When I began this subject, I dismissed servant leadership, possibly because the word ‘servant’ has negative connotations. This style also deviated from the more authoritarian management approaches I had witnessed throughout my teaching career. However, I came to realise servant leadership has many benefits and is an important element of the teacher librarian’s role.

Through team work, I experienced the productivity servant leadership can prompt. Our group members were very supportive and the comments of appreciation on our group message board reflect this. For example, after a group member published particularly useful ideas about Case Study 3, I made the following comment: ‘this is great! Succinct but comprehensive. The references are also very helpful’ (Clarke, 2019). Other group members thanked individuals for their contributions and because of this camaraderie everyone agreed we were off to a good start. Like Katopol (2015) has stated, commitment to the wellbeing of others is essential in the development of positive relationships and the creation of productive work environments. My own motivation was also increased through this leadership approach because I felt a stronger need to support others, more so than when I completed individual tasks. I volunteered to publish our first discussion post because of this reason.

Although I was reluctant to participate in the aforementioned group work, I was able to reinforce the theoretical concepts associated with collaboration. It became clear that a good leader promotes teamwork and cooperation (Donham, 2013) when individuals in my group created spaces for communication. By initiating the collaborations, these leaders ensured the process was meaningful and efficient.

My perspective of collaboration was consolidated through our exploration of the case studies for this subject. Many library team members at North-Western College struggled to maintain positive relationships and lacked motivation, partially due to isolation and a limited amount of cooperation. As mentioned in our response to the Case Study 3 (Beroukas, 2019), team members will have a greater sense of purpose and investment in the library if they work collaboratively, especially if they produce goals together (Holmes, Clement & Albright, 2013; Maxwell, 2018).
Ultimately, the theoretical and practical coursework has provided me with some of the skills I need to network and advocate. It is important for the librarian to form relationships with their colleagues (Nault, 2013), both in and out of the local school environment, due to the negativity and misconceptions that often appear in modern school contexts. In the preceding discussions that led to the final post we presented as a group (Speer, 2019), we explored the concept of advocacy. By helping others develop professionally and revealing the benefits in terms of student achievement (Levitov, 2012), the teacher librarian will be able to solidify the library’s position within the school.

In the future, I plan to develop stronger relationships with the people I work with by adopting a servant leadership style. This approach will allow me to diminish some of the fear teachers experience in response to change and ensure I am meeting the needs of my community. It will also help me develop my collaboration skills so I am better equipped to instruct others in this area.

References:
Katopol, P. Everybody wins: servant-leadership. Library Leadership and Management, 29(4), 1-7. Retrieved from https://journals.tdl.org/llm/

Beroukas, K. (2019, April 26). Case Study 4, Week 8: Group 8 [forum post]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42384_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78887_1&forum_id=_153662_1&message_id=_2257102_1

Clarke, J. (2019, March 31). RE: Case Study notes [forum post]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42384_1&nav=group_forum&group_id=_47105_1&conf_id=_84768_1&forum_id=_158703_1&message_id=_2221840_1

Donham, J. (2013). Enhancing teaching and learning: a leadership guide for school librarians (3rd ed.) [American Library Association. Retrieved from IG Library.

Holmes, K., Clement, J., & Albright, J. (2012). The complex task of leading educational change in schools. School Leadership & Management, 33(3), 270-283. doi: 10.1080/13632434.2013.800477

Maxwell, J. (2018). Librarian as leader. In M. Reale (Eds.), The indispensable academic librarian (pp. 103-113). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/

Nault, A.J. (2013). Weasels and honey badgers: networking for librarians. In M. Aho & E. Bennett (Eds.). Machiavellian librarian: winning allies, combatting budget cuts and influencing stakeholders [Elsevier Science and Technology] (pp. 17-28). Retrieved from Proquest Ebook Central

Speer, M (2019, May 10). Case Study 5, Week 11: Group 8. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42384_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78887_1&forum_id=_153664_1&message_id=_2282164_1