Action Research: A Practical Guide for Transforming Your School Library

152 Pages·2002·2.37 MB·English

ACTION RESEARCH
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ACTION RESEARCH
A Practical Guide for Transforming
Your School Library
This book is dedicated to Dr. Joseph T. Pascarelli,
a professor at the School of Education at
the University of Portland in Oregon, who taught, guided,
and inspired me to understand
research in a transformational context.
Copyright © 2002 Judith A. Sykes
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher. An exception is made for individual librarians and educators, who
may make copies of portions of the book for use in a single school or library.
Standard citation information should appear on each page.
Libraries Unlimited
A Division of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
7730 East Belleview Ave., Suite A200
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
1-800-237-6124
www.lu.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sykes, Judith A., 1957-
Action research : a practical guide for transforming your school library / Judith A. Sykes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56308-875-4
1. School libraries--Research--Methodology. 2. Action research in education. I. Title.
Z675.S3 S955 2002
027.8'07--dc21
2001050537
+JAJI
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
PART I: An Action Research Journey
CHAPTER 1: Establishing Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CHAPTER 2: The Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
CHAPTER 3: Current Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CHAPTER 4: The Journey: Establishing Goals, Outcomes, Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CHAPTER 5: Interventions: The Journey’s Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
CHAPTER 6: Results and Discussions: Patterns, Themes, Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
CHAPTER 7: Developing a Vision for Your Library and How to Keep It Alive . . . . . . . . 47
CHAPTER 8: Adapting the Action Research Model: Student Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
PART II: Presentation (also on CD-ROM)
Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
v
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The springboard for Ms. Sykes’s reflection and action research was a
hunch that libraries, one of the last democratic institutions to foster quality learn-
ing, were somewhat out of step with the present and less ready for the future than
they should be. This led her on a journey of action research—a process by which
she gave careful consideration to her beliefs and assumptions about the power of
libraries in our culture. Through reflection and sustained inquiry, she presents
readers with both a model and a challenge to transform libraries so they become
more central in the lives of children, youth, and communities.
She is successful in making new meaning for us in terms of the potential
of libraries in our culture. Using her own firsthand experiences as a professional
librarian-educator; her sense of professional inquiry, which is the hallmark of every
growing professional; a group of colleagues and experts in the field; and her will-
ingness to engage in intentional reflection, she presents to us a pathway to transform
libraries as they reshape to meet the future.
The intent of action research is to enable the professional to “live in a
question” for a period of time and ultimately define ways to improve practice. Ms.
Sykes has transcended this and gone beyond her own practice in her school dis-
trict. She offers keen insight into the challenge of reshaping the institution of the
library so that it becomes aligned with our present needs and is able to anticipate and
respond to the future. It is clear that throughout her work, like all action researchers,
she has strengthened her own sense of advocacy and allows learners of all ages to
recognize that libraries are at the core of a learning society.
Joseph T. Pascarelli, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
University of Portland
vii
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2HAB=?A
Many teacher-librarians or school library media specialists constantly
advocate, strive, or, indeed, struggle, to keep their school libraries open and alive.
As success stories surface and begin to inspire, we hear other stories about school
libraries locking their doors. In speaking with individual teacher-librarians,
teacher-librarian groups or associations, and school library and other educational
personnel at district levels, I discovered a need—now more than ever—for teacher-
librarians (school library media specialists) to reach out to their constituents to build
shared understanding of the impact of school libraries on student learning.
Many of these busy professionals, tired of years of traditional advocating
and fighting for their programs, can find the model of the action research process
in this book beneficial by replicating the process. Or, after reading about my journey,
individuals can adapt the process or presentation to their current needs. This qualita-
tive research process, familiar to academia, can lend itself to practical approaches
by enabling teacher-librarians to transform their school libraries and research pro-
grams. Many educators are keen on this “new” research process but are unsure of
how to approach or engage in it at the school level. This book’s purpose is to pres-
ent, through my journey and findings, a model for using this process.
In a recent newsletter from the International Association of School Librari-
anship (IASL), President Blanche Woolls wrote about the miracles needed to help
increase worldwide literacy involving school libraries: “It may be that a presentation
at a meeting that has been planned will be more successful than trying to plan such
a meeting.” This book also provides a presentation model that teacher-librarians
could use or adapt in building understanding about individual or district school
libraries.
I developed this book as the exit project for my University of Portland
master’s degree in educational leadership. I am grateful to the university for the
efforts and excellence in teaching and learning inspired by each professor in a program
where each course built upon the foundations from the previous one. Woven
throughout the program was the eventual outcome of an exit project involving action
research.
The professor who taught the “Teacher As Researcher” course, Dr. Joseph
Pascarelli, guided and facilitated my growth as a professional to realms which seem
to know no boundaries. This exuberant, enthusiastic professor challenged our pre-
conceived notions of research and leadership with the action research process.
Prior to this course, “action research” seemed like another educational buzzword.
For me, it has now become a way to approach life! Learning is never finished; it is
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