Reviews

Becoming a Reflective Librarian and Teacher by Michelle Reale

gwenasaur's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.25

Lots of actionable advice for starting a reflective practice. Question prompts etc. I plan to put this into practice. 

Ch 10 was not a great way to end for me. The author made the case for why it's fine that she never unplugs from work, and really seems judgemental about those of us who strive for work-life balance. 

romcm's review

5.0

I loved this book. So thoughtful and useful. The first thing that struck me was that the author is really hard on herself for what she perceives as her failures in the classroom… Me too! And many more similarities seemed to follow. But the way the writer described her workplace made me so jealous. A journal club, and a community to share reflections with? That would be amazing. There are some committees at my work that make me think that might be possible, but in general, change seems a struggle. And I still feel as though one of the reasons for this is that Australian academic librarians don’t recognise themselves as teachers (hence, my PhD topic). So until then, this book provides a good solution: journal it all out.

sonshinelibrarian's review

4.25

This is a brief but thoughtful book on the practice of reflection. While it is geared towards librarians specifically, I think any educator would find some useful ideas here. Most of the book is focused on developing personal reflective practices and has definitely given me ideas for how I can approach this better in my own professional life. There is also a chapter on using reflection in the classroom and I can see ways I have already shifted toward some of these practices and where I could use them more thoughtfully and purposefully.

olivia_piepmeier's review

4.0

With a title like this, I couldn't not read it. It's a petite book that begs to be read slowly. Most of the book is talking the reader into and describing how they can bring reflection into their own existence as a librarian. I found the first half of the book to feel a little repetitive as someone who knows what it means to be reflective, but I found the repetition helpful to start a real *practice* of reflection. One chapter near the end is about how to work reflection into your library instruction and honestly I wish that one was a bit longer.

While the author makes no mention of feminism (unless I'm forgetting something) this is a very feminist work. Reflection by nature is feminist. I love seeing reflection and mindfulness being talked about in my profession so I'm quite happy this exists.

knitterscasket's review

4.0

This book outlines how and why to begin a reflective practice, primarily aimed at the academic librarian who leads instruction. I like how Reale combines theory, practice, and her own experiences, both positive and challenging. I'm figuring out how to try some of her ideas out for the fall semester and push myself to be more reflective in other parts of my life as well.