AASL and ISTE Standards Compared - "65 Years and Counting"
I used to teach public
school (middle and high school art), but that was ten years ago. I then got my MLIS and became a public
library youth librarian. I really
missed the school setting, so I am now back in a public school in my new role
as School Media Specialist. After
three weeks in my new position, I can say that public libraries are way
different from schools in that the State Department of Education standards and
assessments are not a focus.
But, after reading the article “65 Years and Counting: AASL and School Librarians — Still Champions of Intellectual Freedom,” I see that fighting for students' intellectual freedom, First Amendment rights,
and rights to privacy, are a focus and a concern that is shared between the two
professions.
Until this semester in graduate school, I confess, I had never heard of either the AASL or the ISTE standards, either. Our reading, “65 Years and Counting,” helped tremendously to clarify the role of AASL Standards and why we, as school librarians, need to follow, promote and support these standards. In comparing the two sets of standards, AASL and ISTE, it is plain that they both aim to achieve the same thing – designing a framework for education professionals that provides students the opportunity to think, explore, and create in a modern environment that includes digital media. The AASL uses this poster to summarize their standards:
The domains are I . Include, II. Inquire, III. Collaborate, IV. Curate, V. Explore, and VI. Engage.
The ISTE uses this poster to summarize their standards:
(ISTE Standards)
The domains are I. Empowered Learner, II. Digital Citizen, III. Knowledge Constructor, IV.
Innovative Designer, V. Computational Thinker, VI. Creative Communicator, and VII. Global Collaborator (ISTE Standards).
Until this semester in graduate school, I confess, I had never heard of either the AASL or the ISTE standards, either. Our reading, “65 Years and Counting,” helped tremendously to clarify the role of AASL Standards and why we, as school librarians, need to follow, promote and support these standards. In comparing the two sets of standards, AASL and ISTE, it is plain that they both aim to achieve the same thing – designing a framework for education professionals that provides students the opportunity to think, explore, and create in a modern environment that includes digital media. The AASL uses this poster to summarize their standards:
The domains are I . Include, II. Inquire, III. Collaborate, IV. Curate, V. Explore, and VI. Engage.
The ISTE uses this poster to summarize their standards:
The domains are I. Empowered Learner, II. Digital Citizen, III. Knowledge Constructor, IV.
Innovative Designer, V. Computational Thinker, VI. Creative Communicator, and VII. Global Collaborator (ISTE Standards).
At
my former library, the library board, made up of very conservative, elderly community
pillars, set the regulations for Internet use and collection development 10 or
15 years ago. I had to fight to
allow kids access to a watered down version of Google just so they could do
their homework in the library if their homes did not have Internet. I never got the board to agree to allow
blogs of any kind, so even this blog is not accessible in my former library. Collection development of printed
material was a wee bit easier to deal with because unless the title of a book
was overtly controversial, the board did not know what the book was about
unless one of them actually read the book or someone challenged it, which never
happened. Clearly, my old library board had never heard of AASL standards.
(“AASL 17: Starring Standards,” 2017, para. 19, Online image 13).
When viewed together
and directly compared, one can see how much the AASL and ISTE standards have in common
– they both aim to make our students global thinkers. I will use them both to guide my service to my students and teachers, and post these images everywhere I can to promote this way of thinking.
AASL 17: Starring Standards. (2017, November 20).
School Library Journal. Retrieved
from
https://www.slj.com/2017/11/industry-news/aasl-17-starring-standards/
Adams, H. R. (2016). 65 years and counting AASL and school librarians — Still champions of
intellectual freedom. Knowledge Quest, 45(1), 34-41.
ISTE Standards
[Online image]. Retrieved from
https://info.iste.org/iste-student-standards-
transform-the-classroom-poster
I had not thought of the connection between the AASL and ITSE standards and potential book challenges. I couldn't see the forest for the trees! I am grateful that in my district and thus, the middle school I work for, have a strong acquisition policy informed by the AASL. Furthermore, we have a solid procedure in place for challenges launched by any of our community stakeholders.
ReplyDeleteJust last week, I was face to face with someone who could potentially be our first challenger. She was a lovely concerned parent of an incoming sixth grader who wanted to browse our collection. She admitted that she was shocked by some of the Summer Reading books assigned. In chatting with her as I showed her our library, she told me that she had homeschooled her kids in another state for religious reasons. She didn't approve of any books on the supernatural or romance or violence. I dared not ask how she felt about realistic urban fiction of which we have a great collection. When she asked if we could restrict her child's access to these books, I directed her to our teacher librarian media specialist who told her that we could not and would not because that was between her and her child. I am not sure where this will lead, but I hope that she will be satisfied with what her child eventually reads. Time will certainly tell!
We also had an issue with a 6th grade student's book choice this week. The book she chose definitely was not appropriate for an innocent 6th grader, and I can completely understand the parent concerns. However, the book is just fine for some of our mature 8th grade students. It comes down to parent involvement in what choices the student makes. The parent was not happy with the answer she received from the principal, so she emails me separate to ask my opinion. Unfortunately she would not be happy with my answer which mirrors that of the school district.
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