For the past 15 years I have worked as a teacher librarian at a secondary school delivering Information literacy lessons on a regular basis, developing a range of activity-based materials and activities, changing the mode of learning from Direct Learning to Student Centered Learning. For the last 4 years I have been working as a librarian at Chelsea College of Arts at the weekends, and since September 2024, been working as an Academic Support Librarian P/T at LCF, where I am beginning my teaching journey in HE. What I would like to do now is use my experience and what I have gained through the PGCert, to develop engaging activity based sessions to deliver information literacy to students (maybe even staff) at UAL. I am now working with a small number of courses to help support students with their research, and have delivered the Referencing with Lego Workshop in full twice.
Positionality
I am a white female, who grew up in the Eastend of London. I was the eldest of two children, but sadly my brother who had epilepsy died young.
I consider myself to be working class.
My parents struggled when we were young, and we grew up wearing second hand clothes, not having proper meals, toys and other luxuries, like sweets. Fortunately, my children have not known this. However, some of my family still struggle. I have witnessed alcoholism and drug abuse and mental illness. And feel that I have a greater understanding of these issues as a result.
I went to university, the first in my family to do so, as a mature student.
I have worked in education and libraries throughout my career, and as such have received a good grounding in equal opportunities and disability awareness, racial and sexual equality. I have worked with young people with a range of neurodiversities, and some with extreme physical and developmental disabilities and their parents, and a number of transgender students.
I am open minded and respect other people’s beliefs. I am not religious, and like to think, not too judgemental. Having worked with people from all walks of life.
One of my best friends at school was Jamaican, and I have several mixed race family members.
Since the inception of the Empathy Lab, and Empathy book collections, I have been promoting Empathy through reading, as I feel empathy is important to engender in young people. At university, my own empathy allows me to see things from different points of view, and to have some level of understanding and appreciation of others situations.
Education should be both accessible and inclusive for everyone and I have worked towards this in small ways at school and by developing book collections that reflect the students in terms of background, ethnicity, gender, religion race. I want to ensure I can do the same at UAL by being inclusive in all that I do.
I don’t like to see people being treated unfairly and am beginning to think that I may be a bit of a feminist! (Smiley face!)