Building Connections through Teacher Librarian Collaboration
Abstract: School librarians can potentially serve as connectors for educators at entry levels in their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) development. As experienced classroom teachers, school librarians can provide expertise in curriculum content and in the pedagogical strategies for effectively integrating technologies into curriculum. Pre-service teachers graduate from education programs without any exposure to the pre-service school librarians’ expertise and level of support. Offering collaborative opportunities between pre-service teachers and pre-service school librarians could increase pre-service teachers’ awareness regarding the school librarian’s expertise and value as an instructional partner. This study extends an earlier pilot which examined pre-service teachers’ perceptions before and after a collaborative experience. This current mixed methods study indicated pre-service teachers are often unaware of the expertise and support available from the school librarian.