The core business of a school is to provide all students with the necessary skills to function as lifelong learners. With the modern school library existing as a dynamic hub of learning, the teacher librarian (TL) at the helm of this dynamic space, has the ability to lead from the middle (Kachel, 2016) of the […]
ETL504 – Teacher Librarian as Leader
Module Forum 4.1 Activity – Library Mission and Vision Statement
Olsen (2016a; 2016b) outlines practical considerations for how to structure an effective mission and vision statement. These are useful to help evaluate the strength of the Lake Tuggeranong College (LTC) Library statements below. Vision statement: Our library impacts every learner, every day, every year. Olsen (2016b) claims that a vision statement should be future-focused, outlining […]
Reflections and Takeaways – Module 3
Change by Nick Youngson, CC BY-SA 3.0 If change happens frequently, it can be a source of “innovation overload” (Clement, 2014), and “change fatigue” may occur (Dilkes, Cunningham & Gray, 2014). Adopting a transformational leadership style would be appropriate for help mitigate stress in the workplace, as it is heavily predicated on building authentic relationships, […]
Discussion Forum 3.2/3.3 – Conflict Scenario
In this learning scenario, the teacher librarian has deemed it necessary that changes be made to the collection; with a complete re-categorisation that moves away from alphabetical organisation, to genrefication of the fiction collection. In relation to this task, I am approaching the scenario with the consideration that there is underlying conflict – with the […]
Discussion Forum 3.1 – Change, Leadership and School Environments
A major change that I have experienced is joining a new school that is establishing a student wellbeing framework based upon William Glasser’s Choice Theory and 5 Basic Needs. It is a move away from traditional ‘behaviour management’ systems, which are largely focused on extrinsic rewards for managing student behaviour management (merit certificates/stickers etc). It […]
Reflections and Takeaways – Module 2
Leadership Skills – Illustration by Digits.co.uk Images, CC BY 2.0 The readings from Module 2 of Teacher Librarian as Leader have provided a great foundation for understanding organisational, management and leadership theories. There is often confusion between the notion of management and leadership, where oft at times the terms are used interchangeably. Management is more […]
Discussion Forum Module 2 Activity – School Organisational Structure
I work at a NSW Department of Education K-6 public primary school. It is a brand-new school located in Western Sydney, which opened in October 2021. I was fortunate enough to be a foundational staff member and was entrusted with the lead role in establishing the library space. We opened with approximately 380 students and […]
Discussion Forum Module 2.3 Activity – Concept Mapping of Principal and TL Leadership
For this concept mapping task, I felt the most appropriate leadership style for the principal to adopt would be distributed leadership. This style is about empowering other staff to lead for the benefit of the organisation. This is made possible by recognising the expertise of others (in this case, the teacher librarian) and by providing […]
Attributes of Effective Leaders
Leadership by nist6dh, CC BY-SA 2.0 In reflecting upon people who have been inspirational in my working and learning life, a few key people come to mind. They have all been effective as leaders and are positioned throughout the school hierarchy, not just existing within the upper levels. In particular, they have a number of […]
Building Trust and Collaboration
In Ezard’s (2015) YouTube clip, she focused on the importance of building trust and collaboration, for the benefit of establishing quality relationships. Trust floods the brain with oxytocin and dopamine, which opens it up to collaborative learning opportunities and problem-solving. Alternatively, distrust raises levels of adrenaline and cortisol, which shuts the brain down, causing it […]
Discussion Forum 1 – What Does Trust Look Like in a School?
The article I chose from the Diigo Teacher Librarian as Leader group that resonated with me was: What does Trust Look Like in a School? by Michelle Blanchet. Blanchet outlines 8 ways to show trust. They are: 1. Recognise excellence 2. Give meaningful challenges 3. Encourage autonomy 4. Let teachers pursue their passions 5. […]