can translate their articles into Spanish. And as you mentioned, the media specialist can use the internet to reach out to other media specialists for ideas and suggestions. Technology has helped to break down barriers for students with special needs and media specialists should take advantage of technology to ensure that they are providing quality services for all their patrons.
ReplyDeleteI think that supporting diversity in the media center suggests that the media specialist is aware of the needs of her patrons. I know at my school that the school population has a range from the highly gifted to blind students. We have a student who will never be able to read much due to a memory issue and so he needs a book reader. I think the media specialist needs to make the library a place to meet all these extremes and those in between. I do think there are a lot of technologies available to provide access for a variety of needs. The computers have access to translating sites for language translation. Students can learn that there are accessibility tools on computers for their use including a magnifier, a narrator, and on onscreen keyboard. If we provide audio books to students with physical and learning impairments, we are helping make the media center a place to support diverse needs. The media center should be an inclusive place in the school where everyone feels welcome. Contests and events should include all students who represent the school.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a diverse family community. Many of my students have parents in and out of jail. Often our students are living with grandparents or great grandparents. We have homeless students and foster students as well. We have a lot of teen pregnancies in this area. We need to provide media resources for these students who have ever changing, challenging lives. The media center should provide books which reflect their world. This means the media specialist should be including media representative of their interests and their lives. We need to make sure that students’ lives are recognized and supported. I also think that we have the job of opening up the world to students through our media center. We have the forum to highlight other places, other people, other ideas and careers. We should take the opportunity to show students the diversity of the world so that their dreams aren’t restricted by their situations.
It’s sad to read about media specialists who are not welcoming or encouraging toward students. It is so important that all students feel welcome and feel that the media center is for them. That’s where diversification comes in. Just like the media specialist that you mentioned who increased the Spanish books and provided materials for parents, it is our job to include everyone in our media center program and plans. I believe it is truly discriminatory, as you said, when we neglect the needs of those in the minority. In the situation you spoke of, regarding the redrawing of district lines, our schools are always changing. This means we have to continually evaluate our resources and our programs in light of our changing population.
ReplyDeleteTechnology can definitely assist in meeting the needs of the diverse population. I’ve seen students with special needs in wheelchairs using a wand device to reach and touch the SmartBoard. Our media center has a special folder on the desktop of every computer that has special software for students with special needs. We had a blind student who frequently used a program called Jaws that would read aloud any text that he highlighted.
I like your point regarding the attitude of the media specialist. I agree that the media specialist sets the tone of the media center and should have an encouraging attitude. Your example regarding redistricting is excellent. The media center is there to serve the school community. If the community is primarily comprised of ESL students, the media center collection should reflect that. The fact your mentor addressed the needs of the parents speaks highly of her commitment to information literacy.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I agree with you that to not meet the needs of diverse students is discrimination. We are ethically bound to serve all students and they do not all learn the same way! I love the fact that technology can help students "see" other parts of the world. I think about a book talk I did once that took place in a country half-way around the world from us. Thanks to technology, I was able to pull up video from that country, so students could see it as well as listen to me talk about it. I really think students are amazed sometimes to find out that other parts of the world are so different from the United States. I believe that learning about other cultures helps students become more accepting and understanding of diverse populations of people.
ReplyDeleteAs a special education teacher, I am very familiar with the various needs of the special education population. Two years ago, I had a mix of hearing impaired, mentally impaired, learning disabled and emotionally disturbed. Talk about diverse! The media specialist here also a UWGA graduate, was fabulous in helping me locate resources that would be engaging and beneficial to this crowd. As a population changes, so should the available resources. Currently, our hearing impaired students were relocated to other schools, so that is no longer a need at this time.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I learned at that point 2 years ago, was that many of the downloads through Discovery/United Streaming are available with closed captioning. What a fabulous resource!
I agree! A lot of the responsibility does fall on the media specialist to make international students feel welcomed. Directing them to books that may be familiar to them is one of many small gestures that may have the biggest impact on their learning experiences. Pointing them to websites that will better help them and become more resourceful to them is the job of a media specialist. I could not agree more with you Luci. I too, love the quote that Tammy has referred to in her post. It's so powerful and very relevant in this present time. Wonderful post.
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