Part B – Reflection

What makes a good leader? Is it someone who tells you exactly what to do? Or is it someone who lets you do whatever you like?

During the last few months my understanding of leadership styles and the impact they have on the organisation you work in, has increased immensely. It is clear that leadership is a complex process and not a one size fits all approach. I understand that a leader has an enormous impact on the process of change.

As the teacher librarian (TL) I can see the potential of new pedagogies, like Guided Inquiry Design (GID), in preparing our students for a world with new demands and skills. I , on the other hand, can also see the eye-rolling of staff members on another compulsory change, the lack of time to take in the change before it arrives and the feeling that this is yet another transitory change (Clement, 2014). I have been one of the eye rollers myself! I believe that the right leadership style can be instrumental in the implementation of new and exciting visions. To implement a change like GID, a transformational approach focusing on team-building, motivation and collaboration (Ingram, 2019), would be required. I was quite unaware of this previously, it was something that just happened.

Working as a group during this subject was an interesting experience. I was slightly apprehensive working in a group online as communication can be an issue, but it seemed to flow quite well. I found myself initially taking on the distributional leadership role in our group. I set up the wiki for each case study and collated the responses for two of them. After the initial setup, the shared instructional leadership really blossomed. We were working as a team, with each member contributing to the posts. It was good to look at the scenarios from other viewpoints. The case studies provided some realistic and very relatable scenarios.

So what can I take, as a novice TL, from the case studies, the literature and the leaders around me? The impression that one leadership style is the way you lead was my thought process at the start of this semester. Throughout the course I developed the understanding that incorporating various elements from each leadership style makes sense. There are no set rules on leadership and what it looks like, it is open to interpretation.

The TL has can have a strong impact on the achievement of students. After all, as a TL we have the skills to teach information literacy and can present evidence that links this to higher academic achievement (DiScala, J. & Subramaniam, M.,2011). The TL can lead by example through modeling best practice and leading the way toward the achievement of goals and objectives. We need to show the value of the programs TLs teach by collaborating with teachers and executive staff and be transformational leaders by listening to students and staff and acting on the feedback that is given. The TL is also a servant leader. We are able to use our position to help both teachers and students, through clear communication, collaboration and strong interpersonal skills (Saunders, 2011).

Being a leading TL is something I aspire to. I hope in the future to be implementing these leadership style into one that suits my students, my colleagues and myself.

Clement, J. (2014). Managing and mandating educational change. School Leadership &  Management, 34(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

DiScala, J. & Subramaniam, M. (2011). Evidence-Based Practice: A practice towards leadership credibility among school librarians. School Libraries Worldwide, 17(2), 59-70. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2419427/Evidence-Based_Practice_A_Practice_Towards_Leadership_Credibility_Among_School_Librarians

Ingram, D. (2019). Transformational Leadership Vs. Transactional Leadership Definition . Retrieved from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/transformational-leadership-vs-transactional-leadership-definition-13834.html

Saunders, L. (2011). Librarians as teacher leaders: definitions, challenges, and opportunities. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference papers, (pp. 264-274).  Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/national/2011/papers/librarians_as_teache.pdf

 

 

 

Leadership….

Being completely overwhelmed by two subjects this semester, one where there is no blogging required, made me forget the blogging need…. Time is an issue, especially when going from two days a week to fulltime work! But excuses are not useful!

The ‘journey’ into leadership has been interesting. I always consider myself a bit of a leader, whether it is because of my bossy nature, or the need to be in control, I am unsure…..        The group assignments made me come forward as the organiser. I have been the one initiating the process and collating the responds. I again take the lead. I like the control and need to know things are being done.

The first assessment and its results, have shown me that, although I might have the knowledge, I am not really good at putting it on paper in an ‘academic’ way. It is on ongoing struggle…..

Improve relationships in the workplace

The management style of a typical government run school is a mix between machine, professional, divisional and innovation. The department is the machine, the professionals are the staff in general, the divisional is the leadership structure in the school and the innovative are the teachers, who are inventing, sculpting and delivering. Relationships can get strained when the staff is not involved in any decision making. I believe, a staff included and consulted will be happier. To improve relationships, people need to feel listened to.

Kokemuller, N. (2017). Mintzberg’s five types of organizational structure. In Hearst Newspapers: Small business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/mintzbergs-five-types-organizational-structure-60119.html

Management in the library

The reading of Colvin (2000) brings some interesting points to the forefront. What does this mean for school libraries?

  • People are knowledge workers
  • Organisations are organisms instead of machines
  • Staff works more productive when they can create, judge, imagine and build relationships
  • The library needs to be part of the system/organisation to function optimally
  • Valued staff is valuable staff

 

Reference

Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). Retrieved from http://www.archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1

A new journey begins….

After being away for the entire holidays and only coming back last night, I am hitting the ground running. Maybe I am sprinting at the moment even. The subject Teacher Librarian as leader has devided the online chat group I am a member of…..Should we do it later in the degree? Is it too hard now? I have decided to have a go. My 20 + years as a teacher and 14 years as a mother has given me some leader qualities. I am interested to see what the subject will bring, what will be relevant to my workplace and how I can use the information!

Reflective practice

Part B Reflective Practice 

Resourcing the curriculum has been an eye-opening subject. The notion of just buying some books and putting them in the library, seems like a child like interpretation of what resourcing a library is all about. The initial attempt of a selection decision making model (Powell, March 9, 2019) seems highly inadequate now. The learning path has been steep but worth the climb.

The school library collection is an evolving part of a school. Collections should be varied with print and digital resources, which are diverse and informed by learning and teaching needs (ASLA & ALIA, 2016). Collections are there to support the library’s important role of establishing lifelong learning for the students (State Library of Queensland, 2013). A school library collection is more than a few random books acquired, accessioned, covered and put on the library shelves. What do the students and staff need for their learning path? A teacher librarian needs to establish these needs and wants. A well-rounded collection takes planning. Evaluating the current collection is an important part of managing a school library. A great way to do this is through collection mapping (Lamb & Johnson, 2014). It is a process of looking at the quantity and quality of the collection and identifying the strengths and weaknesses within.  A collection map can give a visual portrayal of the breadth and depth of the library collection, a snapshot of what is presently available. In my forum post (Discussion Board, 2019) I discussed collection mapping as a way to qualitatively analyse the collection. I see evaluating as an essential part of managing the school library collection. I posted a blog post on collection evaluation (Thinkspace, April 22, 2019), outlining a basic plan on how to evaluate my collection. An important thing to keep in mind is that findings from an evaluation need to be viewed in the context of the school. The extent of material provided is only meaningful if it is connected to the goals of the library (Johnson, 2015).

Once the collection is analysed and evaluated; it is crucial to have selection principles to decide on the resources for the school. The collection development policy is an important, and some might say a strategic, document for any school library. It outlines the policies and procedures needed for library management. Implementing these policies and procedures aims to ensure fair access to resources for everyone in the school community (ALIA & VCTL, 2017. p. 4). Debowski (2001) mentions that an initial statement of the purpose of the library and its collection can be a useful part of the policy. The library collection is there to serve a school community, not just a specific user. The policy can be used as a strategic document in several ways. Firstly, the policy should have an outline regarding the importance of a well-staffed and well-resourced library, by providing links to research stating the correlation between this and student outcomes.  A link to the Softlink School Library Survey Report (2018) would be appropriate. Secondly, the financial aspect of the library collection is important. The school library’s print and electronic collection represents a substantial investment and the policy can demonstrate the accountability for this (ALIA & VCTL, 2017. p. 4). Therefore, it can also expose the need for further monetary investment in resources.

The future brings excitement and challenges. The collection development policy (CDP) can play an important role in future proofing the collection in the school. The New Media Consortium (NMC) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) identified two important trends in their 2016 Horizon Report (NMC, 2016). Firstly, the need to redesign learning spaces to have students participate in immersive, hands-on. Including this as a goal in the CPD is ensuring the library stays current, and in touch with trends emerging. Secondly, there is the need to reassess how schools work, in order to keep up with the changing 21st century workforce demands. Students will need be equipped with future- focused skills like coding in order to be workplace ready. The CDP needs to have short- and long-term goals included. The trends mentioned in the NCM & CoSN report (p. 2. 2016) need to be included in a CDP to make the policy future focused.

Currently I am working in a school with no collection development policy. I believe every library should have a collection development policy. I am keen to, with all this knowledge to guide me, develop a policy for the school.

ETL 503 References Part B

Australian Library and Information Association School & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians [ALIA & VCTL]. ( 2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/policy-development-manual.aspx

Australian School Library Association & Australian Library and Information Association [ASLA & ALIA]. (2016). Statement on school library resource provision. Retrieved from ASLA: https://asla.org.au/school-library-resource-provision

Australian School Library Association [ASLA]. (2018). The 2018 Softlink Australian and New Zealand School Library Survey Report. Retrieved from ASLA: https://asla.org.au/research/

Debowski, S. (2001). Collection Management Policies. In K. H. Dillon, Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed., pp. 126-136). Retrieved from https://doms.csu.edu.au/csu/file/4e3442bb-7cd7-4090-9f50-bf88fdcc896f/1/hart-a.pdf

Johnson, P. (2015). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management. Chicago: American Library Association. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE4NTY5ODNfX0FO0?sid=555e383e-efe8-4c8b-9892-c40dcefadc55@pdc-v-sessmgr06&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2014). Library Media Program: Collection Mapping. Retrieved from The school library media specialist: http://eduscapes.com/sms/program/mapping.html

New Media Consortium [NMC]. (2016). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 edition. Retrieved from https://www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-cosn-horizon-report-2016-k-12-edition

Powell, C. (2019). Carolien’s blog. Retrieved from Thinkspace: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/carolien/category/etl-503/

Powell, C. (2019). Discussion Board, forum 5.1. Retrieved from Interact2: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42383_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78886_1&forum_id=_147540_1&message_id=_2251590_1

State Library of Queensland. (2013). Library Collections Standard. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/6WV7IOGW/Library_Collections_Standard_2013.pdf

 

Part C Reflective practice

Part C Reflective practice

Literacy is the foundation of our profession as Teacher Librarians. To me, literacy was simply reading and writing. During the subject I reflected on what literacy means (Powell, April 22, 2019). I realised it is a complex mix of listening, looking, reading, writing, comprehending and understanding. The importance of information literacy (IL) in the 21st century has become clear to me. The complexity, the need for focus and different implementations of IL have become apparent. Jannet Taylor (2019) sums it up beautifully on the discussion board: ‘I can’t teach a child everything they need to know for the future, but what I can do is teach them how to learn.’

The term information literacy is not easily explained. There is no clear agreement about what information literacy is. The capacity for people to recognise their information needs, locate and evaluate information, collect and store information, use information in an effective and ethical way, and apply information to create and communicate knowledge is the way the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) describes information literacy (Catts & Lau, 2008). The UNESCO acknowledges the importance of IL skills for people to be lifelong learners and even included it their Information for All Programme (IFAP) as a basic human right. The Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) released a joint statement describing what information literacy means in the context of an information literate school community.  The statement calls for a framework “to ensure all the targeted skills are identified and taught strategically and sequentially within the context of the school’s curriculum” (ASLA & ALIA, 2016).

The problem with the increased importance of Information Literacy, is the need for students to develop skills, to navigate their way through the maze of information. Students struggle with the various aspects of gathering information online, searching and evaluating being two of them (McGrew, et all. 2018).  This is something I see in my Stage 2 and 3 classes during research tasks. The students do not know how to find the right information, what questions to ask and what is valuable to their topic. As a TL, it is my job to teach them these skills.

Whilst exploring the IL models mentioned in the modules, I got excited! I wanted to learn more. During a recent conference, I had the privilege to attend a workshop by June Wall. Wall is the NSW Department of Education and Training Library Coordinator, and in the process of developing an Information Fluency Framework for New South Wales schools based on the ISP (Department of Education, 2017). She spoke about how information literacy is a process and an outcome of this process is information fluency.  Information fluency is the ability to think critically while engaging with, create and using information and technology regardless of what platform (Wall, 2019). The pyramid Wall used is shown in my blog (Powell, May 10, 2019). This should be what we are aiming for as TLs; students who think critically, solve problems while being creative and innovative. As Trish Templeton mentions in her blog; ‘The role of the TL in this changing information landscape, is to ensure that all students have access to information and have the ability to seek, use and share that information in a variety of formats” (Templeton, 2019).

The information literacy model that resonated the most with me is the Guided Inquiry Design (GID). The deeper learning experienced through GID really inspires me to teach my inquiry lessons this way. The students are guided through the process of learning and information gathering (Maniotes, 2018). Students can ask thoughtful questions and learn because they are curious about a question or topic.

Teaching students the skills to become information literate, is a process that needs to be taught from Kindergarten onward. According to the NSW Department of Education (2017) all students, from Kindergarten to Year 12, need the opportunities to develop expertise in using the information process. As TLs, we are at the forefront of this development. It will be our job to teach, arrange, support and develop. Although my understanding of IL and the models used to teach these skills, has expanded immensely during the subject, I still stand by my discussion board entry (4.1b. Inquiry learning, April 12, 2019) regarding the contradictions in the school curriculum. The push towards inquiry-based learning but the need for standardised testing and data collection, has the system at opposing ends of the spectrum. Until this is resolved, a true inquiry-based learning framework will be hard to implement in Australian schools.

ETL 401 Reference list Part C

Australian School Library Association & Australian  Library and Information Association, (2016). Information Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.asla.org.au/information-literacy

Catts, R. & Lau, J. (2008). Towards Information Literacy. Retrieved from UNESCO Digital Library: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000158723

Department of Education. (2017). The information process. Retrieved from Learning across the curriculum: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/teaching-and-learning/information-skills/the-information-process

Maniotes, L. (2018). Guided Inquiry Design in Action, Elementary school. Santa Barbara: Libraries Umlimited.

McGrew, S. B. (2018). Can Students Evaluate Online Sources? Learning from Assessments of Civic Online Reasoning. Theory & Research in Social Education, 46(2), 165-193

Powell, C. (2019). Carolien’s Blog. Retrieved from Thinkspace: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/carolien/2019/04/22/literacy/

Powell, C. (2019). Carolien’s Blog. Retrieved from Thinkspace: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/carolien/2019/04/22/information-literacy/

Powell, C. (2019). Discussion Board. Thread 4.1b. Inquiry learning. Retrieved from Interact2: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard

Taylor, J.  (2019). Discussion Board. Thread 5.3b. Guided Inquiry. Retrieved from Interact2: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard

Templeton, T. (2019). Trish’s trek into bookspace. Retrieved from Thinkspace: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/trish/2019/04/30/digital-literacy-and-its-impact-on-pedagogy-and-the-role-of-a-tl/

Wall, J. (2019). Information Fluency. Retrieved from https://mantleconference.weebly.com/june-wall.html

Author dinner & MANTLE Conference

This week I had the privilege to attend a TL conference and prior to that an author dinner.  Mantle is the regional Teacher Librarian organisation and organises a conference each year. There was also an author dinner organised. Morris Gleitzman and Jack Heath were the speakers at the dinner. It was a great opportunity to listen to two accomplished authors and their passion for reading and writing.

The conference was a fantastic opportunity to converse with other Teacher Librarians and learn! There were a variety of workshops to sign up for. I have an interest in Information literacy and STEM so those were my focus point.

June Wall is the Library Coordinator for the Department of Education. Her workshop was about Information Fluency. She spoke about the Information Search Process (ISP). Information Literacy is the process and information fluency is the outcome. Wall is working on a frame work for the information fluency for K-6.

Picture

Wall made us think critically where the information literacy skills we are already teaching,  fit in these 4 stage. In consultation it was also decided to change the term Basic to Foundation.  A very useful and thought provoking exercise.

During the STEM workshops I learned an enormous amount about the Stem Share Community. An initiative run by the Department of Education, with STEM kits and free websites! I was inspired to dive into the world of STEM and especially Minecraft Education.

The value of the Mantle conference is hard to put into words. Collaborating, communicating and educating. The value the library and its librarians have on students and on schools. It was amazing.

Reference

Wall, J. (2019). Information Fluency. Retrieved from https://www.virtuallibrary.info/information-fluency.html

Time to procrastinate….

Time is a precious thing. A thing teachers always seem to have too little off! The management of time, is one of the most important lessons you learn as a teacher. Some learn these lessons fast and juggle all the balls efficiently. Others struggle and drop the ball every now and again.

Me? I am juggling just fine! Usually. And sometimes I don’t. Luckily I have a great network of TLs to ask for support. I believe it is important to be part of a local group of TLs, to share and collaborate. Gilman (2007) lists four great habits a TL should have. Openness, responsiveness, collaboration and communication are very important in the daily interactions with staff and students. The line “Openness entails a willingness to listen to what the facts are telling us,” was an eye opener for me. I see myself as an open and flexible person but maybe not always open to see the facts….

 

 

The Collection evaluation

EVALUATION PLAN FOR SCHOOL LIBRARY COLLECTION

  • Count the number of books in the section being evaluated
  • Print out report on circulation statistics
  • Subtract the number of books older than 10 years and weed if necessary
  • Inspect the remaining books for wear and tear and weed/replace in necessary
  • Assess the reading level of the books
  • Assess the relevance of the books in regards to the curriculum needs
  • Collaborate with teachers on the need for specific resources

This would be the steps I would be taking in evaluating the collection. My school does not have an up-to-date collection due to changes in staffing. I am hoping to be able to evaluate the collection and do some much needed weeding!

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