Developing the capacity of teacher-librarians to meet the diverse needs of all schoolchildren: Project ENABLE

US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher‐librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research in special educational needs 2012-10, Vol.12 (4), p.201-216
Main Authors: Myhill, William N., Hill, Renee Franklin, Link, Kristen, Small, Ruth V., Bunch, Kelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Accommodations (Disabilities)
Academic libraries
Access to education
Accessibility (for Disabled)
Curriculum Development
digital media
Disabilities
disability
Disabled people
Disabled students
Evidence
Federal Legislation
Higher education
Inclusion
Inclusive education
Information Services
Lesson plans
Librarians
Libraries
Library Facilities
Library Personnel
library services
New York
Professional Development
Program Effectiveness
Public Schools
School librarians
School Libraries
Skill Development
social model
Special Education Teachers
Student Diversity
Student Needs
Students with disabilities
Teacher Role
Teams
Teamwork
Technology
Training
User needs
Workshops
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher‐librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and skills to provide programmes and services that meet the needs of students with disabilities. Project ENABLE (Expanding Nondiscriminatory Access by Librarians Everywhere) was created to respond to this shortfall by designing, implementing and evaluating a professional development programme in New York State. The project applies a social model of disability to help 100 TLs, special educators and general educators further develop their skills and resources by teaming together to create an inclusive environment for all students. This is achieved through the use of universal design principles, appropriate assistive and other technologies, an emphasis on person‐first language and sensitivity simulations, a focus on inclusive lesson planning, and by developing collaboration capacity among participant teams. Curriculum development, data collection and analyses are presented. The effect of the Project ENABLE trainings was significant in terms of higher levels of skill and knowledge reported by participants for creating accessible library programmes, advancing inclusive education and building effective collaborations. Drawing from their workshop learning and resources, participant teams developed action plans to implement during the 2011–2012 school year. This project underscores the importance of TLs in the education of all students, including those with disabilities. Higher education and local professional development programmes must place greater emphasis on preparing TLs to perform this role effectively and confidently.
ISSN:1471-3802
1471-3802
DOI:10.1111/j.1471-3802.2012.01240.x