Media IA/support staff/para-professional conflicts

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Librarians/Media Science Chatboard

Media IA/support staff/para-professional conflicts

by nerdeelibrarian

Jul 19, 2013

I oversee the school libraries in my county. Several of the librarian and Media Instructional Assistants in my district had some serious conflicts with each other over the past few years. The relationships in some cases could best be described as toxic. Much of the issue surrounds a lack of clarity about job roles and who should be doing what. Some of the problems arose when new librarians came into situations where the IA had been in the library for a number of years and thought that everything should remain just as it had been for years. I have several new librarians coming into the district in August, and I am looking for tips to help them get started building a positive relationship from the start. I also need ideas of how to begin repairing the damaged relationships that already exist.

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Help for you Do your teachers and IAs each have unions? In my district both teachers and IAs would have access to help with outside mediation if relationships ever get to the point you are describing. That takes some of the burden and pressure off you, as well as more impartiality. At my school there is also a protocol for what to do to handle these kinds of di...See MoreDo your teachers and IAs each have unions? In my district both teachers and IAs would have access to help with outside mediation if relationships ever get to the point you are describing. That takes some of the burden and pressure off you, as well as more impartiality. At my school there is also a protocol for what to do to handle these kinds of disagreements professionally, within the school- it's important for new staff to have this information. If your schools don't have that in place, this would be a good time and reason to go to your administration to get this together for the new school year. As far as the school libraries you oversee, do they all have the same Standards and are the certificated new librarians meeting resistance to putting these in effect- those would drive the job descriptions, to a certain extent. I think one of the problems when certificated librarians were cut for budget reasons, leaving the library as a place to "just" check out books, which could be done by an IA, is how to now get back to a program with information literacy and technology integration that needs someone with a certificated background to run. I am not sure if that is what happened in your schools? With implementation of Common Core Standards, too, it can't be business- as- was- usual. There needs to be someone making the decisions about non-fiction, etc. and the classroom collaboration that needs to be done now. With that in mind, whether it's a certified librarian or an IA, anyone who wants things to be the way they have always been needs to wake up! It's important as far as moving forward. And how to diplomatically make sure the IAs still feel valued. It sounds stressful and I hope this helps! On 7/19/13, nerdeelibrarian wrote: > I oversee the school libraries in my county. Several of the > librarian and Media Instructional Assistants in my district > had some serious conflicts with each other over the past > few years. The relationships in some cases could best be > described as toxic. Much of the issue surrounds a lack of > clarity about job roles and who should be doing what. Some > of the problems arose when new librarians came into > situations where the IA had been in the library for a > number of years and thought that everything should remain > just as it had been for years. I have several new > librarians coming into the district in August, and I am > looking for tips to help them get started building a > positive relationship from the start. I also need ideas of > how to begin repairing the damaged relationships that > already exist.

Jul 20, 2013

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Jillian On 7/19/13, nerdeelibrarian wrote: > I oversee the school libraries in my county. Several of the > librarian and Media Instructional Assistants in my district > had some serious conflicts with each other over the past > few years. The relationships in some cases could best be > described as toxic. Much of the issue surrounds a lack o...See More

Aug 31, 2013

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