As I sit here, reflecting on the impact this subject, ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader, has had on my understanding of leadership and the role of the teacher librarian I am grateful and inspired. My views and knowledge have gone through a significant transformation providing me with newfound clarity and inspiration for my career moving forward.

In the beginning I found it difficult to grasp the idea of a teacher librarian having the power to impact the school, students and staff in such transformational ways. I believe this thinking stems from teacher librarians not having formal leadership roles in the school setting, but this thinking changed as I began to realise that leadership came in all shapes and sizes at various levels within organisations. Naturally, as I began learning about the different leadership styles, I initially connected the servant leadership style as the one most suited to the teacher librarian role. Servant leaders put followers first, help followers grow and succeed, behave ethically, empower and creating value for the community (Northhouse, 2021). As I continued my learning on leadership styles, I began to realise there were many more options including distributive, transactional, transformational and instructional leadership. Reflecting on experiences where I have been involved in new initiatives, has allowed me to realise the impact of certain styles of leadership as evident in my blog post (Serobian, 2023a), where I reflected on the impact that transformational leadership had on introducing coteaching in the school. Also, having completed a strategic proposal for the school I work in, I now see there are many options for a teacher librarian to lead from the middle. One of these leadership styles is the instructional leader, as Hallinger and Murphy (as cited in Gumus et al., 2018), outlines several steps including defining the school goals, managing the instructional program and promoting a positive school environment. The process you should follow, as a teacher librarian leading change within the school setting, aligns with Hallinger and Murphy’s steps (as cited in Gumus et al., 2018). As I mentioned in the discussion forum (Serobian, 2023b) the teacher librarian can lead by example and, even though the discussion was related to servant leaders, instructional leadership allows this to occur also.

My knowledge of strategic planning has developed over time and I have learnt the steps in identifying areas of need within the school. I have always found it hard to make a start as it can all be quite overwhelming. I found completing a SWOT analysis (Thomas, 2017) to identify the issues, and GAP analysis (Schade, 2016) to identify what is missing to be beneficial in clarifying needs, when changes are occurring within a school. I have found having a clear mission and vision statement to be most important as it keeps you on track and stops you from wasting time and resources (JISC, 2012; Serobian, 2023c).

It is important to continue learning as the world around us, especially the information landscape, is changing at such a rapid rate. Obviously, completing the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) course provides a great foundation for me to gain the skills in becoming a successful teacher librarian as a leader, but to sustain this, ongoing professional development is required. Setting aside regular periods in the timetable as suggested by Purdie (2023) will ensure professional development is prioritised. It will allow me to stay up to date with the 21^st century skills required to teach and guide our students and ensure quality education (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2015), promote innovation and technology (Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2015) and lifelong learning.

References

Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. (2015). National Innovation and Science        Agenda Report. https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-innovation-and-science-agenda-report

Gumus, S., Bellibas, M. S., Esen, M., & Gumus, E. (2018). A systematic review of studies on leadership models in educational research from 1980 to 2014. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 46(1), 25–48. doi.org/10.1177/1741143216659296

JISC. (2012). Defining and articulating your vision, mission and values. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/vision-mission-and-values

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473

Purdie, C. (2023). RE: Primary Sector Opportunity [Discussion Post]. Charles Sturt University Interact 2 Discussion Board. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_66273_1&conf_id=_136247_1&forum_id=_307629_1&message_id=_4452441_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

Schade, M. B. (2016, January). How to do a GAP analysis [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8xXReyiFtBY

Serobian, K. (2023, May 13a). Teacher Librarian as Leader ETL504 Discussions: Module 3.1. Kristina’s Learning Journal. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kristina/

Serobian, K. (2023, May 15b). RE: Technology [Discussion post]. Charles Sturt University Interact 2 Discussion Board. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/conference?toggle_mode=read&action=list_forums&course_id=_66273_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&mode=view

Serobian, K. (2023, May 13c). RE: Lake Tuggeranong [Discussion Post]. Charles Sturt University Interact 2 Discussion Board. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_66273_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_136247_1&forum_id=_307630_1&message_id=_4320202_1

Thomas, H. M. (2017). Library SWOT analysis. Bizfluent. https://bizfluent.com/about-5498787-library-swot-analysis.html

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. (2015). Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000245656