They Should Be Called Guiders": Teachers and Teacher Librarians Developing Inquiry Learners

Abstract

Today’s educators maintain a difficult balance covering growing amounts of curriculum content, managing accountability standards, and developing independent, creative learners with 21st Century skills and dispositions. Inquiry pedagogies like Guided Inquiry (GI) offer a framework to support teachers and teacher librarians working together to support these goals. This research uses the American Association of School Librarians’ National School Library Standards for Learners (2018c) to investigate students’ research process in a collaborative GI unit with teachers and teacher librarians. Findings indicate students want more teacher guidance, but also recognize the importance of developing their own information literacy and research skills independently.