Activity and Reflection
Think about the school library. How does the library contribute to the success of the school? Consider the educational outcomes that the school is trying to provide according to the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities and Priority Areas. Add your thoughts to your notes and experiment with print or digital maps to try and put the library where you think it should be in the school structure (physical and hierarchical, i.e. communication and people).
My first step was to locate the most recent School Plan (2018-2020) and confirm that the three areas of strategic direction being targeted for the length of this plan is:
- Success
- Engagement
- Connections
Under each of these, there have been target areas assigned for different members of the school. Below, I have considered how the library can impact on each of these areas and if it is currently contributing as much as possible towards the School Plan.
Learning: developing learning culture, wellbeing & curriculum
After a reorganisation of the library last term, introduction of new furniture and expectations, I feel that the students’ attitude towards coming to library has changed. I am seeing more enthusiasm and engagement. Additionally, the increased use of technology to share information and conduct lessons in the past few weeks has added to the development a positive learning culture and increased student wellbeing. Having been situated within the library since the start of the year, I have been able to integrate Science, STEM, information research and library skills with strong links to the NSW curriculum.
Teaching: effective classroom practice, data skills and use, professional standards & learning and developing
Since taking on the role of TL I have been required to develop behaviour management strategies specific to the library and including the use of devices and technology. This has entailed engaging with online resources, specialised study, discussion with my principal and trial and error to what works most effectively to manage student behaviour and increase work ethic in the library. With the development of cross-curricular units to be taught in the library, I have been required to refresh my understanding of certain professional standards and establish a clear and consistent collection of data to record and report student behaviours and engagement to CTs. Additionally, I have been included in ongoing professional learning and development contributing to whole school wellbeing and hosted PD days in my library space.
Leading: educational leadership, school planning and reporting, school resources & management practice and processes
This is the area in which I have just entered as I have been required to source new resources for students in the senior fiction section- our library has been overrun by mould! This was tricky as I had yet to establish specific selection criteria, other than to replace senior fiction genre physical texts that may interest the current and future cohorts in the school. AS a result, some of the texts I collected are more suitable for 7-9 aged students. On a positive, I intend to establish a Year 6 only section in my office for those extended readers using those advanced texts.
Currently, as the teacher resources have been left to fall into a complete and utter mess, I have not been able to stocktake them to determine what I have and what we need. They sit unloved in a room out the back, waiting for me to engage with them and discover what treasures have been hoarded over the years.
I am now learning about the need for management practices and processes to be implemented, in writing to pass on to future librarians. As I had no such documents, it has taken some time to settle into TL duties and get a handle on all that encompasses. It is a lot to come to grips with and this is likely the area I will be concentrating on most over the next twelve months.
Below is an example, using draw.io, thate xplains my current schools heirarchy as of present.
(Excuse the blurrrrrrr)
Currently, at my small school, in my role as TL (and only being there 2 days a week) I can often feel quite isolated from other staff as their communication system is somewhat lacking and everyone is so busy with the daily running of the school. Being a small school, everyone has multiple roles and not enough hours in the day.
Overall, I don’t think it is a terrible structure and, in a small school, it works well that everyone has additional duties, rather than dumping it on just one person. With some adjustments to communication habits, I feel like the TL could be included more equally in the everyday running of the school.
Kokemuller’s (2017) classification of a Professional organisation would probably best suit my school as some staff have been in place for more than twenty years and are struggling to update their working knowledge on curriculum and pedagogy. At the same time, other staff have different levels of knowledge and have previously been given autonomy over the teaching and learning in their classroom. As a result, some become defensive when questioned about their style, choices and documentation.
It is important that I recognise here, that my principal is working to change the structure of our organisation to become more of a hybrid of Entrepreneurial and Innovative styles. She regularly encourages staff to take on tasks that interest them and consider sharing, teaching and planning in new and different ways.
References
Jilliby Public School (n.d.). 2018-2020 School Plan. https://jilliby-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/school-planning-and-reporting.html
Kokemuller, N. (2017). Mintzberg’s five types of organizational structure. Hearst Newspapers: Small business. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/mintzbergs-five-types-organizational-structure-60119.html
