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Our relationships with students, colleagues, parents and executives are constant and immersive. The complexities of nuance in a leadership context through module readings have highlighted the differences between managerial and true leadership styles for change (Smith, 2016, p.75). Managerial style dominance in schools is counter-productive to real transformation but this needs to be carefully orchestrated through team strength and influence across a workplace. Trust is an overarching factor that cannot be downplayed. “Leadership is creeping up on me” (Nicklin, 2019, July 15) is an initial sentiment I made and predicted an increased focus on leadership attributes. This has occurred already with influence from ETL504 and increasing my understanding of the scope of the TL role with input into curriculum development my most recent foray. I’m assisting with resource development but have nudged myself in quietly into discussions regarding staff personal development and teaching pedagogy. I’m feeling my way, aiming to increase my indispensability. Module 3 readings influenced here.
Case study (CS) collaboration online with unknown participants was new, however, group 9 set patterns of regular discussion and contribution to establish ease with the task. Ann (2019,October 1) expressed the sentiments of anxiety, relief and trepidation when group members were revealed, however we had a clear ‘expert’ (Belbin ,2010, p. 102). Marika shaped our plan which set the structure of work. Our group dynamics allowed various leadership styles to show through with one participant admitting she needed to step back (2019, October 1) at one point due to other commitments and not wanting to take over. Distributed leadership in action. This has been a positive experience due mainly to cooperation and commitment by group 9. We’ve had small bumps (Conte,2019,September 22; Murphy,2019,September 23; Simon, 2019,September 21) along the way but we have learned from them. Good communication, trust and a shared goal of support had us across the line successfully. The subject matter of the CSs was out of the realm of our group’s experience but the chance to combine our thoughts in our wiki space allowed us to pitch ideas safely. Other groups weren’t so lucky as Marika (2019,October 1) explored in blog post meanderings. Leadership within CSs, discussion forums and blogs have shown to be different online with an element of anonymity. Being able to carefully craft and edit replies/posts and consider every word is a luxury compared to the time-stretched and scheduled nature of a school environment. Our group 9 responses for CS6 (Group 9,2019) were realistic in this type of environment. The chance to contemplate posts with the backup of research is a good training ground for future practice.
Modules 5/6/7 culminated in this idea of the leadership capacity for a TL and how it can neatly fit within current school leadership structures. My concept map (Nicklin, 2019, September 18) attempts to visualise this idea and enhanced my view of how the TLs role weaves into school structures and resulting in my personal development plan for this semester being aligned with the evidence guide for TL in the proficient career stage (ASLA, 2014). Planning with the principal, executive staff, leading and classroom teachers to build capacity in a pedagogical, curriculum and technological front will advocate for the library, its staff and the entire school. Thus, inspiring us to do the very best we can for all our students and their achievements now and in the future.
Conte, A. (2019, September 22). Re: Collaborative learning in case studies [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/askalibrarian/etl504-teacher-librarian-as-leader/collaborative-learning/
Conte, A. (2019, October 1). Re: Collaborative Learning in case studies [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/askalibrarian/etl504-teacher-librarian-as- leader/collaborative-learning/
Group 9 (2019, September 26) Group 9 Case Study 6 [Online Forum Comment]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messag es&course_id=_42385_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78888_1&forum_ id=_164187_1&message_id=_2509766_1
Murphy, D. (2019,September 23). Re: Case Study 5 [Blog comment]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/danielm/2019/09/23/case-study-five/
Simon, M. (2019, September 9). Re: I Aim to Misbehave [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/mrssimonsays/2019/09/09/i-aim-to-misbehave/#more-641
Simon, M. (2019, September 21). Re: Time is an illusion [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/mrssimonsays/2019/09/21/time-is-an-illusion-case-study-posting-time-doubly-so/
Simon, M. (2019, October 1). Re: Cry-baby-cry-baby-make-your-mother-sigh [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/mrssimonsays/2019/09/22/cry-baby-cry-make-your- mother-sigh/
Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78. Retrieved from https://selu.usask.ca/documents/research-and-publications/srrj/SRRJ-1-1-Smith.pdf
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