ETL504 Critical Reflection

On commencing this unit, my understandings of the teacher-librarian (TL) as leader were indistinct and included the notion that this leadership required vision, communication and the ability to inspire and enthuse as critical elements (Gillespie, 2013).  This view saw TL leadership as linked to increasing influence across the school to open co-teaching and curriculum development opportunities.

While some notions remain true, my views of TL as leader has been significantly challenged and expanded. On concluding the first assessment, my knowledge of leadership theory developed significantly to appreciate aspects and qualities of TLs as leaders. In particular, the need and use of a vision and goals was confirmed as crucial to leadership (Sergiovanni, 2005; Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005).This was extended through the realisation that a purposeful consensus driven mission or moral purpose is required to engage followers (Beliese 2005; Zmuda and Harada, 2008). I now appreciate that the unequal teacher/student relationship (Swaffield and MacBeath, 2009) and intention to make a difference by increasing students’ efficacy of information use (Wizenreid, 2010) or improving student outcomes provide TLs with such purpose.  As such, my comprehension of the relationship between this moral purpose, vision, relationship building, collaboration and effective leadership has been expanded to include the recognition that to create collaborative cultures that allow collegiality to occur spontaneously a cause beyond self is required (Semadeni, 2009).

This course has extended my understanding of the relationship collaboration and leadership have to effective team building and the importance of having a message and articulating it in meaningful ways (Orridge, 2009). This includes realising the need for authenticity and understanding during the change process (Cameron and Green, 2004) and the role in which positive relationships and professional support is essential to leading change (Schifter, 2008; Orridge, 2009).  These ideas are encapsulated in the idea of agency which links both leadership and learning to activities such as co-teaching, curriculum development and professional development. In this way collaboration and inquiry can be viewed as organising concepts for classroom and school leadership (Collay, 2011; Goodnough, 2005).

Through the readings, a greater depth and understanding of professional development opportunities and methods and its relationship to leadership has been developed. Velzen, Volman, Brekelmans  & White’s (2011) 3 step plan where modelling is practical theorising and Semadeni’s the Fusion model (2009) where mentors demonstrate and activate leaners’ mirror neurons to foster qualities, attitudes and behaviours necessary to establish collaborative cultures were particularly enlightening as methods TLs can employ in leading professional develop.

My understanding of the role professional development can play in providing leadership across the school has been developed to recognise that the social nature of learning mean collegiality and co-collaboration are crucial to professional development (Leiberman and Pointer-Mace, 2010). Ongoing professional development, trials and discussions regarding change (Livingstone, 2012; AITSL, 2012) provide leadership opportunities TLs can utilise to manage and lead change.

These notions contributed to an expanded awareness of leading from the middle and blend well with newly acquired ideas of leadership as the potential outcome of interactions between groups of people (Townsend, 2011) where leadership is not synonymous with the individual at the top (Swaffield and MacBeath, 2009). This resonates with the idea of teachers as leaders in their own classroom and the concepts of distributed leadership (Youngs, 2009; Hargreaves, 2007) and leadership for learning (Townsend, 2011) where spaces and opportunity need to be created for teacher experts to demonstrate and share their expertise.

Prior to undertaking this unit, I possessed limited knowledge of change management. This has been significantly extended to include an understanding of steps in the change process (Lewis, 2011). In addition, I have developed an appreciation of the relationship between these steps and the leadership qualities and skills such as problem solving (Adair, 2100; Shearhouse,2011) data-informed leadership (Knapp, Copeland and Swinnerton, 2007) and effective team management (Belbin, 2010, Aguilar, n.d) required to effect change. Likewise, my understanding of the combination of attributes and range of actions required for TLS to successfully lead and undertake strategic planning that is collaborative and responsive to community needs (Nelson, 2008; Allison and Kaye,2005) has been significantly developed.

School leadership is complex and fluid, requiring changes in approaches, styles and techniques dependent on goals and situations. I now appreciate that TL leadership is not one role, skill or action, nor it is the employing of one particular leadership theory or communication method, it is the collective actions and strategies employed to collaborate, advocate, educate and innovate to make the library integral to all learning and teaching in the school.

REFERENCES

Aguilar, E. (n.d.). Effective Teams: The Key to Transforming Schools?  Edutopia. K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work. Retrieved March 28, 2013, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar

Allison, M., &  Kaye, J. (2005). Phase 3: Assess your situation. Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations a practical guide and workbook. 2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=228463&echo=1&userid=75%2bPOA257%2f1ZaNWG7TLUwA%3d%3d&tstamp=1358129458&id=4CC408DE2DC85A14B8EB935A93007107B36175B5

Anderson, S. & Oyarzun, B. (2013).  Multi-modal professional development for faculty. In  Keengwe, J. Virtual mentoring for teachers: online professional development practices (pp. 43-65). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Retrieved March 28, 2013 from Charles Sturt University webpage http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/gateway/chapter/68290

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, (AITSL). (2012). Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders: A shared responsibility and commitment. August 2012. SESEEC: Melbourne. Retrieved May 12, 2013 from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Charter_for_the_Professional_Learning_of_Teachers_and_School_Leaders.pdf

Belbin, R. M. (2010). Chapter 9. The art of building a team. Team roles at work (2nd ed., pp. 97-106). Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Retrieved march 28 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=535053

Belisle, C. (2005). The Teacher as Leader: Transformational Leadership and the Professional Teacher or Teacher-Librarian. School Libraries In Canada 24(3). Retrieved May 11, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=16746531&site=ehost-live

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2004). Individual change. Making sense of change management a complete guide to the models, tools & techniques of organizational change (pp. 12-61). London: Kogan Page. Retrieved March 27 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=433139&echo=1&userid=75%2bPOA257%2f1ZaNWG7TLUwA%3d%3d&tstamp=1360486345&id=CEB8F14A74B4AFB6BC52CD3D0AEEA260A3053CEF

 Collay, M. (2011). Teaching is leading. Everyday Teacher Leadership: Taking Action Where You Are (pp. 75-108). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved May 11, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=675256&echo=1

Gillespie, K. (2013, March 8). ETL 504. Confessions of a would be Librarian. Available http://enterthebook.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/etl-504.html

Goodnough, K. (2005). Fostering Teacher Learning through Collaborative Inquiry. Clearing House,79(2), 88-92.  Retrieved May 11, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=30de8f51-4908-4609-9690-33f3e1b541be%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=19323350

Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable Leadership and Development in Education: creating the future, conserving the past.. European Journal of Education, 42(2), 223-233. Retrieved January 24, 2013, from http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/iffblog_old/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/hargreaves-eje-past-present-and-future.pdf

Lewis, L. K. (2011). Communication approaches and strategies. Organizational change creating change through strategic communication (pp. 144-176). Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved May 7, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=707958

Lieberman, A and  Pointer-Mace, D (2010) Making Practice Public: Teacher Learning in the 21st Century. Journal of Teacher Education 2010, 61(77) DOI: 10.1177/0022487109347319

Livingston, K. (2012): Approaches to professional development of teachers in Scotland: pedagogical innovation or financial necessity?, Educational Research, 54(2), 161-172 Doi:10.1080/00131881.2012.680041

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 March, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/docDetail.action?docID=10089219

Nelson, S. (2008). Part one: The planning process. Strategic Planning for Results (pp. 3-139). Chicago: ALA Editions. Retrieved May 4, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=474215&echo=1&userid=75%2bPOA257%2f1ZaNWG7TLUwA%3d%3d&tstamp=1358152593&id=64AE3645BDC9E28A3F0FD6520885482CF52A8643

Orridge, M. (2009). 75 ways to help sustain organisational transformation. Change leadership developing a change-adept organization (pp. 35-52). Farnham, England: Gower . Retrieved March 28 from Charles Sturt University website http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/docDetail.action?docID=10325965

Schifter, C. (2008). Effecting Change in the Classroom Through Professional Development. In C. Schifter (Ed.), Infusing Technology into the Classroom: Continuous Practice Improvement (pp. 259-274). Hershey, PA: . doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-765-2.ch014

Sergiovanni, T. (2005). The Virtues of Leadership. The Educational Forum, 69(Winter), 112-123. Retrieved March16, 2013, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/7375166/Sergiovanni-Thomas-Virtues-of-Leadership

Shearhouse, S. H. (2011). Reaching agreement: a solution seeking model. Conflict 101 a manager's guide to resolving problems so everyone can get back to work (pp. 195-214). New York: American Management Association. Retrieved April 29, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=691557&echo=1&userid=75%2bPOA257%2f1ZaNWG7TLUwA%3d%3d&tstamp=1360462543&id=E08CFAAF00F1B6388C96FB67F55B600832467410

Swafford, S & MacBeath, J. (2009)  Leadership for learning. In MacBeath, J. E., & Dempster, N. (Eds.)(2009). Connecting leadership and learning: principles for practice (pp. 32-52). London: Routledge. Retrieved May 2, 2013 from Charles Sturt University website http://www.csuau.eblib.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=355852&echo=1&userid=75%2bPOA257%2f1ZaNWG7TLUwA%3d%3d&tstamp=1360490936&id=087020FA33867E19826CBD9075923A9F82493CAA

Townsend, T. (2011). School leadership in the twenty-first century: different approaches to common problems? School Leadership and Management, 31(2), 93-103. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from Charles Sturt University website http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/13632434.2011.572419

Velzen, C., Volman, M., Brekelmans, M., & White, S. (2011). Guided work-based learning: Sharing practical teaching knowledge with student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(2), 229-239. Retrieved May 9, 2013, from http://www.citeulike.org/article/9948660

Wizenreid, A. (2010). Visionary leaders for information. Centre for information studies, Charles Sturt University: Wagga Wagga

 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

Zmuda, A., & Harada, V. H. (2008). Librarians as learning specialists: moving from the margins to the mainstream of school leadership. Teacher Librarian, 36(1), 15-20. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from Charles Sturt University website http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=43699042&site=ehost-live