Standard: Designing Learning Environments to Support Participatory Learning
Theme: Designing for a Participatory School Culture
Growth Phase: Leading
Growth Indicator: LLC invites the school community to participate in building school culture.
The Ontario Library Association offers a Human Library Toolkit, with advice and resources for libraries, including school libraries, to help people connect with individuals in their community.
Ontario Library Association. (n.d.) Human Library Toolkit. Retrieved from https://accessola.com/
Follow the reflections, suggested resources and ideas of teacher-librarian Jennifer Casa Todd in developing cultures of kindness in schools.
Casa Todd, J. (2017, September 4). Creating a Culture of Kindness [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://jcasatodd.com/?p=2260
This school library has adopted a real rabbit, Eddie, who resides in the library and continually inspires students and staff to be more compassionate, caring, and creative. Students from the nearby high school have been involved to design and build a suitable new house for Eddie. The project is a Canadian entry from an elementary school in the Niagara Catholic District School Board, ON for the “Follett Challenge” – information about the challenge and an archive of previously selected projects can be found on the “Follett Challenge” site.
Follett Challenge. (2018, December 28). Rabbits in the Library at Cardinal Newman School [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSHiu-t7sw
Read about how two teacher-librarians from secondary schools in Ontario honoured the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, specifically, those related to Education for Reconciliation through project-based learning. Successful grant endowments enabled each school to have an ELL class guided by an Oneida artist to create a dynamic art piece “ that accurately reflects and celebrates the students and their “stories” or pasts, a First Nations point of view, and our present”.
Weber, K., & Dewar, B. (2019, November 4). State of the Art: Project-Based Learning in the Library with ELL Students and A First Nations Artist. Canadian School Libraries Journal 3 (3). Retrieved from https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/state-of-the-art-project-based-learning-in-the-library-with-ell-students-and-a-first-nations-artist/