FOSIL, Education and School Libraries

What if reading is more than a skill, or even a pleasure, but a way for students to understand themselves and the world around them? Darryl Toerien and I welcome Gabrielle Mace back to explore the powerful connection between reading and inquiry, why purpose matters, and how carefully chosen texts can capture attention, deepen thinking and open up meaningful conversations across the curriculum. Ple...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Gabrielle Mace, we continue exploring the ideas behind Teaching Inquiry as Conversation . You can listen to Part 1 here . This time, we ask a deceptively simple question: who is actually doing the thinking? We explore what it means for students to construct knowledge rather than simply acquire information; why changing our minds in response to evidence is an impo...

In this episode, we’re joined by Gabrielle Mace to explore the connections between deep reading, inquiry and the school library. We discuss Gabrielle’s work developing immersive inquiry experiences, the ideas in Teaching Inquiry as a Conversation , and what it means to create a culture of inquiry in schools. Along the way, we explore curiosity, conversation, student agency and the important role s...

In this episode of FOSIL, Education and School Libraries , Darryl and I are joined by Barbara Stripling to explore how inquiry learning can transform school libraries, the connections between the Stripling Model of Inquiry and FOSIL, and why conversation is central to meaningful learning. Drawing on Barbara’s 50 years of experience in school libraries and their co-authored book Teaching Inquiry as...

This second part of the conversation continues through Dallas Willard’s account of cognition and intentionality, working with four interrelated domains of thought: ideas, images, information, and the capacity to think. The focus here is on information and the ability to think. The discussion considers the role of information in shaping knowledge, with a particular emphasis on the importance of acc...

This first part of a two-part conversation (we did honestly try to do this in one episode) explores Dallas Willard’s account of cognition and intentionality, working with four interrelated domains of thought: ideas, images, information, and the capacity to think. The focus in this episode is on ideas and images. The discussion considers how ideas shape understanding and how images often carry even...

Celebrating 3 years of chat and 15 years of friendship! Thanks to everyone for listening and making this podcast worthwhile. Today we discussed Pope Leo's first encyclical, Tolkien and our clarity of purpose. A great question or statement that stood out from this conversation is: how do we focus on what we allow our minds to dwell on… an appropriate thought in today’s world of AI and social media....

Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today’s discussion continues from last week’s podcast, which was part 3 of this conversation, where we focused on the INVESTIGATE and CONSTRUCT stage of FOSIL. This week, we focus on the WONDER stages in relation to...

Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today’s discussion continues from last week’s podcast, which was part 2 of this conversation, where we focused on the CONNECT stage of FOSIL. This week, we focus on the INVESTIGATE and CONSTRUCT stages in relation to...

Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today's discussion continues from last week's podcast, which was  part 1  of this conversation, where we discussed the importance of preserving human voice in education. In this chat, we cover the importance of helpi...

Welcome to FOSIL Education and School Libraries, a conversation about liberal education, signature inquiry, and how generative AI fits, or doesn’t, into real classroom practice. This episode follows on from last week’s podcast, Clarifying the purpose of education , explains the Year 9 Signature Work inquiry: an interdisciplinary, schoolwide project embedded in English that builds thoughtful readin...

I am always grateful to have time to chat with Darryl Toerien about school libraries, FOSIL and inquiry. Today, we start to explore the need to clarify the purpose of education, especially in relation to the growing concern about adopting new technologies, including AI, in our schools. I personally find it very helpful to have these learning conversations. To be able to voice my thoughts and ideas...

It has been a while since Darryl and I got together, October half term to be precise, so we thought it was time to give you an update. We both have books coming out and Darryl wanted to tell you more about the institute so we hope you enjoy! FOSIL Symposium - The Institute announcement. Focus on Inquiry with Prof. Dianne Oberg and Prof. Jennifer Branch-Mueller We both wish you the blessings of the...

We start this podcast with an update. Where are we now with FOSIL and inquiry learning? If you want to skip this part and just listen to our focused discussion, please start at 12.09m. We are heading back to the FOSIL Symposium that we ran in Feb this year to discuss something that has been on my mind. David Harrow from AKS Lytham did a presentation about the use of inquiry and particularly FOSIL...

In this episode of FOSIL Education and School Libraries , we reflect on the key ideas and developments following the recent FOSIL Symposium. With support from the likes of David Loertscher and members of the FOSIL Group, we discuss the growing role of inquiry in teaching and learning, and how school libraries are adapting and contributing in meaningful ways. We also introduce new initiatives like...

In this episode, we provided some contextual information about the colleagues who will be sharing their valuable insights with us during the FOSIL 2025 Symposium on Saturday 8 February, which is free, online and will be recorded. The Symposium marks 15 years of thoughtful and purposeful development of FOSIL (2010), and 6 years of the FOSIL Group (2019). Elizabeth and I met in 2011, so she has been...

Engaging and Empowering School Libraries, a general school library podcast, and FOSIL, Education and School Libraries, a podcast that focuses on teaching through inquiry, came together this month. This session brought my two co-hosts together to discuss how school librarians can move on from teaching single research lessons to inquiry lessons, even if that is all they are being asked to do. This s...

This episode explores the librarian’s evolving role in education, sharing practical strategies for fostering collaboration between teachers and librarians to create meaningful, student-centered inquiry experiences. We discuss recent publications, success stories from classrooms, and offer a preview of the upcoming FOSIL book, aiming to redefine how libraries contribute to holistic, impactful educa...

The work on FOSIL continues with Darryl practising what he preaches. Is this something we can all take and use or is it just great for him because he has been steeped in it for so long? Listen to his inspiring journey and be encouraged by his confidence that all school librarians can do this too. FOSIL Group Website - https://fosil.org.uk/ Re/Dis-covering the promise of freedom through inquiry - h...

FOSIL, Education and School Libraries is a podcast that aims to encourage and support you to think of school libraries in a different way. We hope to develop your understanding of the value of school libraries, help you engage with the content on the FOSIL Group Website, introduce you to people who are using FOSIL  and most of all just have a conversation about the role of school librarians within...

In this episode, hosts Darryl and Elizabeth celebrate their first year of podcasting about FOSIL, Education and School Libraries. After concluding a two-part history of school libraries last month, we decided to dedicate this session to answering listener questions. We began by addressing concerns about the IFLA School Library Guidelines and their relevance today, discussing the importance of adap...

In the second part of our history of school libraries, we talk more about the evolution of school libraries from 1986 to the present day. We continue to focus on Norman Beswick's history of school libraries as an influential piece of research from the same period, which looked at the dramatic trajectory of librarianship, budget struggles, and changing roles with the advent of computers in educatio...

In this episode, we delve into the rich history of school libraries and their crucial role in education and discuss various significant developments in school libraries over the years.  We take a time-travelling journey, beginning at the inception of the School Library Association in 1937 to the progressive education era, illuminating the relentless evolution of school libraries. From the past, we...

In this episode, we discuss the evolving role of school libraries within the broader educational system. Addressing pressing issues such as the undervaluation of librarians and the alignment of library programs with institutional educational goals, this conversation underscores the library's essential contribution to student development. With a focus on the IFLA School Library Guidelines, we also...

In our last podcast, Darryl and I talked about Douglas Knight’s two major and unique functions of a library and ended up having a great discussion about the purpose and function of our non-fiction collections. In this episode, we chat about:- * The similarities with the SLA guidelines, including their bookstock guidance. Stott (1947, 1955), School Libraries: A Short Manual (CUP for SLA) and SLA (1...