Teacher librarians are strategically positioned in the middle to exert a powerful influence over student achievement. Leading from the middle is quintessentially about influencing people to achieve a goal, through a collaborative mindset. The quality of communication, in all its varieties (face-to-face, online, written, etc.) embeds itself in the different leadership roles undertaken by effective teacher librarians. Thus, collaboration and communication are two key aspects that feature repeatedly in the disposition of effective leaders, formal and informal. Chow and Rich (2013) too acquiesce that good communication helps leaders to realise the full potential of their staff and they must consistently maintain good rapport with all colleagues (p. 7). The Case Studies served to accentuate this fact.
The Case Studies were highly relevant in portraying actual challenges that could arise in our daily work as teacher librarians. On the issue of addressing organisational behaviour (misbehaviour, actually) in Case Study 3, aspects of transformational leadership such as “mentoring and coaching” (Chow & Rich, 2013, p.3) and servant leadership traits of “collaboration, trust, empathy, and ethics” (Burkus, 2010, para.1) were recommended in most of the group posts (Group 14 & Group 15) , including mine (Group 5). These recommendations highlight the need for leaders to build relationships, depict emotional intelligence (‘soft skills’) in their interactions with team members. Conyers and Wilson (2017) too reiterate on the effects of a positive mindset, empathy and practical optimism in leaders’ approach when dealing with low morale in staff.
Sound conflict management model suggested by Group 11 and an inspiring learning organisation model shared by my Group highlighted the entrenchment of a sharing culture in the Case Work analysis. We were demonstrating distributed leadership where through interdependent sharing, we were able “to generate more opportunities for change and to build the capacity for improvement” ( Harris, 2014, para.3). This occurrence justifies Ray’s (2020) argument of thriving future-ready librarians to “look beyond their schools for communities of practice, professional learning and support” (p. 8).
Upon reflecting on the dynamics of my group’s approach to the assigned tasks, there were equally important learning points as well. Completing the assigned tasks within set deadlines brought inevitable challenges as discussed in my blogs. Nevertheless, knowledge of strategic planning and conflict management processes in library leadership management were helpful. A proactive rather than a reactive approach to problem-solving (Lodge & Pymm, 2007, p.289) was adopted. Consequently, nurturing positive optimism and its rippling effects, key elements in transformational and servant leadership style led to task completion.
An area of personal improvement is to engage in regular communication with my team and provide purposeful feedback that would increase their confidence and encourage higher levels of commitment. We averaged three active participants throughout the tasks and this certainly could have been better.
Additionally, participating in the forums widened my theoretical knowledge of leadership and offered me plentiful ways on how to lead effectively from the middle. They offered me opportunities to reflect on past experiences and hesitations to lead and presently, realise the huge potential in libraries to become the hub of the school’s teaching and learning process. It was humbling to see how generous course mates were in sharing valuable resources that strengthened my belief in prioritising networking and establishing a strong collaborative culture to be an effective teacher librarian.
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References:
Burkus, D. (2010, April 1). Servant leadership theory.
http://davidburkus.com/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/
Chow, A. S., & Rich, M. (2013). The ideal qualities and tasks of library leaders:
Perspectives of academic, public, school, and special library administrators.
Library Leadership and Management, 27(1/2), 1-24.
Harris, A. (2014, September 29). Distributed leadership. ACER website.
https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/distributed-leadership
Lodge, D., & Pymm, B. (2007). Library managers today: the challenges. In S. Ferguson (Ed.), Libraries in the Twenty First Century: Charting Directions in Information Services (17th ed., Vol.27, pp. 289-310). Centre for Information Studies.
Ray, M. (2020). What is a future-ready librarian? Connections, 113(2), 8-9.
https://www.scisdata.com/media/2083/scis_connections_113_web.pdf