Vision and Philosophy

Charmaine Broe-MacKenzie

I totally support the Vision and Philosophy as stated in Information Power (ALA, 1998).  I agree that "Creating a foundation for lifelong learning is at the heart of the school library media program." (IP, p. 1).  My personal vision is to be a media specialist in a school where the mission is to make learning relevant to today’s diversity and opportunities.  As the media specialist, I will be at the forefront of a school-wide collaboration to instill students not only with information access skills, but with a thirst for knowledge and a love of reading.  The door to my media center will be the door to limitless possibilities.   The simple mission statement that Donna Ahlrich and I developed for our EDIT 6300 Media Center Webpage, when we were just starting the graduate program, still stands true: to support and enhance the learning opportunities provided by the teachers and staff, and to share the joy of literature with the school community.

I also support the philosophy detailed in Information Power that informs the four roles of the media specialist.  I will strive to be teacher, instructional partner, information specialist and program administrator.  And I support and share both the mission and the philosophy developed by my group, which is stated in our PDEP that is included in this portfolio.  My personal philosophy is one of humanism over nationalism.  We are one planet, one people.  Diverse, yes, enemies, no.  I believe that borders should become less important, not more. 

My short-term goal is to get a job as media specialist in a Gwinnett County middle school.  It is important to me to be in the same county school system that is educating my children.  I choose middle school because I have gravitated toward that age group of students, where they still have time and inclination for leisure reading, and the novels for that age are very interesting.  This, too, is the age range where information literacy truly takes hold.  Since I do not have a media center at this point, I do not have specific goals because I don't yet know the circumstances of my prospective media center.  I will be guided by the goals I helped to develop in the above-mentioned PDEP; however I do know that I plan to pursue two personal passions in my prospective media center:  literate links to the curriculum, and increasing the multi-cultural resources.

My personal long term goals that are interconnected with my professional future are varied.  First and foremost, I want to be one of the guiding lights for my children as they navigate the journey towards adulthood.  I want to make sure they have several bright guiding lights, from favorite teachers to adult relatives to people making a difference in the community. 

I want to influence the coming generation, the generation of my children, in as many positive ways as possible.  The best place to do that, to me, is in the media center.  I plan to model lifelong learning by pursuing a further degree in multi-cultural literature, and by taking Spanish language classes.  I plan to join and participate in relevant professional associations and to stay up to date by reading professional journals.  I hopefully can model my own love for leisure reading by discussing recent and popular fiction with students, parents and teachers. Along with keeping my brain exercised,  I want to help squelch any remaining stereotypes of school librarians by continuing my personal physical fitness regimen.  

One does not have to read between the lines to find that my vision and my philosophy are evident throughout the assignments and projects that I accomplished during this two year program.  With every reflection, conclusion and summary, I wore my heart and my intent on my fingers.