Leadership - random thoughts

Lots to do in terms of the assignment (due very soon - though not very far along) but thought i'd record some random thoughts that have come about while reading...

I've long been interested in the notion of the spaces in between things - the words unsaid or the gesture unrealised so when thinking about distributed leadership I felt drawn to the Youngs (2009) and the concept of the space that is required to allow leadership - not necessarily structural space but the ethos and personality of an organisation and the support (and trust/ openness) that is required to achieve this.
Likewise I appreciate the idea of leaders as navigating of expertise.

Have also been thinking of telling some bosses at work that leadership is more than management!

 Youngs, H. (2009). (Un)Critical times? Situating distributed leadership in the field . Journal of Educational Administration and History, 41(4), 377-389. Retrieved March 24, 2013, from Charles Sturt University website http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1080/00220620903211588

School leadership - initial reading

Have been doing lots of reading on organisational theory and leadership and its quite illuminating in terms of the leadership and follower behaviour in my own work environment. Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership (in Marzano, Walters and McNulty, 2005) was particularly interesting. In brief it describes the different leadership techniques you employ based on on the followers un/willingness and in/ability.

In brief:
Unable and Unwilling ---- telling
Unable but willing --------particpating
able but unwilling -------- selling
able and willing ---------- delegating

The other idea that has struck me this week was the notion of Instructional Leadership and Leadership for learning (Townsend, 2011). I appreciate the underlying philosophical difference in the terms and am inclined to favour the UK propensity to use leadership for learning which seems to sit much more comfortably with constructivist notions of learning and shifts in educational pedagogy. I also like the notion of distributed leadership in the sense that it alludes to the capacity for leadership in all members of the school.


Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). Some theories and theorists on leadership. School leadership that works: from research to results (pp. 13-27). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ;.Retrieved 27 January, 2013 from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/docDetail.action?docID=10089219


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 

Mixed use libraries



Images courtesy of Hugon Kowalski, UGO Architecture and Design, via Designboom.
From Would More People Use the Public Library If It Had a Water Slide?

John MetcalfeMar 19, 2013

Found an intersting article which suggests that libraries need more than just books to attract readers - perhaps waterslides instead. Mad i hear you say ..... have a look at the article

Would More People Use the Public Library If It Had a Water Slide?

TL as leader

In trying to get into this new subject, teacher-Librarian as leader i thought i might try and inspire myself with a wordle. Not my best effort but is passable. Now to try and catch up on the reading I failed to do last week.... sigh

zombies save the library

this was too good not to share. I love how creative school libraries can be in responding to student interests.

Click on the title to go to the full article.

Zombies help spread the word: School libraries alive and kicking

Teacher-librarians are rising from the budget-cut graveyard and finding unique ways to educate South Sound students.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/03/09/2506616/zombies-help-spread-the-word-school.html#storylink=cpy

Black Hills High junior Jensen Hartman concentrates on her studies in the school library last month as zombie mannequins lounge nearby. (STEVE BLOOM/Staff photographer)

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/03/09/2506616/zombies-help-spread-the-word-school.html#storylink=cpy

creativity and leadership

Yesterday I attended a conference -  Creativity Project. Big Fat Smile. At the end of it I was struck by how important creativity and the creative process is to learning and expressing and to finding ones voice and consequently how creativity is probably an essential quality  for a dynamic leader to possess.

Richard Gill and John Marsden were standouts as was Margo Ward from kidsxpress. One of the speakers Glavin Scott Davis showed a lovely cartoon of the evolution of the tablet - not quite this one but i like this too!. Galvin spoke about his journey from app to printed book that has seen him develop an app and merchandise first with the ultimate aim of getting his book published. It is inspiring to think that we could all follow this pathway to print or an alternative way to get ours or a student's work published. Incidentally, his book "Dandelion" which is about bullying is released this week!

http://www.threadless.com/submission/252383/Evolution_of_Tablet

ETL 504

Well ..... we are embarking on another semester in the TL journey. This time we are looking at the TL as a leader. In another subject (can't recall which) I remember reading about the attributes of organisations that embrace opportunity and learning and collaboration and was thinking about the role of leadership in these and what sort of leaders we have as examples. This led me to contemplating on what I find important and what is lacking from the "leadership team" in my workplace and I came to the conclusion that perhaps vision, communication and the ability to inspire and enthuse are critical elements of good leadership - and the ability to listen to others and admits mistakes is a big plus too.

Having not read anything yet i am looking forward to my notions being challenged and expanded.

fiction and reality

Saw this the other day - decided it was a good one to share