leadership – From dust jackets to digital horizons

Assessment 2 Part B: Critical Reflection

Posted on June 2, 2025

Growth

The subject ETL504 has magnified my understanding of leadership and how it impacts the role of Teacher Librarian. Initially, I held preconceived ideas about what it might comprise and misunderstood key terminology (McDonald, 2025, March 12). Leadership, I have come to understand, encompasses “influence, values and vision” rather than just operational efficiency (Bush & Glover, 2014, p. 553). I had also never given much thought to how schools function as organisations and the structural, cultural and societal influences that steer change (McDonald 2025, March 3; Robinson, 2010).

Constructing an organisational chart revealed a rigid hierarchical structure at my last school, due to top-tier leadership retaining all decision-making power (McDonald, 2025, March 17). I found it helpful to compare this with organisational structures shared by peers (McDonald, 2025, March 10). Previously, my attention was fixed to the top of the leadership hierarchy. Even though principals are recognisable leaders in schools, holding formal authority and an official title, they are not always the most influential (Bush & Glover, 2014; Heenan et al., 2023). The most influential leaders in schools are often those without formal leadership positions. Teacher Librarians are well-placed in schools to become leaders and exert positive influence through their strong, collaborative relationships with staff across school departments and position in the “middle” of school hierarchies (Cox & Korodaj, 2019, p. 16; Oddone, 2023).

Exploring different leadership styles, I recognised my alignment with servant leadership, characterised by empathy, team decision-making and a desire to serve others (Crippen & Willows, 2019; Fernandes, 2022; Louis et al., 2016; McDonald, 2025, March 17). I worked closely with a dynamic Director of Library for two years who embodied a transformational leadership style, motivating and empowering our library team as well as many staff (Heenan et al., 2023; McDonald, 2025, March 17). I am inspired to apply transformational elements to my own leadership practice, through empowerment and strong relationship-building (Smith, 2016).

When we started learning about strategic planning and leading change, I found myself thrust into an unexpected leadership position, managing an urgent library relocation and redevelopment project (McDonald, 2025, May 3). Ideally, there is time to prepare for change, so that consultation, collaboration and strategic planning can happen (McDonald, 2025, April 22). This, however, is not always the reality, especially in school environments. Through readings and simultaneous experience, I now understand that communication is paramount, especially when uniting diverse stakeholders and balancing priorities (Nicholls, 2023).

I have come to realise that leadership is an inevitability for Teacher Librarians but does not have to be feared. Further, we must be emboldened to lead and advocate within our school settings as well as the wider community. The danger, if we do not, is serious, as our “positions and programs become expendable” (Weisburg, 2020, p. 12). Advocacy is the responsibility of all Teacher Librarians, and we need to actively seek out opportunities to be visible and build connections (Jones, 2021).

As I conclude this subject and, with it, close the final chapter of my Master of Education, I feel like my leadership journey is just beginning. I am committed to keep learning, particularly through my professional learning networks, and feel capable of leading change (McDonald, May 19). I aspire to be a connected practitioner who continuously learns and shares, ever-striving to best support my learning communities (Oddone, 2023).

Reference List

Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: what do we know? School Leadership & Management, 34(5), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Cox, E., & Korodaj, L. (2019). Leading from the sweet spot: Embedding the library and the teacher librarian in your school community. Access, 33(4), 14-25.

Crippen, C., & Willows, J. (2019). Connecting teacher leadership and servant leadership: A synergistic partnership. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2), 171-180.

Farrell, M. (2014). Leading from the middle. Journal of Library Administration, 54(8), 691-699. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2014.965099

Fernandes, D. (2022). To serve, and to be served: Servant leadership inputs on leveraging organizational performance. In M. Pressentin (Ed.), Key factors and use cases of servant leadership driving organizational performance (pp. 1-53).
IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.4018/978-1-7998-8820-8.ch001

Heenan, I. W., De Paor, D., Lafferty, N., & McNamara, P. M. (2023). The impact of transformational school leadership on school staff and school culture in primary schools: A systematic review of international literature. Societies, 13(6),
133-160. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13060133

Jones, A. (2021, June 5). School library advocacy: The time is now. Knowledge Quest. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/school-library-advocacy-the-time-is-now/

Louis, K. S., Murphy, J., & Smylie, M. (2016). Caring leadership in schools: Findings from exploratory analyses. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(2), 310-348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15627678

Nicholls, J. (2023, December 7). Navigating change: A guide to successful organisational transformation. The University of Melbourne. https://study.unimelb.edu.au/study-with-us/professional-development/blog/navigating-change-a-guide-to-successful-organisational-transformation

Oddone, K. (2023). Leading the school library as a connected practitioner. Synergy, 21(1), 1-11. https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/688

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78.

Weisburg, H. K. (2020). Leadership: There is no other option. Synergy, 18(1), 12-20.

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Professional Learning Strategy

Posted on May 19, 2025

Lifelong Learning

Discussion Prompt: The Australian Curriculum is providing teachers and teacher librarians with many new challenges, including the need to continually improve personal knowledge and understanding of digital tools and digital environments. A personal learning strategy is possibly more important now than at any other time. Teacher librarians have an opportunity on the one hand, and a challenge on the other. How will you manage your own professional learning strategy? How will you influence and/or guide the professional learning needs of others?

Teacher Librarians, like all educators, must remain agile and informed. This involves staying up-to-date curriculum knowledge (in Victoria this is either the Australian Curriculum, Victorian Curriculum or International Baccalaureate program) as well as pedagogical best practice, and keeping up with technology change. It’s a lot to cover!

My professional learning strategy focuses on collaboration and learning growth, I never want to be stagnant or ‘rinse and repeat’ because it’s easier to do what has been done before. Our priority must always be the needs of our students, and supporting these as best we can, which involves ongoing development.

I plan to keep engaging with professional learning networks (such as SLAV, ASLA, ALIA and more), attend webinars and conferences (such as the National Education Summit and association conferences), and subscribe to relevant journals and podcasts. I have found social media and Substack newsletters to also be helpful for learning new ideas to apply in my library classroom. Professional learning is not just formal events, it encompasses both “the formal and informal learning experiences undertaken by teachers and school leaders that improve their individual professional practice” (Cole, 2012, p. 5).

Equally important is supporting the professional learning of others. Through our school library, I aim to create collaborative spaces where staff can learn and explore our wonderful collection of physical and digital library resources. I want to intentionally keep seeking out these opportunities for support and collaboration. As educators, we are all lifelong learners, and need to keep helping each other to grow.

Reference List

Cole, P. (2012). Linking effective professional learning with effective teaching practice. Association of Independent Schools of the ACT. https://ais.act.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/Professional-Learning-linking_effective_professional_learning_with_effective_teaching_practice_-_cole.pdf

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Life Imitating Study: Coping with Unexpected Change

Posted on May 3, 2025

Packing boxes

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” (Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, 1532)

In ETL504, we are currently learning about change management and strategic planning. As I have been reading and learning about these topics, an unexpected turn of events has meant that I have been tasked with an urgent library relocation and redevelopment at school. It’s always a little spooky life imitates art, or in this case, my study!

This library redevelopment is due to complications from some building works, which means the permanent relocation of our Early Learning library. I have had to set-up meetings with executive leadership, liaise with staff from across the school, strategise options with the wonderful library technician team, put together a proposed timeline, approve budgeting and organise logistics…. all within a six-week timeline and the prolonged absence of my Head of Library! My brain has been spinning just trying to process all that needs to happen in such a short amount of time. The key takeaway for me has been to get everyone on the same page, maintain clear communication and establish a shared vision (Holmes, 2013).

Ideally, strategic planning would happen in a more thorough and considered way, but sometimes circumstances conspire to mean that this is just not possible. I didn’t realise that as a Teacher Librarian this could fall inside my remit. This experience has, however, underscored how important it is to have an understanding of leadership in a school library context as we can be called upon at any time!

Reference List

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

Machiavelli, N. (1532). The Prince (P. Bondanella, Trans.). Oxford University Press.

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Leading Change

Posted on April 22, 2025

Change

In this week’s module, we are learning about change and outcomes. Change is inevitable in education as we try to keep pace with the world that our learners exist in outside the classroom walls. Technology is a huge driver of change, particularly recent developments with generative artificial intelligence. Change can be innovative and exciting, but it can also be challenging and demanding of already time-poor education and library staff in schools (Emerson, 2025). For our blog post this week, we have been asked to consider one major change we have experienced at school, and consider how this change was facilitated by leadership, staff reactions and change outcomes.

A few years ago when I was working as a high school English teacher, we were asked by leadership to overhaul all of our curriculum documentation ahead of auditing. We were told, via our Department Heads, that we would need to update every term planner to a Understanding by Design template and store the files in clearly labelled, shared drives. Leadership used a distributed leadership approach, offering consultative ‘drop-in’ sessions with two leading teachers, and released some video content of the steps required. We were also given deadlines to work towards.

Many of the staff could see the purpose for the changes, but the amount of work it would take to update all of the documentation within a 9-week term (with the usual assessment and reporting schedules) felt immense. Many staff advocated for time release to get this project completed, particularly if they worked across multiple subject areas and teams, or were sole practitioners teaching VCE subjects.

In the end, we passed the audit and all of the curriculum documentation was updated and accounted for. It was helpful to have leadership guidance through this process, and deadlines in place to motivate our efforts. I think that staff need as much notice as possible ahead of change, and offering support throughout the process goes a long way.

Reference List

Emerson, M. S. (2025, February 24). Seven reasons why change managements strategies fail and how to avoid them. Harvard University Division of Continuing Education. https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/7-reasons-why-change-management-strategies-fail-and-how-to-avoid-them

Image Source: Photo by Peggy Sue Zinn on Unsplash

What is leadership?

Posted on March 12, 2025

Leadership

“Leadership is a process of influence leading to the achievement of desired purposes” (Bush & Glover, 2014)

It’s the start of the final subject of my Master of Education, which explores the Teacher Librarian’s role as a leader.

I have never studied leadership before and, to be honest, did not think it would be of particular interest to me. To my surprise, however, I am realising that leadership is far more expansive than I expected. It is not just about leadership or personality styles, but encompasses influence, goal-setting, decision-making and strategic direction more broadly.

I have found it helpful to differentiate between leadership and management, as I think I previously used these terms interchangeably.

Leadership is about inspiring and motivating staff, setting a vision, and driving change. Leaders focus on innovation, influence, and empowering others to reach their potential.
Management involves onplanning, organising, and controlling resources to meet specific objectives. Managers ensure processes run smoothly, maintain order, and solve problems efficiently.

While both are important, leadership fuels direction and growth whereas management is focused more on structure and stability. Successful schools need a combination of strong leadership with effective management to thrive.

I’m looking forward to learning more this semester, and putting theory into practice.

Reference List

Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: what do we know? School Leadership & Management, 34(5), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Image Source: Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

Shifting Education Paradigms and Organisation Influences

Posted on March 3, 2025

Discussion Prompt: Reflect on the four key elements of organisation theory as presented by Bush (2015) and compare these to the approach in Robinson’s presentation. Think about the influences upon a school and identify key drivers for change that the teacher librarian could respond to through school library programs.

According to Bush (2015), the four elements of organisation theory are: goals, structure, culture, and context. All four these elements are questioned by Robinson, who argues that our current education system is wildly out of date as it was constructed for a different time and has not been adequately updated.

In his words: “The current education system was conceived in the culture of the enlightenment and economic circumstance of the industrial revolution… we are trying to meet current needs by doing what’s been done in the past” (Robinson, 2010).

Reflecting on his presentation, societal views and beliefs have indeed shifted significantly since the 18^th century, and so has the very purpose of schooling. Robinson calls for more collaborative group work and opportunity for divergent thinking, he wants long held conceptions about subject learning to be dismantled and he emphasises the importance of institutional culture.

Listening to Robinson’s call for a radical educational paradigm shift is inspiring, but a little daunting! And I can’t help but think – what does it mean for school libraries? Our school libraries function within a school ecosystem, part of state and national education structures. How much can we really change? Well, I think that Robinson’s are exciting, and school libraries are well-placed to enact change.

Here are some of my ideas for implementation in the school library:

The culture of the school library (while still operating within a school context) can be quite separate and distinct, valuing inclusivity and empathy
Clubs or library activities can support group work and collaboration across age groups
School libraries do not have to take part in standardised testing and they often sit apart from assessment schedules and timelines that can dominate subject learning
The school library can spark creative stimulation (through literature, art, games, displays and more) which can counteract the way that schools can become, in Robinson’s words, “anaesthetic spaces” which dull students’ senses
Guided inquiry learning fosters divergent thinking which is a key ingredient for creativity
Reading programs can be student-led and purposeful, providing access to literature from diverse perspectives and by writers from all around the globe

Reference List

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

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The Principal and the TL

Posted on March 24, 2022

Collaborative partnerships with staff, from teaching staff to school leadership, are essential for a TL’s success as a learning leader (Haycock, 2007). A productive relationship with the Principal, and other key leadership team members, is vital for library advocacy, justifying funding/budget changes, reporting, future planning, professional development, and much more. Often the work of library staff goes unnoticed by other members of staff, especially leadership who aren’t necessarily ‘on the ground’, so it is important to make these efforts known. Communicating the essential role that school libraries play in the lives of the broader learning community, and their incredible impact, is an ongoing process. Regular collaboration meetings could be a good way of keeping the Principal informed and on-board.

A supportive Principal can enable a TL by backing their vision for the school library, providing suggestions and support, sharing leadership advice or strategies, and ensuring appropriate funding (for staff and resources). I think a supportive Principal should also trust a TL’s expertise and genuinely understand that the library is adding value to the lives of all learners through library offerings and services.

In turn, TLs can support a Principal by driving whole-school initiatives, such as reading programs, teaching skills (e.g. digital/information literacy and research), supporting literacy development, teaching classes and more (Kemp, 2017). TLs can also provide guidance about information needs, assist with curriculum development (including cross-curriculum priorities or inquiry learning projects) and support staff as they plan learning units. For independent schools, a wonderful library could also be a selling point for prospective families!

References:

Haycock, K. (2007). Collaboration: Critical Success Factors for Student Learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 25-35.

Kemp, J. (2017). Ten ways to advocate for your role as a teacher librarian. Connections, 103, 6-7. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-103/ten-ways-to-advocate-for-your-role-as-a-teacher-librarian/

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