Inquire Domain and Competencies Interview with Kristine Britt

    I decided to interview Kristine Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024), the librarian at Wateree Elementary School. She was recently teacher of the year at her school, and I agree that she deserved the honor! From the “think” domain “[encourages] learners to formulate questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic, and [activates] learners’ prior and background knowledge as context for constructing new meaning” (National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and school libraries, 2018). From the “create” domain, she “[ensures] that learners probe possible answers to questions, [devise] and [implements] a plan to fill knowledge gaps, and [facilitates] the development of products that illustrate learning” (National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and school libraries, 2018). From the “share” domain, she “[assists] in assessing the inquiry-based research process, and [provides] opportunities for learners to share learning products and reflect on the learning process with others” (National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and school libraries, 2018). Lastly, from the “grow” domain, she “[leads] learners and staff through the research process, [constructs] tasks focused on learners’ individual areas of interest, and [enables]  learners to seek knowledge, create new knowledge, and make real-world connections for lifelong learning” (National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and school libraries, 2018).

    An example of how she implements these competencies in her library program is through collaboration units with grade-level teams to guide students through the inquiry process. She tries her best to model questions that students need to keep in mind while researching a topic. While certain topics are assigned based on curriculum, students do get to choose within the curriculum. For example, when researching animals, students get to pick their animal. Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) shared that she has done a “Wonderopolis Day” with her upper grades and could explore the site, choose a topic, and fill out a small graphic organizer. Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) shared that with her experiences as an elementary school librarian, she has seen the value of teaching students about research and how students can build on their current knowledge. 

    Some of the resources that Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) utilizes are SC Discus, Britannica Elementary, and Animal Kingdom. The district has a subscription to PebbleGo, which houses a plethora of wonderful resources that help students with their research. Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) also mentioned that she offers and maintains a print collection that aligns with standards. Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) shared that collaboration has been something that she works on continuously. Library standards have to be taught in collaboration to make learning meaningful for students, and this can be difficult to do during planning time. Thankfully, the library has a flexible schedule, so Britt can collaborate with teachers. 

    Britt (personal communication, April 15, 2024) shared that challenges will always arise when trying to implement these competencies. Her main challenge used to be that being on a fixed schedule would bring a limited amount of time for planning with classroom teachers. She would be unable to plan collaboratively with them, and time would be limited to other responsibilities, such as technology. My reflection on Kristine Britt is that in her time as a librarian, she worked hard to plan library lessons based on standards; however, she focused on literature appreciation. From her experiences, I see it takes time to implement the domains and competencies perfectly. Challenges always arise, and it is best to approach them professionally and accurately. Providing the students with what they need to succeed is a priority. 

Reference

National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. (2018). ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association.