Part B: Reflection
My previous thinking was that the role of the Teacher Librarian (TL) was to provide the learners with resources in physical and digital formats for their learning. I never thought about the leadership of the TL before. However, after I have studied the subject of ‘Teacher Librarian as Leader’, I have learned that the TL’s leadership plays a critical role to lead the school library towards school vision and goals in the 21st century.
When we discussed the Case Study One as a whole group online, I learned the differentiated ways to clarify between superficial problems and deeper issues and to solve the problems. From the Case Study Two, I learned that poor communication can lead to a dissatisfying and negative school culture. But, transformational leaders practise good communication skills and make their teachers comfortable, encouraged and supported with courageous conversations through an open line of communication. (Smith, 2016, p.73)
When our Group 4 did the Case Study Three, Four, Five and Six, someone always volunteered to lead our group discussion and asked other group members to contribute. In my blog post on reflection on the Case Study Three (2019, August 25), I say that I found this way of doing group works efficient because of someone’s initiation and other group members’ co-operation. All group members were mindful and respectful to work together by empowering each other. According to Sutcliffe (2013), successful school leaders “understand the importance of relationships, empower their staff and pupils and show great empathy.” (p.2)
I believe my participation and involvement in the case study of Group 4 has helped me to have collaborative skills and building relationship skills in positive ways.
As Daniel (2019, August 6) states in his blog post, when a leader listens to staff members’ problems, tries to understand the problem and offers solutions to fix the problem, the stress of that staff member will be reduced. I agree with Daniel. My personal experience was that my coordinator listened to my story, showed me her sympathy, and offered me solutions to fix the problem when I had a conflict with other staff. It was such a relief to me.
In my Blog post (2019, August 23), I expressed that when new principals come to their new schools with a new set of ideas, the challenge is how much their new sets of ideas gives the staff a willingness to work with them. I believe it depends on their leadership style.
Transformational leaders will inspire their staff to work with them.
In order to keep up with changing roles of the TL in the changing educational landscape, the TL as a leader and change catalyst needs to bring a range of innovative programs to the learners in the school library. (Bales, 2019, p.4) The leadership of the TL is crucial in making the school library a central learning space in schools.
References
Bales, J. (2019). Leadership for Learning. In Teacher Librarian as Leader. [S-ETL 504_201960 Module4]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42385_1&content_id=_2928584_1
Daniel (2019, August 6). Leadership approaches to reduce stress [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/danielm/
Eun Hee Kim (2019, August 23). School direction [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/eunhee
Eun Hee Kim (2019, August 25). My reflection on case study 3 [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/eunhee
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
Sutcliffe, J. (2013, September 24). The eight qualities of successful school leaders. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacherblog/2013/sep/24/eight-qualities-successful-school-leader