ETL 504 (Teacher Librarian as Leader) has thrown me into a stew of theories, lingo and ways to think about school settings which are new to me.
Reading through the various descriptions of leadership models in Bush (2015) article on organisation theory in education, I can see where structures and decisions made at my schools of employment would fall – though not entirely clearly.
Schools are clearly hierarchal in organisation. There are various titles, lots of heads, lots of oversight. There is a division of labour in reaching desired outcomes as outlined by the principal at the start of the school year, and, of course, by our (teachers) own understanding of our work. Heads of departments (high school) and heads of stage (primary) ensure effective programming and oversight in progression through programs. Often professional developmend (PD) will come from these heads, and/or another head of curriculum, teaching and learning, wellbeing etc.. My experience in the private sector is different from that of my experience in the public sector. In the former I have had far more heads leading various development. There seems to be an abundance of heads in the private sector.
This abundance of formal leadership titles which work toward a vision set out by the principal seems to fall into the transformational leadership model. I recognise some of problems with this model. Policies and procedures often ‘come down’ the line and, as Bush points out, these are often made without informed understanding of the context, and not come with the appropriate resources and supports to make them effectively actioned (p.6). This can be a difficult model for the TL and I have found it to be as such.
By comparison, when I started in the role of TL, I was made to understand the importance of being visible and valuable and cooperative by messaging coming out of various conferences and articles by school library bodies. This is talked about at other points in this blog. I must not wait for teachers to come to me, or for those holding positions of authority to come to me. I needed to show up, be communicative and informed and cooperative. While that school had the usual amount of titles of positional authority, there was also an openness to recognise expertise. Leadership were extremely supportive in making time for me to lead PD sessions, ensure I was freed up to attend planning meetings, and encouraged any initiative to get staff and students into the library. As such, I managed to hold a position of informal authority and was consulted for input on programming, parent information sessions and other avenues for influencing the success of our students. This degree of distributed leadership seemed to grow out of the trust and regard for both a school library and myself as TL by persons of authority. It is frustratingly ironic that when I moved from this school to my current one, I gained a formal leadership title and lost a great deal of influence.
I am now in my third year and slowly clawing my way back to the table. This might sound bleak, but I generally do not view it as such.
Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform schoo leadership? Journal of Organisational Theory in Education (1) 1. 35-47.
