Reflective
critical analysis
Throughout
my Masters, my learning has felt largely theoretical, and ETL 504 has been no
exception. This is mostly because I am
not the regular librarian in any school library, although I have worked for the
last three terms on a semi regular, part time basis in a school library, so I
am getting some hands on experience about how the school library works, and the
role of the teacher librarian. It is
interesting to see how this compares to the things I have learned in my
studies.
My
understanding of the leadership possibilities for the teacher librarian has
grown this semester. I began with little
idea about what it meant, which was obvious from my first blog post in the
subject. I really didn’t have a clear
picture of the librarian as a leader in the school, and initially, I was
uncomfortable with the concept of leadership for myself. I have never thought of myself as a leader, I
didn’t think I had the right personality traits or the right skills or
strengths, but I now realise it is something I could develop. By module three,
having covered leadership theories, and creating the concept map, I began to
see how it could happen, how I could become competent as a leader and agent for
change in a school, leading from the middle (Cawthorne, 2010). I particularly liked the quote from the Red
Thread Thinking blog:
Innovation is a skill set that can be improved with practice. You can teach your brain to better recruit its idea-producing networks and expand its ability to innovate.
Such a positive reminder that great
things are possible.
Prior
to this semester I hadn’t separated the concepts of managing as opposed to
leading. A key difference between
management and leadership is vision. A
leader has a compelling vision that they are able to communicate to others, so
that they believe in it as well (Coatney, 2010). Management maintains the status quo,
leadership influences by giving purpose, direction and motivation (Browing,
2013). Leadership moves forward, while
management stays the same. I was
interested to note that good leadership was correlated with student
achievement, and this I think is why it is so important, important enough to
spend a semester pondering it – improved student achievement is the business of
schools, and working towards that is what we are about. If leadership is so important that it impacts
our primary purpose, then it’s worth looking at in some depth.
In module
three I read about collaboration and leading or following, depending on each
individuals expertise (Collay, 2011).
This made sense, and in a way, took some pressure off. I don’t necessarily have to lead everything,
just in those areas where I am skilled.
As a teacher librarian in training, my skills are in technology and
information skills. Collaborating with
staff, leading staff development in technology is something I feel comfortable
with.
I
was impacted by the Donoghue (2013) reading in module 3 which stated that it
was important to keep learning, and improving your proficiency and skill as a
teacher. So much so that I joined the
casual relief teachers professional learning organisation, so that I can do
some personal development with other teachers in similar situations to my
own. I have already attended a webinar,
and look forward to doing more.
Opportunities to participate in staff development when you are a day to
day casual are rare, and I have realized that I will need to create my own
opportunities.
The
ability to change increases an organizations chance of success (Kotter, 2012). This makes sense, and with all the changes to
the information landscape, both in the way we get our information and the
amount of information available, it is vital that schools adapt and work on
ways to do things better. It can be
expected that technology will continue to change, and that in order to prepare
students for their lives as citizens of the 21st century, we will
need to stay on top of those changes.
While students are clearly immersed in the new technologies, they are
not always able to use them efficiently or effectively, it is necessary that
they are integrated into the curriculum, and skills explicitly taught and
modeled (O’Connell, 2012). The teacher-librarian, as information specialist can
and should lead the school in this regard, providing support and development
for other staff.
While
I agree that effective communication is essential for leadership, I wonder if
there is a job that doesn’t require a degree of competence in
communication. It seems that the ability
to communicate well is going to be of benefit in most situations. That effective communication skills lead to
more positive working relationships seems very obvious (Bender, 2005).
Studying
leadership theories, and realizing that leadership is a skill that can be
developed, has been inspiring. The teacher librarian must have a vision for their library, and know where it is going and what changes need to be made to get there, particularly in the constantly changing world of the 21st century, where the expectation is that we are plugged in and ready.
Bender, Y. (2005). Building effective communication. The tactful teacher, effective
communication with parents, colleagues and administrators. (pp. 3-18).
White River Junction, VT: Nomad Press. Retrieved
from: bit.ly/1oem05z
Browing, P. (2013). Creating the
conditions for transformational change. Australian Educational Leader. 35(3)
14-17
Cawthorne,
J. (2010). Leading from the middle of the organisation: An examination of
shared leadership in academic libraries.
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(2).
Retrieved January from http://www.citeulike.org/article/6724719
Coatney, S. (2010). Leadership from the middle: building influence for change. The many
faces of school library leadership. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited. Retrieved from bit.ly/1gkqeZo
Collay, M. (2011). Teaching is leading. Everyday Teacher Leadership:
Taking Action Where you are. Retrieved
from: bit.ly/1jreN1s
Donoghue, T. A., & Clarke, S.
(2010). Teachers learning and teachers leading. Leading learning; process, themes and issues in international
contexts. (pp. 87-99). London: Routledge. Retrieved from: bit.ly/1m3l1EM
Innovation Takes
Practice More Than Talent. (2013). Retrieved
from http://www.redthreadthinking.com/innovation-takes-practice-more-than-talent/
Kotter, J. (2012). The 8-step process for leading change. Kotter
International - Innovative Strategy Implementation Professionals. Retrieved
from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changesteps
O’Connell, J. (2012). Change has arrived at an iSchool
library near you. In Information literacy beyond library2.0 pp. 215-228).
London : Facet.
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