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Investigating a parent/teacher-librarian collaboration process in a school library research program Ramsay, Joan Margaret
Abstract
In school library research programs involving enquiry-based learning, a challenge for students doing research emerges when they take their projects home and turn to their parents for assistance. Often parents do not have sufficient knowledge of the research program and critical thinking to be able to effectively help their children. Many of them are unfamiliar with an inquiry-based research process and this inevitably leads to anxiety for both parents and children. A literature review revealed that parents do want to help their children at home with schoolwork, but are confused about the amount and kind of assistance they should provide. Moreover, research on parent involvement in school library research programs is virtually nonexistent, which stimulated the researcher to conduct this study. The purpose of this study was to investigate a parent/teacher-librarian (PTL) collaboration process intended to assist parents wanting to help their children more effectively with research homework. Before the implementation of this study, a school library research program was well-established (1988-1999), but it included no formal integration of parent involvement. The study investigated (a) parent, student, and teacher-librarian concerns that arose during collaboration, (b) resolutions of those concerns, (c) techniques that facilitated collaboration and parent assistance, and (d) the benefits and disadvantages of the collaboration process. One questionnaire was mailed at the beginning of the study to the parents of all 72 grade seven students in one Lower Mainland elementary school and, as a final evaluation, a second questionnaire was mailed to the parents of 28 grade seven students who had committed time to be in the study. Between the two questionnaires, a subset of eight parents and their corresponding children became primary subjects and were interviewed after they had worked with their children on research question formulation at home. Previous to working with their children, these eight parents had received a detailed overview of the student research program, two training sessions with the teacher-librarian and a variety of options for communicating directly with her at any time during the study. A major objective of the study was to collaboratively solve the major concerns that emerged during the study and a procedure was developed for that purpose. The parents and teacher-librarian together created guidelines for future parent involvement where resolutions of the concerns were stated. The greatest concern for all parties was the dilemma of balancing the student desire for independence and ownership of the projects with the parents' offer of help. The guidelines helped clarify the right kind of assistance for parents to give, while the overview and two training sessions increased parents' research knowledge base and allowed them to suggest improvements to strengthen the collaboration process and the library program. Because the PTL collaboration process provided all participants with more benefits than disadvantages, both the parents and teacher-librarian unanimously agreed that the PTL collaboration process merited continuance. With the supporting structure of a parent/ teacher collaboration process attached to learning activities at home, parent confidence about guiding children can be increased, the students can see positive results in learning, and a school library research program can thereby be strengthened. The teacher-librarian, the researcher in this study, felt her practice was improved with the addition of the PTL collaboration process. Moreover, its continuance could contribute ultimately to the development of students whose convictions are based on more reflective enquiry and thoughtful research.
Item Metadata
Title |
Investigating a parent/teacher-librarian collaboration process in a school library research program
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1999
|
Description |
In school library research programs involving enquiry-based learning,
a challenge for students doing research emerges when they take their projects
home and turn to their parents for assistance. Often parents do not have
sufficient knowledge of the research program and critical thinking to be able
to effectively help their children. Many of them are unfamiliar with an
inquiry-based research process and this inevitably leads to anxiety for both
parents and children.
A literature review revealed that parents do want to help their children
at home with schoolwork, but are confused about the amount and kind of
assistance they should provide. Moreover, research on parent involvement in
school library research programs is virtually nonexistent, which stimulated
the researcher to conduct this study.
The purpose of this study was to investigate a parent/teacher-librarian
(PTL) collaboration process intended to assist parents wanting to help their
children more effectively with research homework. Before the
implementation of this study, a school library research program was well-established
(1988-1999), but it included no formal integration of parent
involvement. The study investigated (a) parent, student, and teacher-librarian
concerns that arose during collaboration, (b) resolutions of those concerns,
(c) techniques that facilitated collaboration and parent assistance, and (d) the
benefits and disadvantages of the collaboration process.
One questionnaire was mailed at the beginning of the study to the
parents of all 72 grade seven students in one Lower Mainland elementary
school and, as a final evaluation, a second questionnaire was mailed to the
parents of 28 grade seven students who had committed time to be in the
study. Between the two questionnaires, a subset of eight parents and their
corresponding children became primary subjects and were interviewed after
they had worked with their children on research question formulation at
home. Previous to working with their children, these eight parents had
received a detailed overview of the student research program, two training
sessions with the teacher-librarian and a variety of options for
communicating directly with her at any time during the study.
A major objective of the study was to collaboratively solve the major
concerns that emerged during the study and a procedure was developed for
that purpose. The parents and teacher-librarian together created guidelines for
future parent involvement where resolutions of the concerns were stated. The
greatest concern for all parties was the dilemma of balancing the student
desire for independence and ownership of the projects with the parents' offer
of help. The guidelines helped clarify the right kind of assistance for parents
to give, while the overview and two training sessions increased parents'
research knowledge base and allowed them to suggest improvements to
strengthen the collaboration process and the library program.
Because the PTL collaboration process provided all participants with
more benefits than disadvantages, both the parents and teacher-librarian
unanimously agreed that the PTL collaboration process merited continuance.
With the supporting structure of a parent/ teacher collaboration process
attached to learning activities at home, parent confidence about guiding
children can be increased, the students can see positive results in learning,
and a school library research program can thereby be strengthened. The
teacher-librarian, the researcher in this study, felt her practice was improved
with the addition of the PTL collaboration process. Moreover, its continuance
could contribute ultimately to the development of students whose convictions
are based on more reflective enquiry and thoughtful research.
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Extent |
8065606 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-07-07
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0078145
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2000-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.