Part A

Statement of personal philosophy: What do you think makes an effective teacher librarian?

An effective teacher librarian is someone who is committed to lifelong learning and promoting a love of reading. They are committed to maintaining a library that is inclusive and provides the school community with resources that meet educational, cultural and personal needs. An effective teacher librarian is a leader who supports and works collaboratively to achieve the goals of the school community. They advocate for the school library by gathering data and evidence regarding the impact the school library has on the school community and they communicate this clearly. An effective teacher librarian creates a welcoming environment where students and the school community can socialise, learn and be supported.

Part B

Theme 1

 Leadership

During my journey through the Teacher Librarianship course, I have undergone significant growth and transformation in my understanding of management and leadership within the context of a school library. Within my initial reflections, as evident in an earlier blog post, I primarily associated servant leadership with the role of a teacher librarian (Serobian, 2023b). I learnt about many leadership styles, and even began to identify the different styles within my own school as evident in my blog post (Serobian, 2023a). The main styles that resonate with me and my role as a teacher librarian are:

Transformational leadership, as highlighted by Browning (2018), promotes change by emphasising key components such as team building, employee motivation, collaborative efforts, and most notably, trust. According to Browning (2018), trust plays a pivotal role in fostering and enhancing transformational change, serving as the cornerstone of effective leadership. Transformational leaders possess the ability to establish and maintain emotional connections with both them and their teams. This emotional connection empowers leaders to inspire and propel their teams toward success, as noted by Edith Cowan University (ECU) in 2019. Transformational leaders cultivate a safe and open environment that encourages change and the exploration of novel approaches, as articulated by Onorato (2013). In essence, these leaders prioritise innovation and depart from the status quo, thus driving transformative processes within their organisations.

I now realised that a teacher librarian can use transformational leadership, you did not have to be an executive of the school to implement this style of leadership. For example, if you wanted to transform the library into a vibrant hub of knowledge and creativity you could do this by recruiting and building a passionate team by identify enthusiastic individuals including library assistants, volunteers, and students who are passionate about books, learning, and the library’s mission. You could promote innovation by creating sharing platforms where team members can share innovative ideas for library programs and services.

Instructional leadership model, as developed by Hallinger and Murphy in 1985, outline several critical steps including defining school goals, managing the instructional program, and fostering a positive school environment (as cited in Gumus et al., 2018). This model underscores the role of the instructional leader in utilising their expert knowledge of curriculum and educational pedagogy to not only educate but also provide guidance and support to their colleagues. An exemplar of instructional leadership lies in the organisation of professional development sessions aimed at enhancing teacher knowledge, understanding, and skills, ultimately leading to improved student learning outcomes. This practice of instructional leadership proves highly effective in elevating student learning outcomes, as it enables the cultivation of supportive learning environments for both students and staff (Le Fevre, 2021). As a teacher librarian I could be an instructional leader by holding professional development workshops on how to incorporate library resources in classroom lessons. Also, collaborating with teachers to align library resources with the curriculum.

Distributive leadership approach empowers multiple individuals to take on leadership roles. However, for this distributed leadership to be successful, it necessitates effective planning, the maintenance of a supportive environment, and alignment with common goals (Leithwood et al., 2009). Creating an environment conducive to enabling potential leaders to collaborate is crucial. This can be achieved through the establishment of robust professional learning communities, which possess expertise in specific areas and have the capacity to facilitate knowledge sharing (Harris, 2016). There are inherent challenges associated with the distributive leadership style that may impede its effectiveness. For instance, differences in perspectives or a lack of shared vision among team members can lead to conflicts (Storey, 2004). Such conflicts have the potential to have adverse implications for the staff members involved and the overall success of the initiative. As a teacher librarian distributive leadership would be beneficial when developing a library advisory committee with diverse stakeholders, including students, parents, and teachers, empowering them to provide input and actively participate in decision-making regarding library programs and resources.

As my understanding evolved I began to realise that leadership style have similarities and differences and many share attributes required by the leader, including good communication skills and personal connections. There are negatives and positives to all leadership styles and there is not a one size fits all solution. As teacher librarian in a leadership role we must be flexible as it will allow us to lead effectively in order to achieve the library goals.

Theme 2

Collection Development

Reflecting on my understanding of collection development prior to commencing the Master of Teacher Librarian course I know realise the limitation of my understandings in the past. Yes, I believed it was the acquisition of books and resources to meet the school community but I was missing crucial information and understandings to ensure I managed a collection that meet the needs of the school community effectively.

Students needs are ever evolving and changing due to society influences. School libraries must keep up with these changing needs to best support it’s community.  As Dempsey (2017) outlines libraries are changing from print to digital, from local to network. Keeping up with these needs is not a simple process and as evident in my blog post (Serobian, 2023b) my understandings have developed from acquisition to strategy. It is not simply about purchasing resources rather, it is a fine balance between school community needs, budgets, physical resources and digital resources. The tool to successfully balance this is through a collection development policy.

I have known from the beginning that collection development was and ongoing task constantly acquiring and weeding resources from the collection but I did not have a process in place to ensure it was completed efficiently and effectively. Kimmel (2014) describes collection development as a cyclical process including identifying needs, selecting, managing and evaluating. Kimmel (2014) also highlights the importance of ensuring the needs and goals of the school community are driving each stage of the cycle to ensure a quality collection. Studies have shown that low quality collections impact the number of students that access the library and its resources (Loh et al., 2021). In my case I did not realise the importance of ongoing evaluation as it helps to align a library’s programs and services with the goals of the school (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries Section Standing Committee, 2015). If evaluation is meaningful, it can inform collection development and management decisions and document accountability and value (Johnson, 2018). For example, prior to having a collection development policy in place the teacher resource collection was not being accessed at all. I identified the need for specific books for the new English curriculum through meetings with teachers and have since acquired relevant resources to meet this need. Each term this collection is evaluated, meetings with teaching staff are held and resources are adjusted accordingly. Usage of the teachers resource collection has increased dramatically since the acquisition of the books.

In collection development we must consider areas of priority and selection issues. As a teacher librarian, I consider a number of these when selecting resources for the library collection including print vs digital, cognitive reading levels of students and budgeting. There were several issues that I did not consider such as meeting the needs of special groups.  A review of the Australian Curriculum highlighted the issue that one document cannot possibly meet everyone’s needs (Mitchell, 2011). Therefore, the Teacher Librarian needs to select resources to help fill the gaps and meet the needs of special groups to support teaching and learning programs. In my case, we had students that were having fine motor issues and required board books or digital books to read independently. I acquired relevant resource to meet the needs of these students.

It is important to maintain a library that is a safe place for students and a facility that can provide valuable resources to support social and emotional needs (Merga, 2020). Creating an inclusive library collection is important but I did not know how to do it well. Studies have shown that we need collections to be more culturally diverse with a variety of cultures represented as this allows students to have a better understanding of themselves and others (Adam & Barratt-Pugh, 2020). I have since acquired a number of titles that represent the cultural background of student at my school and the response has been amazing. One student picked up the book ‘My Bindi’, by Gita Varadarajan and was so excited. The student said, “look Mrs Serobian, the girl on the cover looks just like me”.

Through my study I have been exposed to a number of tools and resources to help me continue to develop my understanding of collection development. One of the resources is the Manual for Developing Policies and Procedures in Australian School Library Resource Centres 2nd edition (Australian Library and Information Association School, & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians, 2017). This manual was a great guide in developing my first library collection development policy and ensure there was a clear structure when managing the library collection.

My learning journey in the teacher librarianship course has transformed my perspective on collection development. These shifts in understanding have translated into changes in practice, resulting in a more responsive and effective approach to collection development. The incorporation of diversity and alignment with educational goals has positively impacted student engagement and library relevance within the school community. I will continue professional development to stay up to date with emerging trends in collection development.

Theme 3

The future of school libraries

A common theme l have come across during my teacher librarianship study is the future of school libraries. How do we prepare for the future? The terms “Future focused school libraries,” “Future proofing,” and “Future ready” have emerged as crucial concepts that define the direction in which school library spaces are heading. It is essential for school libraries to adapt to the changing needs and trends in education and technology. There are a number of concepts and strategies to help prepare school libraries to become hubs of learning and innovation in the 21st century.

At the beginning of my studies one of my original blog posts discusses multimodal texts and the impact of this on literacy learning in the 21st Century (Serobian, 2019). It is important for students to make meaning of multiliteracies and learn the skills required to move between the different multimodal texts to enhance learning (Kalantzis & Cope, 2015). Students need access to a range technologies and to experience multiliteracies in order to compare and contrast what they are seeing and hearing (O’Connell, 2012). Being able to compare and contrasts allows students to build knowledge and understandings (O’Connell, 2012). Literacy skills will need to be continuously redefined as the changing information landscape continues to create new literacies. It is important to continue learning the new skills required in order to engage with and utilise knowledge in the ever-changing information landscape more effectively and efficiently. My school library is fortunate in having high ratios of devices per students and a budget that allows for digital subscriptions. This provides our students with the opportunity to engage with the ever-changing multiliteracies of today but will this be enough for the future. With the introduction of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) used as learning tools, this opens up a whole new perspective. Some articles are beginning to emerge on the use of AR and VR as learning tools and this is the next area of focus for me as a library professional to ensure that my school library is ready for the future.

Throughout my teacher librarian ship study, the benefits of makerspace in preparing students for the future were often evident in research documents. Makerspaces are unique learning environments designed specifically for individual learning communities where students have significant autonomy over their learning (Nadelson, 2021). Makerspaces provide opportunities for hands-on learning experiences that develop students’ knowledge, skills and competencies needed in the 21st century by incorporating resources such as paper, cardboard, construction toys, robotics, 3D printers and green screens (Gohl, 2017). Makerspaces foster critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration which are essential skills for students to thrive in a rapidly changing world (Harmer et. al., 2021). On completion of a SWOT and GAP analysis of my own school it was evident that the need for creating new learning experiences that engaged and challenged learners. A makerspace could be the key to creating a learning environment that meets these needs and also prepare the students for the future. Although I have a strategic proposal ready to begin the journey of creating a makerspace within the library, I feel my knowledge on how to incorporate the makerspace within the curriculum areas needs further development.

A collection development policy plays a crucial role in not only developing a future focused library, but also future proofing the library by serving as a strategic document (Anderson, 2008). Libraries that aim to thrive, not just survive, must continually adapt to meet the evolving needs of their users. As mentioned in the collection development section of this reflection, the policy acts as a cyclical tool allowing librarians to identify both strengths and weaknesses within the collection to maintain current and relevant resources (Kimmel, 2014). The collection development policy provides evidence that can be employed to advocate for the library’s value within the school community. It can demonstrate the positive impact on student learning, influence decision-makers, and potentially secure increased library funding (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries Section Standing Committee, 2015). A well-structured collection development policy assists in maintaining a future focused library collection while strengthening its role and impact in the school environment. Throughout my teacher librarianship study, I have realised how important collection development policies and procedures are and I have since developed policies and procedures that focus on future proofing the school library. I will continue to evaluate and make changes when necessary to align with the everchanging information landscape.

Part C

Evaluation

The teacher librarianship course at Charles Sturt University has assisted in developing my skills and attitudes as a professional teacher librarian across a wide range of areas including-

• The role of the teacher librarian not only within the school community but in the everchanging information landscape.
• Collaborative program building.
• Integrating information literacy across all curriculum areas.
• Becoming a reflective practitioner informed by research and professional literature.
• Collection management including providing digital and physical resources to support the curriculum.
• Theory and practice in the leadership role of a teacher librarian within the context of changing school library services including organisational culture, strategic and operational planning, advocacy, managing for change, policy and building relationships within a 21st century school environment.
• Resource analysis and description principles within the school setting,
• The use of metadata standards.
• The role of research in teacher librarianship practice.
• Literature-
• in education.
• to boost student learning outcomes.
• encourage a love of reading.
• theory
• and diversity.
• and social influences.
• How the school library can influence and impact literature practice in the school community.

Although I have learnt an abundance of information and skills during my teacher librarianship studies there is always a need for continued professional development to achieve excellence. In order to achieve excellence in my field, I must continue to stay up to date with professional knowledge (Australian School Library Association [ASLA] and Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA], 2004). As I have a sound understanding of the principles of lifelong learning, knowledge of teaching and learning, curriculum and library information management, my focus is to keep up to date with any changes in these areas. This will be achieved by reading current research, staying well versed on teacher librarian standards and staying up to date with current trends, especially in the field of information communication technologies [ICT’s].

Teacher librarians must stay up to date in the area of professional practice including the learning environment, learning and teaching, library and information services management and evaluation (ASLA & ALIA, 2004). It is very frustrating and pains me to say but I feel an area I need to focus on to achieve excellence is foster an environment where learners are encouraged and empowered to read, view, listen and respond for understanding and enjoyment. Our library lessons cover teachers as they have relief from face to face (RFF) and we must teach History and Geography during this time. The lessons are short and I struggle to include the curriculum requirements and borrowing in this time. I promote books and reading whenever but on reflection this is not adequate. I need to focus on creative ways to improve this area and will start by reaching out to my library networks and professional literature for advice and new inspiration.

One of the biggest takeaways I have had from this course is that learning never ends, it is lifelong. Although I have an extensive understandings of the areas listed above, I am aware that professional knowledge is ever evolving. Ensuring I maintain my professional knowledge in the field of teacher librarianship requires a commitment to stay up to date with research and the ever-changing information landscape.

References

Adam, H., & Barratt-Pugh, C.. (2020). The challenge of monoculturalism: what books are educators sharing with children and what messages do they send?. The Australian Educational Researcher, 47(5), 815–836. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00375-7

Anderson, R. (2008). Future-Proofing the Library: Strategies for Acquisitions, Cataloging, and Collection Development. The Serials Librarian, 55(4), 560–567. https://doi.org/10.1080/03615260802399908

Australian Library and Information Association School, & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians. (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. https://asla.org.au/policy-development-manual

Australian School Library Association and Australian Library and Information Association, (2004). Standards of Professional excellence for teacher librarians. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-asla-standards-professional-excellence-teacher-librarians

Browning, P. (2018). Creating the conditions for transformational change. The Australian Educational Leader, 40(1), 50–53.

Dempsey, L. (2016). Library collections in the life of the user: two directions. LIBER Quarterly: The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries, 26(4), 338–359. https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10170

Edith Cowan University Australia [ECU], (2019, March 8). 5 Effective leadership styles in education. ECU Blog. https://studyonline.ecu.edu.au/blog/effective-leadership-styles-education

Ghol, E. (2017, November). The case for School Makerspaces, According to those who use them. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/11/06/the-case-for-school-makerspaces-according-to-those-who-use-them/

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. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216659296

Harmer, K., Dempsey, E., Kostouros, P. (2021). Building 21st Century Skills Using and Academic Makerspace. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal Summer 2021, 14(2), 12-29. https://journals.kpu.ca/index.php/td/index

Harris, A. (2016). Distributed leadership matters : perspectives, practicalities, and potential. Corwin.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries Section Standing Committee. (2015).  IFLA school library guidelines.  https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of collection development and management. American Library Association.  https://web-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE4NTY5ODNfX0FO0?sid=bf8420ca-dcd2-4775-abe8-56b1e45dce97@redis&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_v&rid=0 com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=7ea1060e-2229-4dab-9556-357bacc038e5%40redis&ppid=Page-__-240&vid=0&format=EK

Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2015). Multiliteracies: Expanding the scope of literacy pedagogy. New Learning. Retrieved May 5, 2016, from http://newlearningonline.com/multiliteracies

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing Collections to Empower Learners. American Association of Librarians.

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Leithwood, K. A., Mascall, B., & Strauss, T. (2009). Distributed leadership according to the evidence. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203868539

Loh, C. E., Sundaray, S., Merga, M., & Gao, J. (2021). Principals and Teachers’ Perspectives of Their School Libraries and Implications for School Library Policy. Journal of Library Administration, 61(5), 550–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2021.1924532

O’Connell, J. (2012). Change has arrived at an iSchool library near you. In Information literacy beyond library 2.0 (pp. 215-228). London : Facet. Retrieved May 5, from Proquest.

Merga, M. (2020). How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing? Evidence and Implicationsfor Further Research. Journal of library administration, 60(6), 660-673. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2020.1773718

Mitchell, P. (2011). Resourcing 21st century online Australian Curriculum : the role of school libraries. FYI: The Journal for the School Information Professional, 15(2), 10–15. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.188987

Nadelson, L. S. (2021). Makerspaces for rethinking teaching and learning in K–12 education: Introduction to research on makerspaces in K–12 education special issue. The Journal of Educational Research, 114(2), 105–107. doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2021.1914937

Onorato, M. (2013). Transformational leadership style in the education sector: An empirical study of corporate managers and educational leaders. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 17(1), 33-47.

Serobian, K. (20219, May 12). Discussion of information literacy in this module (ELT401 module 5.1 &5.2) are diverse and interesting. A reflection on what I can take from the discussion if information literacy to my TL role in school. Kristina’s Learning Journal. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kristina/2019/05/12/discussions-of-information-literacy-in-this-module-are-diverse-and-interesting-a-reflection-on-what-i-can-take-from-the-discussion-of-information-literacy-to-my-il-role-in-school/

Serobian, K. (2022, May 23). ETL503 Collection Dev. Policy & Reflection Part B Reflective Practice. Kristina’s Learning Journal. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kristina/2022/05/23/etl503-assessment-item-2-collection-dev-policy-reflection-part-b-reflective-practice/

Serobian, K. (2023a, May 13). ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader ETL504 Discussions: Modules 3.1. Kristina’s Learning Journal. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kristina/2023/05/13/teacher-librarian-as-leader-etl504-discussions-module-3-1/

Serobian, K. (2023b, May 23). ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader Assessment 2 Part B Reflection. Kristina’s Learning Journal. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kristina/2023/05/23/etl504-teacher-librarian-as-leader-assessment-2-part-b-reflection/

Storey, A. (2004). The problem of distributed leadership in schools. School Leadership & Management, 24(3), 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1363243042000266918