ETL504 TL as Leader – Talk Wordy To Me

ETL504: Teacher Librarian as Leader Reflection

Bianca Bertalli ETL504 TL as Leader June 8, 2025June 8, 2025 0 Comment

During my initial engagement with the ETL504 coursework, I silently questioned whether I was the type of person who had the capacity to lead. After all, I am a quiet achiever, still developing my identity and knowledge as a burgeoning information specialist (Bertalli, 2025, April 26). I had previously watched the ‘How to Start a Movement’ dancing man video (Sivers, 2010) early in my teaching career. At the time, I remember thinking that it was his pure confidence, and unwavering self-belief, that started the infamous expressive dance movement. However, as I moved through the ‘Teacher Librarian as Leader’ readings, I begun to understand that true leadership was actually about strategically influencing others to work together, and collaborate, in order to drive sustainable change (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2018; ASLA, 2013; Pavey, 2024; Woolls et al, 2024) . Additionally, when I began on contemplate on what leadership versus management looked like, I realised, that in many ways I was already demonstrating leadership skills, alongside the more obvious managerial skills (Bertalli, 2025, March 12; Oddone, 2021).

The ability to collaborate has featured as a prominent and evolving concept in my understanding of the teacher librarian role (Bertalli, 2023, March 20; Bertalli, 2025, April 2026). By learning to analyse the organisational structure of my school (including the complex relationships and leadership styles of the people I work with) and how to use this as a basis for strategically planning for change, I suddenly felt far more confident to step into a middle leadership role (Bush 2015, Cox & Korodaj, 2022). I also now understand that collaboration is a shapeshifting chameleon that moves responsively between leadership styles, working towards a shared strategic direction. I have found the work of Sarah Pavey (2024) to be particularly helpful in unpacking how this flexibility is a power to be harnessed by the TL. As a TL from a small rural school, I was also inspired by the coordinated efforts of large scale information organisations I visited in my study tour (Bertalli, 2024, May 14).

The information landscape is constantly changing, and the expectation for educators to keep up is clear (Combes, 2016; Johnson, 2019). It is this inconstant, constant that provides the ongoing opportunity for teacher librarians to place themselves central to supporting school communities through the challenges of technological advancements to curriculum, pedagogy, and infrastructure (Cox & Korodaj, 2022; Gordon, 2021). As a TL operating in a rapidly evolving information landscape, I have come to understand that we must not only be reactive to change, but also support those around us through the change (ASLA, 2013; Bertalli, 2025, May 14,). As I submit the last marked assignment of my course, the gravity and value of the teacher librarian role weighs heavy. When I started the course 3 years ago, the complexity of information literacy was revolutionary to me (who knew librarians don’t only deal in books?!) (Bertalli, 2023, March 22). Now, I find myself thinking about how I can take my teacher colleagues on the same journey of understanding, so that together we can truly equip our students for the future.

References

Australian School Libraries Association [ASLA]. (2013). Future learning and school libraries. https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Resources/2013-ASLA-futures-paper.pdf

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2018). Leading for impact: Australian guidelines for school leadership development. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/lead-develop/build-leadership-in-Australianschools/leading-for-impact

Bertalli, B. (2023, March 20). Looking Back on Chapter One…. Talk Wordy to Me: Reflections of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bbertalli/2023/05/

Bertalli, B. (2023, March 22). Literacy- Is it more than just reading and writing? Talk Wordy to Me: Reflections of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bbertalli/2023/03/

Bertalli, B. (2025, March 12). Organisation theory vs changing paradigms in practice. Talk Wordy to Me: Reflections of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bbertalli/2025/03/12/1-1-organisation-theory-vs-changing-paradigms-in-practice/

Bertalli, B, (2025, April 2025). Using the IFF to move from servant to servant leadership role [forum discussion]. Charles Sturt University Thinkspace. https://learn.csu.edu.au/d2l/le/50306/discussions/threads/85403/View

Bertalli, B. (2025, May 14). Establishing a career in the information sector. Talk Wordy to Me: Reflections of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bbertalli/2025/05/14/establishing-a-career-in-the-information-sector-can-often-involve-taking-a-variety-of-pathways-discuss-the-examples-pitfalls-barriers-and-advice-provided-by-agency-hosts-on-their-career-journey-to/

Bertalli, B. (2025, May 14) Melbourne Study Visit Personal Reflection. Talk Wordy to Me: Reflections of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bbertalli/2025/05/14/melbourne-study-visit-personal-reflection/

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf

Combes, B. (2016). Information literacy: competencies, skills making meaning & thinking. http://www.literacymatters.org.au/uploads/1/0/0/1/100124268/information_literacy_aug_2016.pdf

Cox, E., & Korodaj, L. (2019). Leading from the sweet spot: embedding the library and the teacher librarian in your school community. Access (Online), 33(4), 14–25. https://studentsneedschoollibraries.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Cox-and-Korodaj-ACCESS-November-2019.pdf

Gordon, C, (2021). The Essential School Library: A prototype for the reform of 21st century education. Synergy, 19(1). https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/497

Johnson, D. (2019). The School Librarian: Your Ultimate Digital Resource. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-school-librarian-your-ultimate-digital-resource

Oddone, K. (2021, June 14). Teacher librarian as leader: Lessons from the literature. Linking Learning. https://www.linkinglearning.com.au/teacher-librarian-as-leader-lessons-from-the-literature/

Sivers, D. (2010, February). How to start a movement [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement/transcript

Woolls, B., Dawkins, A. M., & Valenza, J. (2024). The school library manager: leading through change (Seventh edition). Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited.

1.1 Organisation theory vs changing paradigms in practice.

Bianca Bertalli ETL504 TL as Leader March 12, 2025 0 Comment

I have always found Roninson’s (2010) multimodal explanation of the impacts of changing education paradigms problematic. In some ways I do agree that many schools continue to be bound by outdated organusational structures that are a strong reflection of our societal obsession with measurable economic output. However, the idea that we, as parents or educators, choose to medicate neurodivergence on a ‘whim’ to create a culture of compliance or that ADHD is a pseudo-symptom of obsolete educational environments is extremely troubling to me. Since Robinson’s (2010) video, 15 years ago, the scientific around the neurodivergence, and in particular ADHD, has been proven as a neurological and/ or developmental disorder and I believe that the Australian education system has begun to recognise and respond to this validity- albeit slowly. I personally, would love to see an updated, and neuro-affirming, rerelease of this video so as not to further denigrate the experiences of our neurodivergent students. In the least, I’d like to see this video removed as current teaching material.

That aside, it is true that young people live in an information saturated world and, in my experience, reading stamina and reading for enjoyment has declined overall. For this reason I am choosing to reflect on the way our school has responded to the cultural driver of change mentioned by Robinson (2010) by examining the culture of reading and responding through Bush’s (2015) organisational theory lens. Earlier this year, as a collaborative team of teachers led by myself as the Teacher Librarian, we met to discuss the cultural shift in reading. We identified that reading was no longer perceived as socially acceptable and reading was undervalued at home. We developed structural changes to our home reading program with the hope of shifting both student perceptions of reading as well as develop better reading habits.

Dubbed the ’25 Nights Smarter, Funnier, Cooler, Kinder’ Challenge we developed promotional material that showed iconic people reading. We used quotes that helped to instil the message that every night of reading made you smarter/ funnier/ cooler or kinder as you learnt more about the world around you and the diverse experiences of people. We got parent buy in by presenting this to the P&C and with their $500 donation as well as support from local businesses we were able to create prizes to incentivise reading. For every 25 nights home reading, students could earn a golden ticket into a twice-a-term draw. The prizes reflected the benefits of reading including an outdoor beanbag for reading and relaxing, a head lamp for nighttime reading, book vouchers, hot chocolate vouchers and other bits and pieces. It didn’t take long for students to start buying into the status of the golden ticket club. After a few short week, I know have students running to me in the morning to update me on their progress. I hear them chatting amongst each other about the books they are reading or the places and times they like to read.

It is too soon to know whether this organisational and structural change will influence a cultural shift at our school, but I can’t help but share in the excitement our students are feeling. My hope as the teacher librarian is that through our challenge, we can convince more than a few kids that reading really does make you smarter, funnier, cooler and kinder and that we instil good reading habits that follow them through life. We have our first prize draw in two weeks’ time so I will update you on how this goes.

References

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U