Category: ETL504 – Teacher Librarian as Leader

Throughout this whole course, what I kept coming back to is one thing: as a leader, remember you are dealing with PEOPLE, first and foremost.

Way back in Module 2.1, Colvin (2004) stated that aligned values were the reason people get out of bed in the morning. In my reflective blog post around this source (https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kylieobrien/2020/07/26/response-to-colvins-managing-in-the-info-era-module-2-1/) , I followed up with how people needed to belong to something bigger than themselves. This connects quite nicely to the expected participation in the Case Study group forums and the importance of connecting as a group of future/current TLs to work through scenarios. Working together, as difficult as it was logistically, opened up to a range of commentary around how best to tackle familiar problems. What I actually wish we had done a little better here (and it was only with hindsight that I realised this) was perhaps define our roles better. I even brought this up in our Case Study 3 contribution and the importance of identifying everyone’s key roles in order to get better results using Roberts (2012) strategy. This links to a key leadership strategy I will take with me – for everyone to feel secure in their position and therefore perform well in this position, everyone must know what their key responsibilities are and their value within the structure. This includes the TL, and I believe a conversation with the principal or line manager is an absolute must before the TL can start making changes.

The case study content was interesting, because once again, it was about people. While it could be argued it was also about leadership, leading from the middle, facilitating change etc, I would argue that yes, but it was mostly about people. People who had been allowed for far too long to sit too comfortably in their roles, people who didn’t have anyone to challenge them or motivate them into action, or most importantly, inspire them. What really jumped out at me was the idea of the “courageous conversation” (Str!ve, 2013). Good leaders simply cannot shy around the difficult conversations if they wish to lead change.

The other area which I found highly useful and something I will take into my own role is that of the TL as an “informal teacher leader” – the idea that we rise from the teacher ranks to lead from the middle (Danielson, 2007). Our strength therefore lies not in that we have climbed the ranks, but we are on the same “level” as the other teachers in the school and hence can lead from a place where we still have a connection to the classroom and students, and can therefore make our leadership decisions based around student learning rather than ticking boxes.

I believe my key takeaway from everything I have absorbed over the last few months via the modules, discussion forums and case studies is that people just want to feel valued, respected and inspired by their leaders. They need to feel that what they are doing and the changes that are being made are for a common purpose and vision, something we all believe in. If your team does not feel these things, the conflict will be paramount. The key to being a good leader is to be someone who keeps that at the forefront of all their change management decisions.

REFERENCES:

Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1.

Danielson, C. (2007). The many faces of leadership. Educational Leadership, 65(1), 14-19. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept07/vol65/num01/The-Many-Faces-of-Leadership.aspx

Roberts, R. (2012, September 12). How identifying the different roles can help groups work better together. elt-resourceful. https://elt-resourceful.com/how-identifying-the-different-roles-we-play-can-help-groups-work-better-together/

STR!VE. (2013). How to have a courageous conversation  [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/CoFe_NRRITQ
[9.38 mins]

The scenario is this:

It is the middle of report writing and you overhear two teacher colleagues complaining about the light teaching and reporting load of the teacher librarian.

What would I do? Firstly, I’d probably find myself getting quite anxious because I don’t enjoy confrontation but I’d feel I had to step in and say something. One of the most difficult parts of being a TL is that constant feeling that people think you don’t do enough, despite them not having a clue about the thousands of unnoticed tasks that are completed every single day (as well as the fact that I do actually teach three classes and am not just wasting time twiddling my thumbs). I would want to confront them right then and there, but likely wouldn’t (because again, hate confrontation!) then I would stew on it for weeks wishing I had said or done something.

More likely, I would try to use this as the jumping off point to investigate this further.  As Green (2004) says, now would be a good time to ‘find out what my clients really want’ in order to begin changing their perception of my role. I would do this initially via  a whole-staff survey, asking what their current perceptions are, where the gaps are in their teaching and how I in my role of TL would be able to fill them. I would encourage communication with me, asking me questions, seeking me out via attendance at Curriculum Leader meetings and discussing how I can support their teaching staff. Basically, I would make myself as visible as possible so there would be no need to question my relevance or my ‘light teaching load’ because it would be obvious to everyone that I am, indeed, a valuable member of the school community.

Source:

Green, G. (2004). The big sell: Creating influence and credibility Paper presented at LIS@ECU Seminar, Information literacy.

How does Colvin’s Managing in the info era relate to school libraries today?

Standout points:

• to paraphrase – “you get good work out of someone by saying he’s as stupid as an ox”. This implies that those working “under” a leader are somehow inferior to you, intellectually or otherwise. Clearly not true! This may have sat well in the 19th and early 20th century views of running a business, when workers were mostly in factories or working farms, and were considered cogs in a machine. We now know better – all workers are humans, not animals, and can contribute much more than just “dumb” work that is often beneath them.
• “But we make a foolish and ancient error if we forget that quirky humans, who haven’t evolved significantly in 20,000 years–and who still very much need interaction, recognition, and relationships” – I liked the part about “aligned values” being the reason people get out of bed in the morning. Agree wholeheartedly – people need to feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. This could be why previous generations stayed in the same job for 50 years, and today’s young people can work as many as 50 jobs/positions in their lifetime as they seek somewhere where they feel valued and appreciated, where they believe in what they are working for.
• “management is a human art and getting more so as infotech takes over the inhuman donkey work–the ox work–of the world”: the “human art” aspect is lovely – if leaders can get their understanding of “human art” at the forefront of leading team, they are more likely to see results.

How does this all fit into leadership in school libraries? Simply put, the teacher librarian as leader must understand his/her team – that they are human beings, not worker bees, who have feelings, depth, intelligence, personal lives and issues that may affect their work at times, strengths, weaknesses etc. The TL as leader must make it very clear the underlying values of the school library (and the school itself) and work towards a team of people with belief in these values and that what they do matters.

Source: Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1.