It's been AGES since I've written here. I have been meaning to but I had other priorities that I needed to attend to. My son who is only 1.5 years old has been unwell all of this month and as he is my first priority I have not had time to write on the subject forum. It takes me forever to put my thoughts down to paper but I do read people's thoughts, ideas and experiences whilst I'm at work and in a way I learn so much from everyone.
Now that Assignment 1 is out of the way, I can concentrate on taking part in the forum, writing blogs and start thinking about Assignment 2. By the way, I'm happy to say that my son is back to his normal cheeky, mischievous and naughty self. Hmm...I tell you what being a parent is the hardest job in the world. There's always something new to learn especially when I'm faced with a challenge. Theories are all very well but once faced with a dilemma you just have to do what you have to do. Support is also an important factor for me especially when our immediate families are far away.
And I guess this is similar to my learning experience for Assignment 1. All the information and theories are there in front of you and ideally you have your own solutions to challenges etc BUT unless you are put in that situation you wouldn't know what it's like. It's like rearing up children, you have an idealistic view of it before hand but looking after children is a lot of work unless you're super rich and you can afford a nanny, maid and driver. So it's the same with being a teacher librarian or any other profession. People learn about it on paper then they try to apply it on a practical setting when they get a job. Sometimes theories work and sometimes they don't. Just depends on the environment, culture and how much money one has. For instance, do you keep breastfeeding knowing very well that you do not have enough milk and your baby is starving? Of course not! But theorists and do gooders push breastfeeding because it's the best for your baby. Ha!
I admire people who already work in the school environment because they have first hand knowledge of what works and doesn't work with the profession. I do not work in the school environment so please bear with me as I may have some naive ideas about it. Money and the lack of it is always, always always a big factor when faced with a difficult situation. For instance, lack of books, resources and equipment for students means that there aren't any money to buy these; no staff support means that the school can't afford to get any more school staff or the capacity to train and inform staff about the importance of the teacher librarians' role and so on. Of course there's always creativity but eventually this loses its ability especially in dire situations. Similarly, when you don't have enough money to raise a child, the outcome is always poor - physically, mentally and socially. Compare a third world child to a child who lives in Australia? Big difference.
Anyway I am only thinking out loud. I like this kind of writing because I can express myself without thinking so much about structure. But I also like structure as we all need boundaries. Otherwise there will be chaos and we wouldn't want that, would we?
