Position Overview

The heart of Whittle School & Studios' philosophy is our belief that all children are naturally curious, born to be great thinkers, and form meaning from interactions with family, peers, teachers, and community. At Whittle our core interdisciplinary academic experiences rigorously connect mastery to inquiry- and problem-based project work. Through individual and group projects, our core courses connect knowledge to problem-solving, presentation, and performance—making learning "sticky," or more permanent. The Teaching Librarian collaborates across subject areas to design interdisciplinary projects, personalize learning experiences to meet children's current understanding of literacy and numeracy, and incorporate student interests. Familiarity and training with Project-based learning is preferred.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The Whittle Ideal Candidate core responsibilities – as well as those responsibilities expected as a member of a collaborative, professional learning community – include the following: (1) Core Curriculum, (2) Global Perspectives, (3) Personalized Pathways, and (4) Beyond the Core. Core responsibilities of the Teaching Librarian are described as follows:

Administration

• Establishes policies and procedures for the Library/Media program.
• Provides ongoing evaluation for Library/Media program.
• Participates in curriculum planning at all levels.
• Allocates annual library budget based on objectives and goals of the Library/Media program.
• Provides an atmosphere conducive to individual, group inquiry, research, and study.
• Supervises, instructs, and evaluates library personnel.

Resource Management – Materials

• Reviews, selects, and orders appropriate instructional materials and equipment with input from staff and students.
• Develops collection through selection and acquisition to reflect cultural diversity.
• Maintains, organizes, and inventories media centre collection.
• Maintains appropriate data for centre operation, such as circulation and utilization.
• Keeps media collection up-to-date.
• Reviews and maintains technology needs and problems of the Library/Media Centre.

Logistics and Physical Environment

• Arranges seating and working areas appropriate for the kinds of learning experiences planned.
• Creates aesthetically pleasing and organized library space.
• Keeps space properly lit, ventilated, and free of health and safety hazards.

Resource Management – Services

• Promotes use of centre by preparing bibliographies, making displays, and advising teachers, parents, and students of available resources.
• Assists teachers in selecting appropriate media for units of study.
• Provides expertise and facilities for the production of a variety of educational materials by students and staff.
• Assists the staff in securing professional materials.
• Coordinates the school media program with Campus and community organizations.

Evaluation

• Plans instruction for the Library curriculum.
• Uses appropriate evaluative information in planning instructional units and to determine if goals have been met.
• Consults School Head(s), specialists, teachers, and students in evaluating plans, methods, and results.
• Uses instruments and methods that effectively measure the students' attainment of learning goals.
• Makes clear to students how success in learning will be judged.
• Communicates effectively with parent and students regarding student achievement behaviour.
• Communicates effectively with teachers, parents, and students regarding Library/Media Services.

Organizational Responsibilities

• Cooperates with and supports faculty members.
• Observes the spirit and intent of rules and regulations of the school and school system.
• Assumes necessary non-instructional responsibilities.
• Provides complete data (such as fines, obsolete and lost materials, and circulation) to the school administration as requested for management purposes.
• Shares the responsibilities with all other employees for promoting the educational goals of the Campus.

Instructional Services

• Works with teachers in planning and implementing the Campus's curriculum.
• Provides programmes to ensure instruction in library skills including study habits, independence in learning, research, and techniques of inquiry and critical evaluation.
• Shares information with staff concerning student progress, problems, and achievements as observed in the media centre.
• Provides staff professional development necessary for the effective use of media resources, technology, equipment, and media centre.

Desired Qualification / Requirements:
Whittle School & Studios values innovation, risk-taking, and an entrepreneurial spirit. The following are highly desirable qualifications for the listed position:

• Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in specific field or post graduate work in subject matter required
• Master's level degree in Library Science preferred
• Native English speaker; bilingual proficiency in Mandarin Chinese preferred
• Minimum of three years of teaching experience
• Drive and energy to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

The successful candidates will exhibit the following attributes:

• Familiarity and training with project-based learning (preferred)
• Willingness to participate and experience participating in professional learning communities, grade-level teams, and other collaborative communities to design and plan instructions, to improve practice, and to achieve student outcomes

Compensation:
Whittle School & Studios offers our staff very competitive total compensation packages that are either at or above market, depending on the position.