Social Studies and the Library: Creating Meaningful Collaborations
Most school districts promote the idea of educator collaboration, but how often does it actually happen? We have learned that successful collaboration occurs best when partners are intentional about working together—by choosing to invest their time in the process—and are flexible with their collaborative approach. By creating purposeful bridges between libraries, curriculum development, and classroom teachers, we can foster an environment of inquiry, develop critical thinking skills, and grow student passion for lifelong learning.
This session will support you as you brainstorm future collaborative opportunities in social studies, in your own setting and across grade levels, and also highlight how you can apply these ideas across the disciplines. Session participants will have the opportunity to learn about our approaches to collaboration and examine five types of partnerships we have undertaken. We will discuss why this work is valuable and explore models of collaboration, including possible ways to overcome obstacles that inherently exist when we try to put our brains together for the good of our students. A discussion and question period follows the session content.
Kesha S. Valentine, EdS, is an educational specialist for secondary libraries in Fairfax County Public Schools. She received her education specialist degree from the University of West Georgia. She is currently working on doctoral studies in career and technical education at Old Dominion University. Her research interests are career literacy as a way to remove equity barriers and secondary librarians as literacy leaders. Her ORCID id is 0000-0002-7844-8863. You can connect with Kesha on Twitter @quest4inquiry or via email at kesha.s.valentine@gmail.com.
In addition to writing, Kesha enjoys traveling with family and friends, trying her hand at crafting, and playing logic games.
Craig Perrier is the High School Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, VA. Previously, he taught at American Schools in Brazil for six years and for six years in public schools in Massachusetts. After leaving the classroom, Craig was the Coordinator for Curriculum and Instruction for Social Studies and History at Virtual High School and then the PK-12 Social Studies Coordinator for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools. He has consulted with World Savvy, IIE, iEARN, IREX, The Global Campaign for Education, Knovva Academy, and the U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian and is a member of the advisory board for Teachers Without Borders. You can follow him on twitter @CraigPerrier.
