I do think information these days is often presented in bite-size chunks with attention-grabbing headlines, particularly online. I wonder if this is a reflection of how much information is available online. So much that it's necessary to do 'click bait' style headlines simply to try to stand out from the ground. But I can also see that that can be detrimental to reading longer and more deeply. That sort of thing does not encourage reading stamina, which can only be built up over time by reading more and for longer. Then when they do have to read something meatier, people find it hard because they're not used to it. In terms of changing it, I think the only way would be to encourage students to read a variety of material. Yes, they're going to read the short soundbites online, but encourage them to read longer articles and books, in print as well as digital. Build that reading stamina up. Make sure those neurons are wired up in their brains. It sounds very much like a use it or lose it scenario based on the article.

I think reading expands your mind in the sense of introducing you to new ideas and concepts and vocabulary, all of which is beneficial because when further new ideas come along, it gives you tools to help deal with that. I also think there's an element of practice makes it easier with reading. I think sometimes people assume that you learn to read when you're little and that that's it. You know how to do it and you don't need to practice. And perhaps at a basic level, you don't, but for the purposes of having the stamina to read a long piece of text, you do. I have family on both ends of the spectrum, those who are keen readers and those who aren't. I have a close family member who for years only read maybe one novel a year during the summer holiday and that was it. A year or two back, he decided he was interested in reading the books that inspired some of the tv series he particularly enjoyed and has started to get into reading more as a result. What I have seen watching him is that when he started, he struggled. He could read, he read the newspaper cover to cover every day, but reading a whole chapter was hard work and he wasn't used to it. Gradually, he found it easier. He gained stamina. He could read for longer without having to stop to give his brain a break. But even now he can't cope with distractions like music, the television or other people talking for long. This is no different to getting better at something physical like riding a bike or throwing a ball. But it is something that I think isn't always taken into account, that physicality of reading and the development process involved. You're never too old to start, as my family member showed (he was in his late 60s when he really got into reading), but don't expect to do the reading equivalent of the Tour de France straightaway 😁

@Magdalena Vidgen 'Crusades' was intriguing, I agree, and what an amazing opportunity for the children to hear him speak. He comes across as a very engaging speaker on television.

I thought this video was fascinating. I was aware of the link between reading fiction and building empathy. It is something I consider when purchasing new books for the school library, that necessity for including a broad range of inclusive and diverse texts so that students can a) see themselves represented and b) learn to put themselves into the shoes of other people. However, I had not come across the neurology before and that is very useful. I will be recommending the video to other members of staff and perhaps even some of our students as a very useful explanation of why reading is so important. This summer, I have quite a long TBR pile. A number of the books are ones I know will be part of reading challenges for one or other of our year groups. I like to get ahead of them where possible on those books so that it's easier to make recommendations when we reach that stage. So I have 'The Outrage' by William Hussey, 'Game Changer' by Neal Shusterman, 'The Gilded Ones' by Namina Forna and 'The Great Godden' by Meg Rosoff on the pile for that reason. Others will be books I have picked up because I think they look interesting. Plus I'm halfway through a non-fiction book about the Crusades by Dan Jones.

I think the nine points raised are interesting and I would agree in principle with all of them. In terms of us specifically as library professionals, some points perhaps link most closely to our work than others at least in the sense of what we as individuals can do specifically in our day to day practice to contribute towards these goals. Taking each point in turn: 1. Commit to strengthen education as a common good. Education is a bulwark against inequalities. In education as in health, we are safe when everybody is safe; we flourish when everybody flourishes. - Arguably, this is one of our overarching major aims. The library should be a source of information and ideas from across the spectrum, ideally not just the topics covered in their curriculum but more widely still, allowing students both to expand their classroom-gained knowledge and to delve into other topics that spark their interest. It is a place where they gain insight into social issues through both non-fiction and empathic fiction. They can become more rounded individuals through this and gain empathy for others in different positions. This all supports a goal of tackling inequality. 2. Expand the definition of the right to education so that it addresses the importance of connectivity and access to knowledge and information. The Commission calls for a global public discussion—that includes, among others, learners of all ages—on ways the right to education needs to be expanded. - This point is clearly targeted at the disparity in access to computers and internet highlighted by the pandemic, which proved problematic when learning moved online. But libraries are surely about access to knowledge and information, both in digital and physical form, and so this raises the question of how we as librarians try to tackle this issue too. What part do we play in helping individuals access this knowledge? 3. Value the teaching profession and teacher collaboration. There has been remarkable innovation in the responses of educators to the COVID-19 crisis, with those systems most engaged with families and communities showing the most resilience. We must encourage conditions that give frontline educators autonomy and flexibility to act collaboratively. - I would suggest here that this point should be expanded as to me it rather implies teachers collaborating solely with other teachers. I would argue it should also mention teachers collaborating with other professionals and support staff including librarians. 4. Promote student, youth and children’s participation and rights. Intergenerational justice and democratic principles should compel us to prioritize the participation of students and young people broadly in the co-construction of desirable change. - This could be linked to providing space for students to inform themselves on social issues, environmental issues, and other concerns of students today, as well as how democratic political systems work etc in order to better enable them to participate in constructing the future. 5. Protect the social spaces provided by schools as we transform education. The school as a physical space is indispensable. Traditional classroom organization must give way to a variety of ways of ‘doing school’ but the school as a separate space-time of collective living, specific and different from other spaces of learning must be preserved. - I would suggest that the library should be classified as one of these other spaces of learning. It isn't a traditional classroom. But it is nonetheless where knowledge and information can be gained. 6. Make free and open source technologies available to teachers and students. Open educational resources and open access digital tools must be supported. Education cannot thrive with ready-made content built outside of the pedagogical space and outside of human relationships between teachers and students. Nor can education be dependent on digital platforms controlled by private companies. 7. Ensure scientific literacy within the curriculum. This is the right time for deep reflection on curriculum, particularly as we struggle against the denial of scientific knowledge and actively fight misinformation. - We have discussed fake news and similar topics before in these discussions and I think all of those ideas about how the library can participate in the fight against misinformation would be relevant towards this point. 8. Protect domestic and international financing of public education. The pandemic has the power to undermine several decades of advances. National governments, international organizations, and all education and development partners must recognize the need to strengthen public health and social services but simultaneously mobilize around the protection of public education and its financing. - With hopefully the recognition of the importance of libraries to public education and their addition to the list for funding. 9. Advance global solidarity to end current levels of inequality. COVID-19 has shown us the extent to which our societies exploit power imbalances and our global system exploits inequalities. The Commission calls for renewed commitments to international cooperation and multilateralism, together with a revitalized global solidarity that has empathy and an appreciation of our common humanity at its core. - See many of the comments for point 1 here too.

@Elizabeth Yes, indeed. It helps to demonstrate that I'm not resting on my laurels, so to speak, but also sometimes I come at things from a different perspective than a member of the teaching staff. We do have a staff CPD shelf in the library and I will always pick through the new books as they appear to see if there's anything relevant to me. So there have been occasions when I've read books primarily aimed at teaching staff, but took away from it the bits useful to me. My line manager, I believe, finds that interesting as he is a member of the teaching staff and SLT. We may have read the same book, but come away with different bits that we can put into practice for our own purposes.

@Elizabeth @Ruth Maloney I, too, like the idea of bite-size chunks of CPD. I think this is far more user-friendly. Conferences and workshops can, of course, be brilliant, but they can also be expensive and you may have to travel, which are both potential logistical complications - although one silver lining of the pandemic has been the increased use of the webinar, which does away with the travel component. For myself, and I suspect for many of others, doing shorter 'bites' of CPD fits in better with our normal routine. In terms of logging it, I often schedule CPD into my diary if it's of the 'read the chapter of this book' variety or something like that that is schedulable. Putting it on my to do list and setting aside time means I don't forget to do it. I keep a spreadsheet of what I do. I also do termly library reports and I always include my CPD in that. So I have an 'official record' and so does my line manager. He does sometimes ask questions about certain elements of it, which can lead to useful discussions.

@dawnwoods2000 I think this is all very true, Dawn. I think social media has the potential to be an 'echo chamber'. The people we follow, the filters we use, all restrict the variety of opinions expressed. For example, on Twitter, I mostly follow others related to my career in some fashion so almost everything that appears on my feed is linked to that. Like lots of other people, I will click 'show more' or 'show less' to alter what gets on to the feed. Because you have to filter or drown in the sheer amount of posts. But I'm aware that in so doing I'm reducing the points of view shown to me. I have friends who use various kinds of social media who have said things to me like: I have hidden such and such because I'm tired of topic X turning up in my feed all the time. The more feelings are running high when it comes to whatever topic X is, the greater the odds (in my experience) of people doing exactly that. It's understandable, especially when certain things seem to be everywhere, to say enough, but it does obviously restrict what does subsequently appear on their social media feeds and it will mean people aren't being exposed to a variety of different opinions. I use social media in this example because I feel that a lot of the case studies referred to in the article are spread primarily through social media and other online forums. And, whilst more conventional media sources - print, television and so on - may have something in their charters about putting both sides of a debate, social media is not set up that way. Any and all opinions are treated as if they have equal weight and its up to the reader to decide whether to believe them or not.

@Elizabeth I think it's useful to know both sets of terminology. I think if I was illustrating it to students, though, I would use one or the other. I would be concerned about multiple sets of terms being confusing, especially given the fact that some terms like Investigation seem to be subtly different in the different systems.

I suspect this particular video creator was looking to establish extreme end points and has deliberately chosen his examples for that reason; he does describe a sliding scale elsewhere in the video. There are plenty of 'midway' examples from the same series of books with various professors first providing context and the guiding questions, but then allowing students to have a go themselves. Analogies do not have to be perfect to nonetheless make you think about what message is trying to be conveyed. In this case, I feel that the message was about the importance to inquiry based learning of students being able to learn by doing things for themselves. He does describe Harry as guiding the other students so there is still that sense of there being a process involved.

His four phases were: 1. Orientation 2. Conceptualization 3. Investigation 4. Conclusion I would suggest that his Orientation phase links to the FOSIL Connect phase where students begin take stock of a topic and think about where the gaps in their knowledge are. This leads into Wonder or Conceptualization where they then use that to come up with questions that might address those gaps. I think Investigation is broader than Investigate in FOSIL because it seems to also include FOSIL's Construct phase. His Conclusion would presumably be comparable to Express and Reflect where results are generated, shared with others and thought about, although the term Conclusion does seem more final (in a 'the end') sort of way than Express and Reflect appear as terms.

Harry Potter is a helpful example because it nicely illustrates the two extremes that are discussed in the video. At the one end we have Professor Umbridge and her wholly textbook-based, teacher-driven approach. At the other, we have Harry and his friends experimenting and working things out for themselves. This is also a helpful example because it is one that students will understand. Harry Potter remains a popular series and many students will have read the books, seen the movies, and be familiar with the storyline described.

During this process, I have made efforts to consider my own metacognitive process. I have kept a log of useful points raised whilst reading the text. I have then reflected upon those points and journaled those reflections, as well as attempted to answer questions posed in these online workshops. Questions here have assisted that process by encouraging me to think about what I have learnt and my thoughts and feelings about that. I will endeavour to replicate this process with other CPD in the future.

I suspect that many of my classroom colleagues, even those who make active use of the library, regard it primarily as somewhere that can provide books for further reading to expand upon topics the students are studying in class. I have, for example, been asked to provide reading lists on different topics. I am not sure that many are currently thinking in terms of the library being somewhere that students could come to actually undertake active learning in the form of independent research. However, the insights gained from this does suggest that this is an avenue that could potentially be explored further than it currently is.

I would not say that it alters my understanding exactly, but it has broadened and enhanced my thinking on the topic. It has shown me other factors - for example, the emotions of the student researcher - that I need to consider in more detail. It demonstrates the need to encourage students to be aware of their own feelings, that negative feelings are normal, and that self-reflection can be beneficial.

I am participating in this with the intention of broadening my knowledge and considering additional ways that my skills and the library in general might be integrated into the school curriculum. We have KS3 and KS4 at school, not KS5, so we do not currently undertake EPQs or similar. From that perspective, I would presume the library would be involved with any inquiry-based learning as a partner to a teacher, not as a leader of the project since the project would most likely evolve out of a subject curriculum. I would expect to encounter all three potential problems mentioned in chapter 12 in that capacity since students might be suffering cognitive or affective overload whilst struggling with either too much or too little information during their investigation. However, I suspect that it is the third issue - time demands - that I might encounter most since in all likelihood the time frame for exploration would be dictated by the demands of the subject curriculum first and foremost and thus be out of my hands to an extent.

The Alberta phases are: Planning Retrieving Processing Creating Sharing Evaluating Planning might equate in FOSIL to Connect. Both Alberta and FOSIL talk about brainstorming and mindmapping as part of this first phase. Wonder might also link to Planning in the sense of coming up with their own questions as identifying these questions is an important part of the planning process. Retrieving and Investigating seem like comparable sections as these are both the research stage of the inquiry. Processing and Considering are the next stage when students transform what they have learned from their research into organised knowledge of that topic. Alberta also has an additional phase at this point termed Creating. Express links to Sharing with students taking that knowledge and presenting it in an appropriate fashion. Both processes then encourage students to reflect upon everything in Reflect and Evaluating. The two models, therefore, seem reasonably comparable in broad scheme. However, there also appear to be slight differences with FOSIL dividing the initial pre-research phase into two steps that are only one in Alberta, and with the reverse being true in the post-research phase where Alberta has two steps and FOSIL one.

@Elizabeth I agree on both counts. My impression is that the Alberta systems assumes a whole-school commitment to the process, thus enabling cross-curricular activities.

@Elizabeth I think those are all fair points and I agree, completely running free without any framework or pre-planning at all pretty much guarantees that the library won't have everything they want or need. To be fair to the Alberta system though, I note in chapter 4 that there is a lot more insistence on the teachers providing guidance. Even for grades 10 to 12 (UK grades 11 to 13), it states within parameters set by the teacher, whilst for younger grades there's even more of a sense of a teacher picking an appropriate selection and then the students choosing from within that. That to me seems sensible as it allows the teacher a) to make the topics relevant to the curriculum and b) allow coordination with the library beforehand to make sure the resources are available.

@Elizabeth @Katie Lane I agree that feelings influence what we think and believe. Bias is, in my opinion, often more of an emotional process than a rational one. Challenging our own biases can be part of an inquiry process - we might think we're going to get one answer and then have to confront the fact that we were mistaken, then consider why we had that misapprehension. There could be a number of reasons for that, one of which is that we made an emotion-based assumption.