ETL 504 Part B Critical Reflection

Undertaking this assignment has been a thought provoking and worthwhile experience. Creating the concept map was difficult and took a lot of reading and re- reading for it to become clearer. It allowed me to more fully reflect and understand the complex and dynamic nature of leadership.  My previous view of the leadership role in schools has been challenged.  It has been based on trait theories which identify individuals whom possess certain traits or qualities which allow them to more effectively lead an organisation. (Collay, 2011, p.83). I realise now that formal training and position are no prerequisite for leadership. (Townsend, 2011) The traditional hierarchical view which consisted of the principal and executive holding the power at the top have been internalised over the years. Perhaps I was confusing management with leadership. It occurred to me I had a vague idea about a schools vision but hadn’t realised this is what distinguishes management from leadership. “Leadership is about vision, about people buying in, about empowerment and, most of all, about producing useful change.”  (Kotter, 2012, para 9.)

My view of leadership has been altered and shaped towards a model of shared or distributed leadership which allows anyone to take on a leadership role regardless of experience or expertise. Most significantly for me, I have learnt that the teacher librarian and any other educator has the capacity to lead through this model. I see myself well placed and feeling more empowered to lead from the middle through collaborative practice, knowledge sharing, expertise, positive influence and persuasion. (Green, 2011). I have come to realise that leadership is an activity and not a position. (MacBeath & Dempster, 2009) Leadership is a dynamic process which grows and develops with experience and time and I see myself reflected in this gradual learning process. Leadership and learning are mutually embedded “leaders need to learn and learners learn as they lead.” (McBeath & Dempster, 2009.p32)  They require the vital skills of problem solving, reflection and acting on experience.

 A good leader must provide a climate where leading and learning naturally occur. (McBeath & Dempster, 2009). Teacher librarians must ensure that they take on a more proactive role rather than a more traditional support role. I have been practising a combination of servant and instructional leadership style. Teacher librarians must lead learning as opposed to being predominantly resource providers. The key is developing and maintaining positive working relationships, being receptive and proactive in making connections and acknowledging the differences, strengths and ways to support colleagues when working alongside them. A more proactive role requires the teacher librarian to be clear and articulate about goals through clear and transparent communication and vision statements. Often the role of the teacher librarian is not clearly recognised (Gordon, 2008) and through support of the principal and other library advocates the teacher librarian can achieve more. (Green, 2011 )
I have gained increased respect for the importance of collaboration within the school and the role positive relationships and professional support provides in effective team building and leading change (Schifter, 2008).
 

Reference List

Collay, Michelle (2011). Everyday Teacher Leadership : Taking Action Where You Are. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com Ebook

 

Gordon, C.,(2008). Six blind men and the elephant. Synergy. 6(1), pp.49 – 51. Retrieved from: http://www.slav.schools.net.au/synergy.html

Green, G,.(2011). Learning leadership through the school library. [online]. Access, 25(4), pp.22-26. Retrieved from: http://www.asla.org.au/publications/access.aspx

Kotter, J, P,. (2013).Management Is (Still) Not Leadership.Retrieved from:http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/management-is-still-not-leadership/

MacBeath, J. E., & Dempster, N. (2009). Leadership for learning. Connecting leadership and learning: principles for practice (pp. 32-52). London: Routledge. Retrieved from:http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=355852&echo=1

Schifter, C. (2008). Chapter 14. Effecting Change in the ClassroomThrough Professional Development. Infusing technology into the classroom: continuous practice improvement (pp. 250 - 279). Hershey: Information Science Pub.. Retrieved from: http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/gateway/chapter/full-text-pdf/23780

Townsend, T. (2011). School leadership in the twenty-first century: different approaches to common problems? School Leadership and Management, 31(2), 93-103. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from. http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/13632434.2011.572419

Innovation

How do you innovate?

1.       Find your passion. What are you both passionate about and have a degree of expertise in?
2.       What is happening in your immediate and further environments? What are the needs of the whole school - not necessarily related to school libraries? What is impacting on your school at state, national and international levels?
3.       How can you passion support your school in dealing with external influences? It is at this point that you can identify an idea that could be developed and become your innovation.

 My passion like so many other teacher librarians lies with books. The greatest satisfaction is when I can recommend a book to a teacher or student and have them come back and tell me how much they and their class enjoyed it.

The needs of my school like many others  presently is the implementation of the New English Syllabus. Staff are showing a greater interest than usual in being able to quickly identify and locate quality texts in our library which suit their teaching and learning requirements. Teachers have very little time to  locate and read existing and new resources . I do not have time to show resources during staff meetings due to time constraints. I am working on creating a blog using Blog Ed which regularly informs staff when new resources are added to our collection.
 I intend, if possible and time permits  linking these resources to book reviews and  other teaching resources.
I know this is not particularly innovative  but it has occurred out of a point of need. I don't know if it will be successful but I will trial it and evaluate.
The leadership team decided yesterday after discussions arose about lack of time to consider setting aside training and development time in th efuture to  allow teachers to  spend time reading and enjoying literature in the library.

Topic 2 - Leading Change

Tapscott’s Four Principals for an Open World
Teacher Librarians can use the four principles for an open world by :

Collaboration

A team approach is required so getting others to jump on board and share the vision is important.
·         encouraging, initiating and promoting collaborative practices within the school amongst teachers and between students when  planning and working together. This will promote a culture of change over a period of time.
·         Extending these experiences further by engaging in relevant online activities  beyond the boundaries of the school into other schools and across the world. Teacher librarians can use their specialist expertise and knowledge to model and introduce these practices to staff and students.
·         Allowing the students to be the leaders and teachers in areas in which they are knowledgeable or have a high interest. This is extremely empowering and motivating.

Transparency

·         Making achievements and results of successful collaborations clearly known to the learning community as Kotter suggests in his 8 step plan, ” through every effective communication possible.”
·         Using Kotter’s principals to make collaboration an effective vision (step 3)  - imaginable, desirable feasible, focused, flexible and communicable. Start off by keeping it simple and achievable.

Sharing

·         Sharing knowledge, resources  teaching tools latest research and professional articles  with other educators through a variety of communications.
·         Encouraging students and staff to share knowledge and resources  etc with each other and eventually beyond the school environment .
·         Provide staff and students with an understanding of intellectual property and creative commons.

Empowerment and Freedom

This sharing and reciprocal learning provides new knowledge and with this comes empowerment and the freedom to experiment and move forward.

Tapscott, D. (2012) Four principles of the open world [ETL504 Module 2]. Retrieved March 13, 2014, from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL504_201430_W_D/page/bc04b2bb-bf8d-4bc7-0064-24e289f73e4e

Kotter, J. (n.d.). The 8-Step Process for Leading Change . Kotter International - Innovative Strategy Implementation Professionals. Retrieved February 3, 2013 from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changesteps

 

Librarian or Teacher Librarian?

I thought I would share something which happened recently . Our new principal felt that we should all appear to look more professional  and be clearly identifiable with school name badges. All fine with me. However my new shiny badge states  my position in the school as Librarian. What happened to my Teacher role?  I have quietly let it slip by,  but wonder if this is where misconceptions about the TL role are perpetuated . Am I overthinking this and being petty or should I politely ask for a new badge?

Forum 1 - Seven Step Problem Solving

Primary - Relief from face-to-face teaching for classroom teachers is often covered by the teacher librarian. This means that it is difficult to plan any collaborative teaching opportunities with the teachers. You are also concerned that the student learning in the library may not be contextually relevant to the learning in the classroom. How could you approach this problem?

 

1.Definition – What is the real problem
 
·         Teachers and principal sometimes view TL role as a service provider (of resources  and  release time) with little or no regard for collaborative practices which include contextual relevance. In other words providing the service but being treated as the servant.

2. Data collection- What is going on? Evidence

·         Teachers not initiating or embracing collaboration due to views of TL role, time constraints, timetabling and no prior culture of collaboration.
·         Teachers wanting full control of teaching programs.
·         Personality traits of teachers possibly affect collaboration.

3.Cause Analysis- Why is this happening?

·         Teachers are misinformed about TL role.
·         This view is reinforced or imparted from the top down.
·         TL role has slowly been eroded and undervalued in years past.

4. Solution Planning and implementation-

·         Communicating clearly and gradually redefining  the role of TL as curriculum leader, collaborator and innovator.
·         Discussing these issues with the principal and leadership team and suggest  organising the  timetable or finding sessions to allow time for collaboration. eg staff development  days or training and development afternoons.
·         Improve communication and collaborations with teachers via email or blogging activities.
·         Take on roles which promote the TL in a leadership and collaborative role such as Student Representative Council and leading training sessions for staff.
·         Find out how other TL’s successfully collaborate in other schools and trial these ideas.

5. Evaluation- Revisit

• Did the trial succeed?
• Obtain feedback regarding whether collaboration increased or improved . Look at student work produced to see if evidence of improved experiences /skills etc.

 6. Standardisation

• Is there a heightened expectation of collaboration occurring that can be built upon in the future?
• Can other school’s successful  collaborative practices be implemented?

7. Evaluation of the process -  What did we learn?

• Look at the positives and negatives. What worked well? What didn’t.
• Feedback from students and teachers.

 

Organisational Theories

Summary of E book - Chapter Marzano & Waters (2005)
Transformational Leadership
Key ideas:
·         Favoured style of leaders
·         Focused on change
·         Four factors characterising behaviour: 
1. individual consideration (Attention to neglected individuals)
2. intellectual stimulation (individuals think of old problems in new ways)
3. inspirational stimulation (high performance expectations through confident dynamic personality)4. idealised influence (modelled exemplary behaviour)

Transactional leadership
Key ideas:

Construction transactional leadership most effective.
·         Emphasises control and overseeing
·         Leaders : Set goals, clarifies desired outcomes, exchanges rewards and recognition, suggests or consults, provides feedback and gives rewards.
·         Trading one thing for another

Servant leadership

• evolved from a desire to help others. (nurturing)
• Leader within an organisation.
• Critical understandings and acting as part of a larger organisation.

 I am likening this to the  Principal within DEC.
Teacher Librarian serving those by locating resources and supporting Curriculum needs.

Situational Leadership

• The leader adapts leadership behaviour to level of maturity
• based on willingness and abilities to perform tasks.

Instructional Leadership

• Common in educational settings

Four dimensions or roles :

1. resource provider 2. instructional resource 3. communicator 4. visible presence

Three General Functions

1. define schools mission

2. Manage curriculum and instruction

3. Promote positive school climate

Linked with Transformational learning because it aims to increase individual’s efforts and develop 'skilled Practice'. p19

It seems to me that the role of the teacher librarian aligns itself more naturally with the instructional and servant styles of leadership.

 

Introduction to Leadership

What is leadership? How do I show leadership in my school?

Our school has a newly appointed principal and I have been considering his role and actions in context with this subject. I believe a leader needs to have a  clear vision of what could be achieved for the benefit of all but needs to pause and consider the context of implementing changes which could divide people. This requires understanding of people and the context. A leader is someone that recognises when things are working and maintains them rather than changing something for the sake of proving leadership.

A leader is someone who is:

·         available and maintains a positive presence.

·         Listens to various viewpoints whilst keeping the aims  and objectives in clear view.

·         displays a confidence and self belief.

·         Clearly communicates and admits when something may be unknown or more information is required.  Claims not to be the expert.

I always seem to consider leadership in the context of my peers and forget that I am leading students as well. I think this is because I feel more confident leading students than adults. I am developing my leadership skills slowly and have personally found this much easier to do in a small school setting. I do not see myself as a natural leader and do not possess great confidence. I do however make myself available and actively listen to staff, parents and students. I actively promote the library to the school community. I use my knowledge to support others in their learning and provide staff with training and development in aspects of library and in supporting their curriculum needs.